CMA101 Introduction to Accounting Assessment 2 AssignmentDue date 12 midnight (Darwin time) Friday 16th May Week 10Length Maximum 1,200 (plus appendix of calculations)Weighting 30%

CMA101 Introduction to Accounting Assessment 2: Assignment

Due date: 12 midnight (Darwin time) Friday 16th May Week 10
Length: Maximum 1,200 (plus appendix of calculations)
Weighting: 30%
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Task: This is an individual assignment in which you will analyse the financial statements of a public company.

Preparation: Study topics 1-7 through following the study guide and readings.

Presentation: Your assignment solution should be presented in a suitable manner for reading by a client and the written discussion should be clear, unambiguous and concise. Please submit in MSWord format only and please apply the SafeAssign software (available on Learnline) prior to submission.

Assessment: The task will be assessed against the following criteria:
• Suitability of the choice of ratios;
• Accuracy of the calculations;
• Ability to correctly apply analysis techniques;
• Understanding of the information provided by the techniques;
• Communication of the required assignment outputs such that they would be useful to managers in exercising their duties;
• English expression – how well you express yourselves, concise style, no colloquialisms, absence of grammatical errors etc.; and,
• Presentation – for example, ease of reading for the reader, structure of the assignment, neatness, professionalism, correct MS Word format, lack of spelling errors etc.

Note: you are expected to write concisely without repetition, colloquialisms or verbosity. The marker will pay attention to the accuracy of the content (i.e., is it correct), information content of the analysis, coverage of relevant issues, structure of your argument, English expression, absence of plagiarism, concise writing style and referencing style.

Ensure that you understand what “plagiarism” means and the penalties that you will incur if you are found to have plagiarised any part of your assignment. This means not just presenting the ideas of others as your own without correct referencing, but also copying another student’s work, irrespective of the total percentage copied.

2 Do not share files with other students – submission of any amount of identical work constitutes plagiarism and you are liable for charges of misconduct regardless of whether you copied the work or provided the original work to others.

Ensure that you have applied SafeAssign to your assignment prior to submission on Learnline.

Assignment:
Select a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and obtain its published annual report for the year ended 30 June 2013 (the financial reports are presented on a comparative basis).

Analyse the financial statements in these annual reports, using the principal ratios that are discussed in your textbook. You do not need to calculate all of the ratios listed. Part of the task is to select relevant ratios. Some ratios may be discussed in the context of explaining trends that are identified by other ratios.

Note that there are very few marks for calculating ratios. The majority of marks are awarded for the interpretation of the ratios—what are they telling you?

Avoid wasting words on describing the ratios. For example, ‘The decline of the current ratio from 2.2 to 1.5 (Appendix A item 5) can be explained by reference to … This suggests that tighter management of … is required’ will earn far more marks than ‘The current ratio is calculated by dividing current assets by current liabilities. It has gone from 2.2 to 1.5. Another solvency ratio is …’

Format:
You should present this assignment as a report with at least one Appendix. A report format means that it should have headings, and possibly also subheadings. Start the report with a 100- 150 word executive summary of the findings of the analysis. The ratios should be presented in a user-friendly format (i.e. easy to read) in an appendix. In the report make it clear where the reader can find the ratios. Close the report with conclusions and recommendations. Recommendations to an internal client will highlight issues for attention and action; recommendations to an external client should succinctly address the competitiveness of the company, the strengths and weaknesses of its management and its attraction for investment.
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