Classes 

The unit requires 3 hours of face-to-face teaching per seminar, with 3 seminars held per week. The seminar will provide a general overview of the topics and highlight key concepts and techniques for specified topics, as well as facilitate further investigation and discussion of the concepts and their application in practical cases.

The timetable for classes can be found on the University web site at: http://www.timetables.mq.edu.au/ 

Changes to student timetables may only be made through eStudent. Students wishing to change their allocated seminar should log onto to eStudent and enrol in a seminar where there is a vacancy. Any question of an administrative nature in relation to seminar allocations should be addressed to accg340@mq.edu.au. Student enrolments must be finalised by 9 December 2016. No further changes may be made after this date.

Prizes

Details of prizes awarded by the Faculty of Business and Economics are available at: http://www.businessandeconomics.mq.edu.au/undergraduate_degrees/prizes_scholarships

Required and Recommended Texts and/or Materials

The required texts for the unit, which are available from the Co-op Bookshop are as follows: 

Gay, G. and Simnett, R. (2015) Auditing and Assurance Services in Australia, 6th edition, McGraw-Hill, Sydney, Australia.

And

Martinov-Bennie, N., Roebuck, P. and Soh, D. (2016 revised) Auditing and Assurance: A Case Studies Approach, revised 6th Edition, LexisNexis Butterworths, Sydney, Australia.

Additional required readings will also be made available on iLearn.

Students are also expected to read relevant standards and guidance which are available online at http://www.auasb.gov.au (ASAs, ASQC, ASRS, and AGS) and http//www.apesb.org.au (APES). These are also contained in the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand Auditing Handbook that is available for purchase as follows:

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (2015) Auditing, Assurance and Ethics Handbook 2015, John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd, Brisbane, Australia.

The following texts/resources may be useful as additional references:

Moroney, R., Campbell, F. and Hamilton, J. (2015) Auditing: A practical approach, 2nd Edition, John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd, Brisbane, Australia. [Also available for purchase from: http://www.wileydirect.com.au/buy/auditing-practical-approach-2nd-edition/] 

Arens, A., Best, P., Shailer, G., Fielder, B., Elder, R. and Beasley, M. (2015) Auditing, Assurance Services and Ethics in Australia: An Integrated Approach, 9^th Edition, Pearson, Sydney, Australia.

Leung P., Coram, P., Cooper, B. and Richardson, P. (2014) Modern Auditing & Assurance Services, 6^th Edition, John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd, Brisbane, Australia. [Also available for purchase from:  http://www.wileydirect.com.au/buy/modern-auditing-assurance-services-6th-edition/]

Technology Used and Required

Students will need access to a personal computer and the internet to obtain seminar slides, additional readings, assessment details and notices from the ACCG340 iLearn site, as well as to complete and make submissions for the assessment tasks in this Unit.

The iLearn site this unit can be found at: http://iLearn.mq.edu.au

You are strongly encouraged to regularly visit the website to check for important announcement and use it as a resource to enhance your learning experience.

What is required to complete this unit satisfactorily

In  addition to the requirements outlined in the Assessment tasks section above, including the requirement to pass the final exam to achieve a passing grade in this unit, it is expected that students in this course are independent learners who assume personal responsibility for their learning and undertake a pro‐active approach to addressing any deficiencies in their understanding of the course material through independent research and inquiry and through consultations with peers and instructors as appropriate. A detailed learning approach is provided in the Weekly Seminar Guide available on iLearn.

This unit uses research by Macquarie University researchers:

• Martinov-Bennie, N.,  Frost, G. and Soh,  D. (2012). "Assurance on sustainability reporting: State of play and future directions" in Contemporary Issues in Sustainability Reporting and Assurance, S. Jones and J. Ratnatunga (eds.), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, UK. 

• Soh, D. S. B. and N. Martinov-Bennie (2011). "The internal audit function: Perceptions of internal audit roles, effectiveness, and evaluation." Managerial Auditing Journal 26(7): 605-622. Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1941466. [Accessed 23 July 2014]

• Soh, D. S. B. and N. Martinov-Bennie (2015). "Internal auditors' perceptions of their role in environmental, social and governance assurance and consulting." Managerial Auditing Journal 30(1): 80-111. Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/MAJ-08-2014-1075. [Accessed 10 February 2015]

This unit uses research from external sources:

• Cohen, J., Krishnamoorthy, G. and Wright, A. (2004). "The Corporate Governance Mosaic and Financial Reporting Quality." Journal of Accounting Literature 23: 87-152

• Eilifsen, A. and Messier Jr., W. F. (2013). "Materiality Guidance of the Major Auditing Firms." Auditing: A Journal or Practice & Theory, Forthcoming. Available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2274845. [Accessed 23 July 2014]

• Cohen, J. R. and Simnett. R. (2014). "CSR and Assurance Services: A Research Agenda." Auditing: A Journal or Practice & Theory, Forthcoming. Available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2463837. [Accessed 23 July 2014]

• Glover, S. M., Prawitt, D. F. and Drake, M. S. (2014). "Between a Rock and a Hard Place: A Path Forward for Using Substantive Analytical Procedures in Auditing Large P&L Accounts: Commentary & Analysis." SSRN working paper series, available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2408765. [Accessed 23 July 2014]

This unit examines topical issues and developments in the auditing profession in Australia and internationally such as through the following resources:

• International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) (2014). "A Framework for Audit Quality: Key Elements that Create an Environment for Audit Quality", International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), New York. Available at: http://www.ifac.org/publications-resources/framework-audit-quality-key-elements-create-environment-audit-quality. [Accessed 23 July 2014]

• International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) (2013). "Exposure Draft: Reporting on Audited Financial Statements: Proposed New and Revised International Standards on Auditing (ISAs)", International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), New York. Available at: http://www.ifac.org/auditing-assurance/auditor-reporting-iaasbs-1-priority. [Accessed 23 July 2014]

• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) (2014). "Audit inspection program report for 2012-13", ASIC, Australia. Available at: http://www.asic.gov.au/asic/asic.nsf/byheadline/Liaison?openDocument#3. [Accessed 23 July 2014]

• International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR) (2014). "2013 Global Survey of Audit Inspection Findings." Available at: https://www.ifiar.org/IFIAR-Global-Survey-of-Inspection-Findings.aspx. [Accessed 23 July 2014]

• Financial Reporting Council (FRC) (2007). "Promoting Audit Quality", Financial Reporting Council, London. Available at: https://www.frc.org.uk/Our-Work/Codes-Standards/Audit-and-assurance/Promoting-audit-quality.aspx [Accessed 23 July 2014]

• Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia (2014). "Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation: Summary of Impacts." Available at: http://www.charteredaccountants.com.au/Industry-Topics/Audit-and-assurance/Current-issues/International-audit-news/News-and-updates/MandatoryAuditFirmRotation.aspx. [Accessed 23 July 2014]

• ASX Corporate Governance Council (CGC) (2014). "Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations", 3rd Edition, Australian Securities Exchange, Sydney. Available at: http://www.asx.com.au/regulation/corporate-governance-council.htm [Accessed 23 July 2014]

• Federation of European Accountants (FEE) (2014). "Opening a discussion: The Future of Audit and Assurance." FEE, Belgium.

• KPMG (2012). "A survey of fraud, bribery and corruption in Australia & New Zealand 2012." Available at: http://www.kpmg.com/au/en/issuesandinsights/articlespublications/fraud-survey/pages/fraud-bribery-corruption-survey-2012.aspx [Accessed 23 July 2014]

This unit addresses global and sustainability issues as direct areas of study and as necessary implications arising from the materials, assessment and academic discussion and debate in classes/seminars. We promote sustainability by developing ability in students to research and locate information within accounting discipline. We aim to provide students with an opportunity to obtain skills which will benefit them throughout their career. The unit materials have a reference list at the end of each chapter/module/text containing all references cited by the author. These provide some guidance to references that could be used to research particular issues.