LECTURER IN CHARGE

Name: Will Mackay
Location: Room 13.15, Nexus 10
Telephone: 8313 8305 (work)
email: will.mackay@adelaide.edu.au

Teaching Assistant

Name: Jessica Yi
Telephone: 8313 0739 (work)
email: jessica.yi@adelaide.edu.au 

Accounting for Decision Makers I has 2 X 1 hour lectures per week per student.

In addition the course also contains one weekly 1.5 hour tutorial per student. Tutorials begin in the first week of the semester and finish one week after formal lectures finish. No preparation is required for the first tutorial. Individual student assignments and mid-semester exam slot allocation will be arranged in the first week tutorial hence attendance is compulsory.

A one hour mid-semester exam will be conducted at Nexus 10 computer lab on Thursday 9th of April from 8am to 5pm. Students will need to make the arrangement required in order to attend the exam (more information will be provided via MyUni in Orientation Week).

Knowledge of accounting is a vital skill for everyone. Basic financial literacy is essential in managing one’s own private finances but is also extremely important in any organisation. Many people feel that because they are planning to pursue a career in something other than accounting, the study of that subject is not relevant to them. However, the great majority of decisions in any type of organisation (whether ‘for profit’ or ‘not-for-profit’) have financial implications. For example, someone in the Human Resources section of an organisation will need strong ‘people’ skills but will also have responsibility for the financial budget for the HR section (at a minimum, controlling the costs of that section).

This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of, and competency in, the language and process of accounting so that you can discuss intelligently the financial implications of your future decisions. The course will also emphasise the use of accounting in basic organisational decision making. The overall aims of this course include the following:

• Provide a broad introduction to accounting.
• Introduce the role of accounting and how accounting captures information about the economics of an entity.
• Develop an understanding of the ‘language’ of accounting.
• Explain the rationale shaping the development of international financial reporting standards.
• Examine various Business Structures
• Consider the issues concerning Business sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility
• Develop the skills to read and understand company Annual Reports
• Develop the skills to identify and record accounting transactions
• Develop the skills to prepare basic financial statements including the Statement of Financial Position, Statement of Comprehensive Income, and Statement of Changes in Equity.
• Enable students to understand the ‘story’ told by financial statements and the implications for the story when different choices are made.
• Develop skills in financial statement analysis
• Explore the use of accounting in internal decision making
• Introduce management accounting concepts including cost behaviour, cost-volume-profit analysis and product costing
• Develop skills in applying management accounting techniques to assist in decision making

By the end of this course students should be able to:

1. explain the concepts that underlie the preparation of general purpose financial reports;
2. analyse financial statements;
3. explain the information needs of management;
4. demonstrate an understanding of the role and preparation of budgets;
5. undertake a simple capital budgeting exercise; and
6. apply various management accounting techniques to analyse decisions faced by management.

Textbook

Birt, J., Chalmers, K., Byrne, S., Brooks, A. and Oliver, J., Accounting: Business Reporting for Decision Making, 2014, 5th edition, Wiley & Sons.

There are many other introductory accounting textbooks in the library and students are encouraged to seek these out to assist their learning. Examples of such textbooks include:

Hancock, P., Robinson, P., and Bazley, M. Contemporary Accounting A Strategic Approach for Users, 2015, 9th edition, Cengage Learning.

Hoggett, J., Edwards, L., Medlin, J., Chalmers, K., Hellmann, A., Beattie, C., and Maxfield, J. Accounting, 2015, 9th edition, Wiley & Sons.

This course makes substantial use of the MyUni website. Information that will be available through MyUni include:
· PowerPoint lecture slides
· MyMedia lecture recordings
· Readings
· Assignment information and feedback
· Messages for students
· Other facilities within MyUni will be activated from time-to-time as needed.

You must ensure that you check the MyUni site several times each week for any announcements or new information. It is your responsibility to remain informed about changes in the course and you will be deemed to know of any new information added to the MyUni site.

This course contains two main avenues for learning (apart from assessment). These are:
1. Delivery of 2 X 1 hour lectures per week for each student. These are the primary source of information on a topic. Students should read the relevant section of the textbook to support and expand on the knowledge gained in these lectures. Lectures will often be supplemented with MyMedia recordings on certain topics.

2. There is a weekly 1.5 hour tutorial. The aims of the tutorials are threefold; to develop a conceptual understanding of key accounting principles, to review and refine the technical competencies required to perform accounting calculations, and to gain an insight into the implications flowing from accounting information including the financial statements.
During the Tutorials students are free to ask any questions or issues about the topic under consideration. The objective here is to provide a more personalised approach to any problems which students have.
It is expected that each student will actively involve him/herself in the discussion during each tutorial. In general, a good participant will, among other things:
· Take the initiative and lead the discussion on a question,
· Be prepared to control the level of their involvement so that other class members can participate equally in the discussion;
· Present their points in a structured manner with reference readings;
· Be prepared to accept and explore alternative viewpoints;
· Be willing to go beyond the suggested readings and resources and use their initiative to present other topical material as examples, e.g., recent newspaper articles;
· Speak clearly;
· Assist other members of the class with understanding the material;
· Be prepared to work cooperatively and productively in small groups;
· Be sensitive to the needs and feelings of other participants; and
· Be punctual.

It is not expected that you will always have the “right” answer and, indeed, it should be recognised and understood that valid alternative points of view might well exist on an issue. This does not mean that “anything will do” when trying to find a solution to controversial topics – rather a “good” answer will be one that is grounded in, among other things, references to relevant and valid accounting concepts.

Preparation prior to attending your workshop is vital to your successful completion of this course and if you have not prepared beforehand you will have significant difficulties in understanding what is going on in the tutorial. Solutions generally will NOT be provided out for the tutorial activities. However, the teaching staff members are very happy to spend time assisting you with a question PROVIDED you have made a sincere written attempt beforehand. Ensure that you make good use of staff consultation times and the first year learning centre.

The University expects full-time students (i.e., those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This means that you are expected to commit approximately 9 hours of private study outside of your regular classes.

Students in this course are required to attend all lectures and Tutorials throughout the semester, tutorial preparation and participation will form part of the overall assessment as outlined in the assessment section below.

Topics:
1.         Introduction to Accounting
2.         Business Sustainability
3.         Business Structures
4.         Business Transactions
5.         Debits and Credits
6.         Statement of Financial Position
7.         Statement of Comprehensive Income
8.         Statement of Changes in Equity
9.         IFRS: Definition, Recognition, Measurement & Disclosure
10.       Statement of Cash Flow
11.       Financial Statement Analysis
12.       Budgeting
13.       Nature of Costs and Cost Analysis
14.       Cost Allocation
15.       Investment Decision Tools

The Small Group Discovery Experience strategy of the University is not utilised by this course at present.

There are five  assessment tasks, each designed to provide students with opportunities to demonstrate their level of comprehension and understanding of each of the topics covered in this course. The assessment tasks are:

1. Workshop Participation -- 10%
2. Workshop Activities -- 10%
3. Assignment -- 20%
4. Mid-Semester Exam -- 20%
5. Final Exam -- 40%

1. To pass the course students must achieve 50% of the overall course assessment. In addition there is requirement to achieve at least 45% in the final exam. Students who achieve an overall course result of 50% or greater but achieve less than 45% in the final exam will be recorded with 49% and be awarded an additional assessment (ie an academic supplementary exam).
2. All assessment tasks are compulsory and none are redeemable.
3. Students are not permitted to submit or use assessment from any previous or other course towards the assessment in this course.
4. Legible hand-writing and the quality of English expression are considered to be integral parts of the assessment process. Marks may be deducted in the final examination because of poor hand-writing.
5. Students are permitted to take any calculator into any of the invigilated assessments, including the final exam.
6. The final exam is a closed book exam and no materials are permitted to be taken into the exam except for a calculator referred above.

WORKSHOP PARTICIPATION -- 10%

Students must attend and actively participate in at least 10 out of the 12 workshops*.
*Please note due the frequency of public holidays, students enrolled in workshops falling on the public holiday may attend any
alternate workshop in that week.

It is a student’s responsibility to ensure that their attendance and participation at a tutorial is recorded by their tutor. This can be done by producing a student ID card (or similar) and having the attendance noted on a class roll. However, a student's attendance will only be recorded if the student is present during the entire duration of a tutorial.

If a student attends less than 10 tutorials they will receive a NIL mark for this assessment component, unless the non-attendance is due to the student’s illness or compassionate circumstances. Such students must provide a complete Application form at
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/student/exams/Medical_Compassionate_Application_Form_-_12_June_2013.pdf
This form needs to be completed and then emailed to Mr Tony Trimboli at tony.trimboli@adelaide.edu.au who will then attend the necessary processes.

Note that students relying on medical reasons must visit their medical practitioner, with that approved University form, and have the medical practitioner complete it. A normal doctor's certificate will not be accepted.


WORKSHOP ACTIVITIES -- 10%

Students must submit a copy of their workshop solutions at the beginning of each workshop. One of the workshop questions will be randomly marked and awarded either pass or fail. Students will receive 1 point per pass up to a maximum of 10 points for the 12 workshops.


ASSIGNMENTS -- 20%

The Assignment is due Monday 18th May by 4pm. The Assignment is concerned with financial accounting with an emphasis on financial statement analysis and the use of financial ratios to analyse and interpret financial statements. Students will be assigned an ASX 200 listed company to investigate. Each student has a unique set of tasks to complete. The Assignment will be submitted electronically through MyUni. Further details of the submission process will be advised in due course.

 
MID-SEMESTER EXAM -- 20%

The Mid-Semester Exam comprising a 1 hour computer lab exam will be held on the Thursday 9th of April from 8am to 5pm. The exam will cover Topics 1-8. The exam is a combination of multiple choice and calculation style questions. Students must book an examination slot by 11pm on the 6th of March or they will be randomly allocated an examination slot. More details will be provided in due course. No materials are permitted except for a calculator.

FINAL EXAM -- 40%

There will be a three (3) hour exam. This will be a closed book exam and no materials are permitted except for a calculator.

Workshop Activity Solutions must be submitted to the workshop facilitator at the beginning of each the workshop in order to be considered for assessment. All submissions must be hand-written, typed or photocopied submissions will not be accepted.

The Assignments will be submitted electronically through MyUni.  Further details will be provided in due course.