Mail: Main Office: Phone Reception: International Within Australia Fax Reception: International Within Australia Email:

ANU College of Business & Economics Building 26C The Australian National University ACT 0200 Room 2.01 (Level 2) Building 26C See Campus Map +61 2 6125 3807 1300 732 120 (local call cost only) +61 2 6125 0744 02 6125 0744 Info.cbe@anu.edu.au

School of Accounting & Business Information Systems Building 21 The Australian National University ACT 0200 Room 2037 (Level 2) Hanna Neumann (Bldg 21) See Campus Map +61 2 6125 0025 02 6125 0025 +61 2 6125 4310 02 6125 4310 Enquiries.ABIS@anu.edu.au

Course Outline
BUSN1001 Business Reporting & Analysis Semester 2, 2011
STUDENTS: Course details change from semester to semester. Please check that you are reading the Course Outline for the correct semester. Course Description The course focuses on the nature and scope of business reporting and the need for financial and nonfinancial information for business decision-making. It provides students with fundamental financial management knowledge in the contemporary business environment. The course commences with an introduction to the use of business reports and the financial reporting regulatory environment. The concepts of primary financial reports and specific reporting issues are then discussed, with a focus on the preparation and analysis of financial statements from the perspectives of business report users. The course proceeds with discussions on the basic financial decision tools, the use of past and futureoriented information and how the knowledge is applied to managerial decision-making, including planning, control and investment opportunities Graduate Studies Select Classification Not applicable.

Contacts
Role Course Convenor and Lecturer (Course Authority) Dr Tracy Wang Office address Room 1023, Hanna Neumann Bld 21 tracy.wang@anu.edu.au 02 6125 9835 Business hours only To be advised on Wattle Email Telephone Consultation Times

Tutor/s

To be advised

To be advised

To be advised

To be advised on Wattle

Student Administrators

HN 2037 Hanna Neumann Bld 21

enquiries.abis@anu.edu.au

6125 0025 or 6125 7968

Office hours 9am 5pm Monday Friday

Communication
Email If necessary, the lecturers and tutors for this course will contact students on their official ANU student email address. Information about your enrolment and fees from the Registrar and Student Services' office will also be sent to this email address. Announcements Students are expected to check the Wattle site for announcements about this course, e.g. changes to timetables or notifications of cancellations. Notifications of emergency cancellations of lectures or tutorials will be posted on the door of the relevant room. Course URLs More information about this course may be found on: Study @ ANU, the College of Business and Economics website, and Wattle, the University's online learning environment. Log on to Wattle using your student number and your ISIS password.

Course Information
Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of the requirements for this course, students will be able to: Understand the relationship of business reporting to the social and economic environment; Explain who are the main users of business reports, and the main purposes for which the information is used; Understand the major differences between sole traders, partnerships and companies. Distinguish between income, expenses, assets and liabilities; Apply the principle of duality to the accounting equation; Prepare an income statement, balance sheet and a statement of cash flows; Analyse financial reports with regard to key aspects of performance such as profitability, solvency and liquidity;

Explain what the planning and control processes are in relation to company objectives; Evaluate investment opportunities, including investment decision making, and budgeting. cost-volume-profit analysis, capital

Workload Students taking this course are expected to commit at least 10 hours a week to completing the work. This will include: 2 hours a week: lecture 1 hour a week: tutorial Up to 7 hours a week: reading, review of lecture material, group discussion with other students, preparation for lectures and tutorials, research, writing and assignment preparation

The assignment is expected to take up to 40 hours to complete. Course Delivery Lecture and tutorial times, dates and locations are available at http://timetable.anu.edu.au/default.asp. If a lecture was due on a public holiday then the lecture will be held at an alternative time that week. Attendance Requirements Attendance at lectures for BUSN1001 is highly recommended. While there is no assessment on lecture attendance, students will be at a considerable disadvantaged if they do not attend. Students have a responsibility, both to themselves and fellow students in this course, for how the class progresses. Consequently, students are expected to prepare and attend lectures as part of their commitment to this course. 5% of total marks for BUSN1001 will be awarded for the completion of the tutorial questions. Students will need to provide evidence to their tutor at each tutorial that they have completed adequate answers for all of the tutorial questions. Students will lose marks if they fail to attend tutorials and complete all tutorial exercises. Tutorial Registration Enrolment in tutorials will be completed online using the Electronic Teaching Assistant (ETA). To enrol, follow these instructions: 1. Go to http://eta.fec.anu.edu.au. 2. You will see the Student Login page. To log into the system, enter your University ID (your student number) and password (your ISIS password) in the appropriate fields and hit the Login button. 3. Read any news items or announcements. 4. Select "Sign Up!" from the left-hand navigation bar. 5. Select your courses from the list. To select multiple courses, hold down the control key. On key. Hold this key down while selecting PCs, this is the Ctrl key; on Macs, it is the courses with the mouse. Once courses are selected, hit the SUBMIT button.

6. A confirmation of class enrolments will be displayed. In addition, an email confirmation of class enrolments will be sent to your student account. 7. For security purposes, please ensure that you click the LOGOUT link on the confirmation page, or close the browser window when you have finished your selections. 8. If you experience any difficulties, please contact the School Office (see page 1 for contact details). Tutorials will be opened for enrolment following the first lecture in the first week of the semester.

Study Schedule

Week beginning

Theme / Topic / Module Introduction to business reporting

Activity

Required student preparation

Deadlines

25 July

Rules accountants play by: Objectives of financial statements, conceptual framework, definitions and concepts & principles Measuring & reporting financial position (Balance Sheet): Accounting policy choices, types of assets and liabilities, off balance sheet items, accounting for current assets, non-current assets, liabilities and owners equity Measuring & reporting financial position (Balance Sheet) continued Measuring & reporting financial performance (Income Statement): Revenue recognition, concepts of profitability, revenues, accounting income policy The Statement of Changes in Equity Measuring & reporting cash flows Analysis & interpretation of financial statements Mid-semester exam

Lecture. No tutorials

Reading Chps 1, 2 & 3

Tutorial exercises. Lecture and tutorial Readings Chps 4,6,7,8, 9

1 August

8 August

Lecture and tutorial

Tutorial exercises. Readings: See previous week Tutorial exercises. Readings: Chp 5 Tutorial exercises. Readings Chps 5 & 11 Tutorial exercises. Reading Chp 13

15 August

Lecture and tutorial

22 August

Lecture and tutorial

29 August

Lecture and tutorial

5 September 12 to 25 September 26 September

(covers topics covered in lectures from weeks 1-5 inclusive) Mid-semester teaching break Business structures Corporate governance, regulation and voluntary reporting

No lectures or tutorials. Exam to be administered by university exam section.

Lecture and tutorial

Tutorial exercises. Readings Chps 10 & 12

Week beginning 3 October

Theme / Topic / Module Management of working capital Financing the business

Activity

Required student preparation Tutorial exercises. Reading Chps 6, 7,11 & 9

Deadlines

Lecture and tutorial

10 October Introduction to Budgeting 10 October Preparation of a cash budget Cost-volume-profit 17 October Relevant costing

ASSIGNMENT DUE

4pm Monday 10 October Tutorial exercises. Readings Chps16, 17 & 19 Tutorial exercises. Readings Chps 16 & 18 Tutorial exercises. Readings Chps 15 Tutorial exercises.

Lecture and tutorial

Lecture and tutorial

24 October 31 October 10-26 November

Capital investment decisions Course Overview Final examination period

Lecture and tutorial Lecture and tutorial

Assessment
Proposed Assessment Schedule
Assessment item Description and detail of assignment Due Date Weighting (%)

Completion of tutorial exercises Mid-semester exam Assignment Final Examination

Tutorial questions for each week Lecture topics weeks 1-5 Report All lecture topics

Each tutorial Week 7 10 October During examination period

5 20 25 50

All components of the above assessment are compulsory and to achieve a pass you must, unless exempted by the Course Authority, complete ALL components. To achieve an automatic pass grade in this course you must obtain 50% or more as an aggregate mark and pass the final examination component. Details about assessment may change during the first two weeks of semester. Please ensure that you check with your lecturer or tutor about any changes. Changes to the assessment schedule will be posted to the Wattle site. Learning Outcomes-Assessment How well have you achieved the learning outcomes for this course? Your lecturer makes this judgement based on your assignments and examination papers. This table illustrates how each assessment item provides evidence about your achievements against each learning outcome.
Course Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of the requirements for this course, students will be able to:

Mid-semester exam

Assignment

Final Examination

Understand the relationship of business reporting to the social and economic environment Explain who are the main users of business reports, and the main purposes for which the information is used Understand the major differences between sole traders, partnerships and companies Distinguish between income, expenses, assets and liabilities Apply the principle of duality to the accounting equation Prepare an income statement, balance sheet and a statement of cash flows Analyse financial reports with regard to key aspects of performance such as profitability, solvency and liquidity Explain what the planning and control processes are in relation to company objectives

Course Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of the requirements for this course, students will be able to:

Mid-semester exam

Assignment

Final Examination

Evaluate investment opportunities, including costvolume-profit analysis, capital investment decision making, and budgeting

Assignment Details Due Date Value or Weighting (%) Marks Suggested Length Instructions Purpose 4pm on Monday 10 October 25% of total mark Out of 25 marks See Wattle The assignment is available from the course website. Its purpose is to give students the opportunity to read and interpret financial statements and to develop research and professional writing skills. In particular, the assignment requires reading and interpreting the financial statements of a listed company and preparing a report for a potential investor. See Wattle Assignments should be submitted in the slot under the counter of the ABIS Student Enquiries office (Room 2037, Level 2, Hanna Neumann Building). All assignments for ABIS courses go in the same slot. All assignments are cleared, sorted and date-stamped at 9am and 4pm daily. The quality of the report, including its English expression, will be taken into account in the assessment. The report should be based on the deductive structure described in Emersons Figure 6.1. (See details of Emerson below). Assignments are to be word-processed. Assignments are to be submitted with an ABIS Assessment Cover Sheet attached to the front page - available from the school office or course website. This cover sheet must be signed by the student submitting the assignment. Assignments should not be submitted in plastic cover sheets/folders. Non-submission of a compulsory assignment will preclude students from qualifying for a supplementary or further examination.

Marking Criteria Submission / Presentation Details

Return of Assignments During teaching periods assignments will be returned during tutorials. At the end of semester students should follow the tutors instructions regarding where to collect assignments from. After this Assignments will be available for collection in the exam viewing sessions for final exams of the same semester. Please note that after this assignments will be securely destroyed by the school office. Retention of Assignments Students should keep a hard copy of assignments, answers to tutorial questions and related documents which are to be made accessible to the Course Coordinator if required. Students should also keep returned marked assignments until final results for the semester are posted. Queries concerning the awarded mark can only be resolved with the original assignment. Scaling Your final mark for the course will be based on the raw marks allocated for each assignment or examination. However, your final mark may not be the same number as produced by that formula, as marks may be scaled. Any scaling applied will preserve the rank order of raw marks (i.e. if your raw mark exceeds that of another student, then your scaled mark will exceed the scaled mark of that student), and may be either up or down. Extensions All assignment extension requests must be made in advance of the due date to the course coordinator. Applications for extension must be made on the Application for Special Consideration; available from the ABIS office or ABIS website Requests for extensions may be delivered to the ABIS office or via e-mail to the Course Coordinator with your student number included. Significant reasons must exist for an extension. No extension will be granted which results in the assignment being lodged after the subject of the assignment is discussed in a workshop or after the deadline for completion of the marking. Students who would have been granted extensions beyond these dates will have their assignment results based on the weighted average of their results in their examinations standardised by the relationship between all students assignment and all students examination marks. Extensions for assignments are rarely given. Rather, late penalties are applied to encourage students to manage assignment deadlines. Requests will not automatically be granted and students should continue with assignment preparation on the basis that the extension request may not be approved. Penalties Late assignments will attract the following penalties: Lateness 1 day 2 days 3 days 4 days or more Penalty 20% of awarded mark 30% of awarded mark 50% of awarded mark No marks will be awarded

Examinations

Mid-semester examination
The mid-semester exam covers topics covered in lectures from weeks 1-5 inclusive. It will be a closed book examination and will be held in Week 7 (5th to 9th September). There will be no lectures or tutorials during this week. Mid-semester exams are administered by the university exam section and may be held after business hours. Students are expected to be available for examination at the time scheduled. Time and place will be published several weeks beforehand. There will be no supplementary mid-semester examinations. Students who are unable to attend the examination and whose Application for Special Consideration has been approved will have their marks for the mid semester examination based on the weighted average of their other assessment results standardised by the results of all students. Final examination The final exam covers all topics, particularly topics covered from weeks 6 12 inclusive. It will be a closed book examination of 3 hours duration. There will be a supplementary final examination for eligible students. A special examination will be held but only for students whose Application for a Special Examination has been accepted by the College. The final examination will be held during the university examination period in November. Notification of the exact date and location of the examination will be confirmed closer to the examination. An award of grades higher than a pass are not automatic, nor is the final mark a precise mathematical function of the marks awarded in the assessment. The examiners reserve the right to adjust the final result upwards or downwards in the exercise of their professional judgment. Permitted materials for both examinations Calculators which do not have text memory may be used in both examinations. Electronic dictionaries are not allowed. Permission forms for English/foreign language dictionaries are available from the officer foyer and the ABIS website (http://www.cbe.anu.edu.au/schools/abis/)

Misconduct http://www.anu.edu.au/cabs/rules/DisciplineRules.pdf In relation to an examination, misconduct on the part of a student includes: cheating; plagiarism (including the reproducing in, or submitting for assessment for, any examination, by way of copying, paraphrasing or summarising, without acknowledgement and with the intention to deceive, any work of another person as the students own work, with or without the knowledge or consent of that other person); submitting for an examination any work previously submitted for examination (except with the approval of the prescribed authority); failing to comply with the Universitys instructions to students at, or in relation to, an examination;

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acting, or assisting another person to act dishonestly, in or in connection with an examination; and/or taking a prohibited document into an examination venue.

The administrative procedures regarding misconduct are incorporated in the ANU Discipline Rules. Plagiarism http://academichonesty.anu.edu.au/ The College regards plagiarism as any appropriation of the ideas or expressions of another without relevant and appropriate acknowledgment. This includes un-attributed appropriation of text or content and may extend to improper referencing. Plagiarism will not be tolerated in any course and all discovered instances would be pursued to the full extent allowable under the rules. Where students have doubts as to how to deal with or acknowledge source materials in course assignments they should consult the lecturer or tutor. The penalties and administrative procedures regarding plagiarism are incorporated in the ANU Policy on Academic Honesty. On-line material discussing plagiarism and referencing styles is available from the Academic Skills and Learning Centre Web page (http://www.anu.edu.au/academicskills/).

Assessment Review and Appeals

Students are asked to raise any queries regarding continuous assessment results before the final examination, and to inspect assessment items before appealing assessment results. If there are reasonable grounds for appeal in regard to an assessment item the student should contact the relevant Course Authority. Tutors should be contacted for issues involving assignments or Course Coordinators (Examiners) for issues involving examinations or overall performance. In situations where an Examiner and student are unable to resolve an issue satisfactorily the school office should be contacted by email outlining the grounds for appeal.

Texts and Other Reading

Prescribed Texts Bazley, M and Hancock, P, 2010, Contemporary Accounting, Seventh edition, Cengage Learning Australia Pty Ltd Emerson L, 2009, Writing Guidelines for Business Students, Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning Australia Pty Ltd Please note that the Seventh edition of Bazley differs considerably from the Sixth Edition, which is now out of date. The required texts are available for purchase in a shrink-wrapped pack at a discounted price from the Co-op bookshop on campus. Purchase of a new text gives access to online problems and practice questions. Online references Textbook Companion Website - www.cengage.com/sso/ Australian Accounting Standards Board - www.aasb.gov.au/Home.aspx

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CPA Australia - www.cpaaustralia.com.au The Institute of Chartered Accountant in Australia (ICAA) - www.icaa.org.au The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) - www.iasb.org The Australian Securities & Investments Commission - www.asic.gov.au Australian Bureau of Statistics - www.abs.gov.au/ Students are also expected to access websites containing financial statements of selected entities.

Technology, Software, Equipment

Students are expected to bring a calculator, which does not require mains power, to each lecture and tutorial. Unprogrammable calculators are necessary and will be allowed in the two exams.

Course-related Matters
Requisites
There are no prerequisites to this course.

General Information for all Students

Please visit the following link: http://cbe.anu.edu.au/Current_Students/general_info/student_info.asp

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