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Year:

GSB601 Issues in Company Financial Reporting

Updated: 17 February 2010
Credit Points 6
Offering
Responsible Campus Teaching Period Mode of Study Online Level
Armidale Trimester 2 Off Campus D - Comp/internet essential
Intensive School(s) None
Supervised Exam There is a UNE Supervised Examination held at the end of the teaching period in which you are enrolled.
Pre-requisites candidature in GradCertProfAcc or MCom or MCom(ProfAcc) or MBusRes or MBusRes(Hons)
Co-requisites None
Restrictions AFM511
Notes None
Combined Units None
Coordinator(s) John Whitman (jwhitman@une.edu.au)
Unit Description

This unit identifies the most important contemporary issues in the development of company financial reporting practice and discusses the regulatory developments likely to arise from these issues. Currently the issues addressed are the on-going controversy concerning the role of fair value accounting in the global financial crisis, the pace of progress towards the harmonisation of the financial reporting standards of the USA promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and those of the International Accounting Standards Board in London, and the role of disclosure and transparency in the debates concerning appropriate levels of executive remuneration.

Prescribed Material
Mandatory
Text(s):

Note: Students are expected to purchase prescribed material

Accounting Theory
ISBN: 9780470810644
Godfrey, J., Hodgson, A., Holmes, S. and Tarca, A., John Wiley 6th ed. 2006
Text refers to: Trimester 2 , Off Campus
Disclaimer Unit information may be subject to change prior to commencement of the teaching period.
Assessment
Title Exam Length Weight Mode No. Words
Assignment 1 35% Off Campus 2000
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-3 GA: 1-4, 6
Online Assessment 25% Off Campus 1600
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-3 GA: 1-4, 6
Final Examination 2 hrs 40% Off Campus
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-3 GA: 1-4, 6

Learning Outcomes (LO) Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
  1. understand the determinants of corporate financial reporting;
  2. understand how companies disclose their corporate governance;
  3. understand the disclosure requirements relating to executive compensation, board performance and management discussion and analysis;
  4. understand the determinants of the changing nature of corporate financial reporting, including the impact of financial innovation, political pressures arising from corporate failures and changing economic circumstances and the role of detailed analysis by the accounting standards boards;
  5. understand the disclosure requirements relating to executive compensation and performance and the difficulties of designing remuneration systems which are a function of the financial performance of the corporation; and
  6. critically evaluate current financial reporting practice and regulation and identify areas which require improvement.

Graduate Attributes (GA)
Attribute Taught Assessed Practised
1 Knowledge of a Discipline
A command of company financial reporting will be achieved through knowledge presented in the teaching and learning activities associated with the unit.
True True True
2 Communication Skills
The primary communication skill developed is written communication via use of online discussion boards and preparation of research essays.
True True True
3 Global Perspectives
The focus is on corporate financial reporting and all examples are of 'world's best practice' and accordingly you will develop a global focus to the analysis and interpretation of financial reporting issues.
True
4 Information Literacy
This unit requires you to collect, interpret and synthesise information from a number of sources including the study guide, textbook, web, journals and authoritative texts in order to complete the assessment tasks.
True True True
5 Life-Long Learning
This unit will equip you with a conceptual framework enabling you to follow developments in corporate financial reporting as they unfold over the coming years and equip you to pursue life-long learning of the subject matter.
True
6 Problem Solving
This unit requires you to investigate and solve conceptual problems relating to corporate financial reporting and to consider the collection and presentation of evidence to support the conclusions you reach regarding assessment tasks.
True True True
7 Social Responsibility
This unit focuses on social responsibility from a corporate perspective. In particular, it examines how corporations disclose and report their social responsibility and manage the governance arrangements so as to discharge accountability to the wide range of stakeholders in the modern corporation.
True
8 Team Work
The unit does not require work in a team, however, via use of the unit discussion board students may form teams to consider issues raised in the unit.
True
   

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