Course specification for ACC8105

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ACC8105 Financial Statement Analysis

Semester 1, 2020 On-campus Springfield
Short Description: Financial Statement Analysis
Units : 1
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts
School or Department : School of Commerce
Student contribution band : Band 3
ASCED code : 081199 - Bank,Fin&Rel Flds not class
Grading basis : Graded

Staffing

Examiner:

Requisites

Pre-requisite: ACC5200 or ACC5202
Co-requisite: ACC5215

Other requisites

Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at .

Rationale

Financial statements are used extensively in decision making. In this Financial Statement Analysis course, students will acquire a detailed knowledge of financial statement analysis. This course will help students to gain relevant experience by focusing on the analysis of financial statements of real businesses, and will learn how to detect and deal with any management bias within financial statements. It further develops skills and knowledge required for the higher levels of study in theory and practice.

Synopsis

This course is designed to enable students to acquire advanced skills of financial statement analysis. Based on the Australian Qualification Framework, the minimum Threshold Learning Outcomes for this course will be developed in the areas of knowledge and application skills. A focus of the course is the development of practical skills. Financial statements are used extensively in decision-making. People use the information communicated in financial statements to help them make decisions about share trading, investing and reviewing lending decisions. This course provides students with an opportunity to use analytical techniques that will help them make informed decisions when using financial statements. We use financial analysis techniques to assess the quality of the accounting information provided, to derive the value of a company and to make sound financial forecasts.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

  1. develop an understanding the purposes of accounting information analysis, capital markets information, and the application of the knowledge to decision making through the integrate theoretical and technical accounting knowledge particularly in the area of financial accounting information at a professional level;
  2. apply the range of techniques employed in financial statement analysis and the role of both financial and non­financial data to describe, explain, interpret and analyse financial statements for investment decisions;
  3. apply the information literacy and numeracy skills required by financial analysts by extracting relevant data from business sources, identifying and evaluating information sources, and utilising financial mathematics and analytical techniques;
  4. utilise the basics of financial statement analysis techniques that include data gathered through researching for other more recent information.

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. Introduction to financial reporting 16.00
2. Types of Analyses and how to implement these analyses 57.00
3. Communications of financial information, credit analysis, and distress predictions 27.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=01&subject1=ACC8105)

Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

Palepu, Krishna G, Healy, Paul M, Wright, Sue, Bradbury, Michael & Lee, Phillip 2014, Business Analysis and Valuation: Using Financial Statements - Text and Cases Asia Pacific, 2nd edn, Cengage Learning Australia, South Melbourne, Victoria.

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.
Penman, S 2013, Financial statement analysis and security valuation, 5th edn, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York.
Subramanyam, KR & Wild, JJ 2014, Financial statement analysis, 11th edn, McGraw Hill/Irwin, New York.
(international edition.)

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Directed ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 36.00
Independent ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 129.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Notes
ASSIGNMENT 1 - CASE STUDY 100 20 01 Apr 2020 (see note 1)
ASSIGNMENT 2 - CASE STUDY 100 40 06 May 2020 (see note 2)
TAKE HOME EXAM 100 40 End S1 (see note 3)

Notes
  1. The assignment details will be released by the end of week 1 through posting to study desk.
  2. This will be a take home exam. Students will be provided further instruction regarding the exam by their examiner via ¾«¶«´«Ã½appDesk.

Important assessment information

  1. Attendance requirements:
    It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them, to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

  2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S1 2020 are: To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item.

    Requirements after S1, 2020:

    To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks. (Depending upon the requirements in Statement 4 below, students may not have to satisfactorily complete each assessment item to receive a passing grade in this course.)

  3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
    Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)

  4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S1 2020 are: To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

    Requirements after S1, 2020:

    To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must obtain at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course (i.e. the Primary Hurdle), and have satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), i.e. the end of semester examination by achieving at least 40% of the weighted marks available for that assessment item.

    Supplementary assessment may be offered where a student has undertaken all of the required summative assessment items and has passed the Primary Hurdle but failed to satisfy the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), or has satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised) but failed to achieve a passing Final Grade by 5% or less of the total weighted Marks.

    To be awarded a passing grade for a supplementary assessment item (if applicable), a student must achieve at least 50% of the available marks for the supplementary assessment item as per the Assessment Procedure (point 4.4.2).

  5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
    The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.

  6. Examination information:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S1 2020 are: An Open Examination is one in which candidates may have access to any printed or written material and a calculator during the examination.

    Requirements after S1, 2020:

    This is a restricted examination. Candidates are allowed access only to specific materials during the examination. The only materials that candidates may use in the restricted examination for this course are:
    i. writing materials (non-electronic and free from material which could give the student an unfair advantage in the examination)
    ii. calculators which cannot hold textual information (students must indicate on their examination paper the make and model of any calculator(s) they use during the examination)
    iii. one A4 page of notes which can be hand-written or typed on both sides.

  7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S1 2020 are: The details regarding deferred/supplementary examinations will be communicated at a later date.

    Requirements after S1, 2020:

    Any Deferred or Supplementary examinations for this course will be held during the next examination period.

  8. ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Student Policies:
    Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene ¾«¶«´«Ã½app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .

Assessment notes

  1. Referencing in assignments:
    Harvard (AGPS) is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use Harvard (AGPS) style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The Harvard (AGPS) style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide at .

Date printed 19 June 2020