ACCT1110:  Contemporary Financial & Integrated Reporting

Assessment 2B – Group Case Study Assignment (20%)

Assignment Overview

You are required to write a business report analysing the latest annual report of a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) addressing the specific issues/areas listed below under the specific assignment requirements.  Within your analysis you are required to compare the findings of your company with another competing company (where appropriate) from the same industry selected by your group (preferably from ASX 200 companies available at http://www.asx200list.com/).  This assignment will involve the use of corporate annual reports, publicly available industry reports and data, analysis of the relevant information provided within the reports, comparing and contrasting the information with the requirements of relevant accounting standards and finally reporting your observations and conclusions.  Your report should demonstrate your ability to access online corporate information and analyse accounting information.

The objective of this task is to develop your capabilities to:

1. read, interpret and analyse financial reports;
2. read, interpret, and apply international accounting standards;
3. prepare a report on corporate financial performance; and
4. make judgments on applying appropriate accounting standards to different business situations.

This assignment is part of the continuous assessment and feedback.  It is a group assignment – groups to have a maximum of three students.  Please note again that as this is a group assignment and all students in the group are expected to work together and to contribute equitably.  You are required to submit a meeting log document to your lecturer that shall provide minutes of your weekly meetings specifying your individual contributions.  However, each student in the group will be awarded the same mark.

Due date:               by 11.59pm Sunday 10 October 2021.

Marks:        20 % towards final assessment.

Word limit: 2,500 words (The word limit of 2,500 words does not include cited references, table of

contents and the executive summary.)

Specific Assignment Requirements: 

Prepare a business report analysing the latest annual report of the ASX listed company allocated to your group by your lecturer from the list below.  Your report should address each of the following:

1. Company- Introduction, Business & operating activities, Finances and Financial performance

• Describe the core business of the company. Provide full details of its different activities and or business segments.
• Discuss the characteristics of the industry that the company operates in. For example, is it a growing or declining industry; which are the main competitors of the company and what are they doing, etc.  Ensure you discuss the implications of these factors.
• Describe key elements of financial performance reported by the company in the annual report.
• Critically analyse the financial structure of the company. How the company is funded vis-à-vis internal or external sources?
• Has the company reported any event that occurred after the reporting date? If so, describe the event.
• Were there any changes in accounting policies disclosed in the company’s annual report? If yes, briefly describe those changes.

2. Assets – Property, Plant, and Equipment, and Intangible Assets

• Analyse the carrying amount of each class of Property, Plant, and Equipment at reporting date of the company.
• Describe the accounting policies relating to Property, Plant, and Equipment adopted by the company.
• Analyse the classes of Intangible Assets reported by the company. Discuss their composition and relevance to the company’s business.
• Describe the accounting policies relating to Intangible Assets adopted by the company.
• Are any items of Property, Plant, and Equipment, and/or Intangible Assets of the company impaired? If so, identify which assets are impaired, the amount of the impairments, (where possible), and analyse how the impairment was determined.

3. Leases

• What are the reported values of the company’s leased assets and liabilities? Describe the information disclosed in the notes to the accounts relating to leased assets and lease liabilities.

4. Accounting for Income Tax

• What are the values of Deferred Tax Assets and Deferred Tax Liabilities disclosed by the company? Explain their rationale using the information provided by the company in the notes to accounts.

For the above requirements/issues, you need to compare and contrast your company’s information with an identified competitor, where appropriate.  Note:  It is important to refer to relevant accounting standards in your report to score high marks in this group assignment.

List of companies:

BHP Group Ltd

Domain Holdings Australia Ltd

Domino’s PIZZA Enterprises Ltd

Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd

JB Hi-Fi Ltd

QBE Insurance Group Ltd

Telstra Corporation Ltd

Late assignments

Extensions for assignments need to be made through RMIT’s special consideration procedures.  Please see the RMIT website for information on special consideration.

Assignments submitted after the due date without special consideration granted, will be automatically penalised at a rate of 10% of the total mark, for each day late.  Assignments will not be accepted if more than five days late, unless prior approval has been given.

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT & PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is the presentation of the work, idea or creation of another person as though it is your own.

It is a form of cheating and is a very serious academic offence that may lead to expulsion from the University. RMIT’s policy on Plagiarism is available at RMIT website.

Examples of plagiarism include:

• Copying sentences or paragraphs word-for-word from one or more sources, whether published or unpublished, which could include, but is not limited to, books, journals, reports, theses, websites, conference papers, course notes, etc. without proper citation;
• Closely paraphrasing sentences, paragraphs, ideas or themes without proper citation;
• Piecing together text from one or more sources and adding only linking sentences;
• Copying or submitting whole or parts of computer files without acknowledging their source;
• Copying designs or works of art and submitting them as your original work;
• Copying a whole or any part of another student’s work; and
• Submitting work as your own that someone else has done for you.