Adelaide Semester 1	Melbourne Semester 1
Dr. Wei Li The University of Adelaide Business School Level 13, Room 13.31 Pulteney StreetThe University of Adelaide, AUSTRALIA 5005 Ph : +61 8 8313 0508 e-mail: wei.li02@adelaide.edu.au Web: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/wei.li02	Name: Rekha Prabagaran Email: rekha.prabagaran@adelaide.edu.au
Adelaide Semester 2
Dr. Yunyan Zhang The University of Adelaide Business School Level 13 10 Pulteney Street The University of Adelaide, AUSTRALIA 5005 Ph : +61 8 8313 6825 e-mail: yunyan.zhang@adelaide.edu.au Web: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/yunyan.zhang

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

1	Identify, measure, record and classify financial information for the purpose of preparing general purpose financial statements in accordance with the Conceptual Framework and Australian Accounting Standards.
2	Conduct research of a practical nature by sourcing data and using basic analysis techniques to make informed judgements.
3	Communicate accounting information and research findings in a professional manner.
4	Use accounting software to process basic accounting transactions.

Text Books:
During this course we will be making extensive use of the electronic resources associated with the text:
Financial Accounting, 7th Edition by Carlon, Mladenovic-McAlpine, Lee, Mitrione, Kirk and Wong.
To increase your success in this course you should have WileyPlus associated with the text. From this link https://www.wileydirect.com.au/buy/financial-accounting-reporting-analysis-and-decision-making/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAu62QBhC7ARIsALXijXSX0sqextfcz5Cm5abX3gw93NMNA8wAdsEMqa3sED_MOYuL6RXp8usaAo7eEALw_wcB

Use of the internet:
Accounting Concepts and Methods (M) will make use of various internet sites which are accounting related. Access to the internet can be via the library or various computer pools located within the university.

AASB Conceptual Framework and Standards:
Other resources such as the Accounting Conceptual Framework and Accounting Standards will be provided on MyUni.

Many course resources are available on the course website: www.myuni.adelaide.edu.au, including:

• Lecture and tutorial documents;
• Sample exams and suggested solutions; and
• Assessment task related documents.

Design of this course is based on facilitating learning in an environment where you are actively engaged by applying abstract concepts to practical problems that are meaningful to you. By giving you a range of activities and time to reflect on what you have learnt you get the opportunity to build up a good understanding which you can demonstrate through assessment tasks at appropriate times throughout the semester. The course design has been well thought out to help you learn but it will only work if you put the effort in and work consistently throughout the semester. If you do work consistently there is no reason why you will not do well.

There are four key activities:

1. Pre-class activity – Preparation
Each week you should read through the appropriate chapter of the text book before the lecture. Do this online by following the link in the weekly module on MyUni. Read the eBook and watch and do the interactive activities. These are often a series of slides and animations with audio which explain key concepts followed by something for you to do. You are not expected to be able to do activities 100% correctly at this stage but you should at least watch and attempt them as it will give you a broad overview of the weekly topic which enables you to get maximum benefit from the following lecture and tutorial time. After  reading the relevant chapter and activities you should also have a first attempt at the relevant online activity.

2. In-class activities – Understanding
Having completed the preparation you can come to the lecture and tutorial ready to actively listen and participate in discussion and activities. The lecturer or tutor will not need to labour the key terms, as they were covered in the preparation and minimal explanation should see you grasp these concepts. Examples will be worked through, questions asked and answered, concepts compared, discussed, and relationships formed with previous work. This will build up your body of knowledge and understanding.  All of the weekly material will be not be covered in each class. The activities are designed so that you can use the skills you have learnt to answer the remaining questions. A guide for students is provided at the end of each week to assist in your revision.

3. Real World application – Consolidation
Many of our examples use simplified data to enable understanding. The real test comes in applying the concepts you have learnt to real company annual reports. What this does is take an abstract concept demonstrated in simplified examples in the textbook and lectures/tutorials and illustrates that concept in its full complexity in a real world setting. You are given activities to do in the Research Project with real annual reports; such as finding key elements and calculating key ratios. Through applying your knowledge in this way, you will consolidate your understanding. The research project is a team activity. You should approach this as a “team” and work closely together to find the required information and discuss your annual reports. Much can be learnt through helping each other to discover items and through discussing concepts.

4. Assessment - Demonstration
At various points throughout the semester and ultimately at the end of semester you will complete assessment tasks. These are individual and team tasks and the final exam which gives you an opportunity to demonstrate that you have achieved the learning outcomes of the course. In addition, and most importantly, you get feedback and find out which concepts you are struggling with so that you can work on these areas.

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 for a three-unit course or 13 hours for a four-unit course of private study outside of your regular classes.

The following topics are covered:
1. An introduction to accounting (and introduction to the general purpose financial statements and the Conceptual Framework)
2. The recording process
3. Accrual accounting concepts
4. Inventories and reporting and analysing inventory
5. Reporting and analysing cash and receivables
6. Mid-term exam
7. Reporting and analysing non-current assets
8. Reporting and analysing liabilities
9. Accounting and analysing equity
10. Cash flow statements
11. Analysing and integrating GAAP (an in-depth look at the Conceptual Framework)

An outline for each topic will be made available on MyUni.

ASSESSMENTS	DUE DATE	WEIGHTING	LEARNING OUTCOMES
XERO accounting software exercise	Week 7	5%	4
Mid-term exam	Week 6	15%	1, 3
Research Project	Week 8 (to be confirmed - see handout on MyUni)	20%	2, 3
Final Examination	Date to be confirmed - 3 hours	60%	1, 2, 3
TOTAL		100%

To gain a pass for this course, a mark of at least 50% must be obtained on the final examination as well as a total of at least 50% overall result.

Students not achieving the minimum final examination mark will be awarded no more than 49 for the course.

XERO accounting software practice 5%
This practice requires students to create a XERO account for access to the Demo Company, process transactions using XERO, and submit the required printed outputs.

Mid-term exam 15%
In the relevant week at a designated time you will get a mid-term exam, designed for you to test your knowledge of the previous weeks’ content. This exam will give you timely feedback on your level of understanding.

Research Project 20%
The research project brings together the key concepts that you have learnt in the early weeks of the course and allows you to demonstrate your knowledge in a real world context through the use of company annual reports. This project will be worked on in team of four (4) and should be approached as a “team” event. That is, everyone working together and helping each other to discuss the requirements and derive an outcome. An excellent project will be one that is presented in a professional manner, provides the information asked for, and is seamlessly put together and not dis-jointed. Extensive guidance will be provided on the project requirements.

Final Exam 60%
There will be a three-hour examination covering all topics studied in the course. Legible hand-writing and the quality of English expression are considered to be integral parts of the assessment process. Marks may be deducted if markers are unable to understand your answers due to poor hand-writing. The exam will consist of multiple choice, problem based and written questions. Sample exams and suggested solutions will be provided on MyUni.

Presentation of the Research Project
A copy of the Business School's Communication Skills Guide may assist you in preparing your assignments.  A copy of this guide can be downloaded from https://www.adelaide.edu.au/professions/students/professions-support-hub#documents-and-links This publication also provides guidelines on a range of other important communication skills including how to write essays and management reports, making oral presentations, short answer, etc. 

In preparing any written piece of assessment for your postgraduate studies, it is important to draw on the relevant 'literature' to support critical analysis.  Also essential is to reference the literature used.  Correct referencing is important because it identifies the source of the ideas and arguments that you present, and sometimes the source of the actual words you use, and helps to avoid the problem of plagiarism. The Harvard System is widely used in the Business School. Guidelines for the use of this style of referencing can be found in the Communication Skills Guide.

Please retain a copy of all assignments submitted.

The research project is submitted by one group member only via MyUni.

Online submission confirms your acknowledgement of the University’s policy on plagiarism (refer below to the Academic Honesty Policy under 'Policies and Guidelines'). Students must NOT submit work for an assignment that has previously been submitted for this course or any other course without prior approval from the lecturer-in-charge.


Late Assignment Submission
Students are expected to submit their work by the due date to maintain a fair and equitable system. Extensions will generally only be given for medical or other serious reasons.

If practical requests for extensions should be emailed to the lecturer-in-charge of the course a minimum of 5 days before the due date. Each request will be assessed on its merits. A late assignment (without prior arrangement) may be penalised by 20% of the total assignment mark for each day that it is late. Requests for extensions after the due date must be made with supporting documentation by completing the Application for Assessment Extension form within seven (7) days of the task due date.  If possible an alternative time to complete the assessment will be negotiated. The nature and form of the documentation to accompany a request for an extension must be in accordance with the instructions of the Modified Arrangements for Coursework Assessment (see below under 'Policies and Guidelines'). Students who fail to submit any piece of assessment and fail to provide adequate supporting documentation to the Course Coordinator will be awarded a score of zero for that component of the course assessment.

Return of Assignments and Tests to students
Online assessment tasks are marked automatically with results and feedback available on completion. We will aim to mark and return the research project to students within two (2) weeks of the due date with feedback. These will be marked online and available via MyUni.