Students

ACST8052 – Finance and Financial Reporting

2020 – Session 2, Special circumstance

Notice

As part of Phase 3 of our return to campus plan, most units will now run tutorials, seminars and other small group learning activities on campus for the second half-year, while keeping an online version available for those students unable to return or those who choose to continue their studies online.

To check the availability of face to face activities for your unit, please go to timetable viewer. To check detailed information on unit assessments visit your unit's iLearn space or consult your unit convenor.

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Chi Truong
Angela Chow
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to MActPrac or (10cp in ACCG or ACST or AFIN or BUS or ECON or MKTG or MGMT units at 6000 level or above)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit equips students to understand corporate governance and organisation, corporate financial reporting and corporate finance decision-making. It provides a basic understanding of personal and corporate taxation, types of financial instruments, financial reporting and how to interpret financial statements, and integrates this with corporate financial decisions such as raising capital, determining capital structure including liquidity, paying dividends, evaluating possible investment projects and evaluating working capital in the context of the Australian financial sector. Students will also understand and apply basic theoretical concepts in finance. Students gaining a Credit or higher in this unit will satisfy the requirements for exemption from professional subject CB1 of the Actuaries Institute.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Describe the process of financial reporting and interpret financial reports.
  • ULO2: Examine key financial concepts and interpret how these concepts are illustrated in corporate financial practice.
  • ULO3: Evaluate and critique issues in finance and financial reporting.
  • ULO4: Apply finance and financial reporting knowledge in a group project to solve a practical problem
  • ULO5: Examine and identify issues of financial reporting in corporate practice.

General Assessment Information

  • It is the responsibility of students to view their marks for each within-session assessment on iLearn within 20 working days of posting. If there are any discrepancies, students must contact the unit convenor immediately. Failure to do so will mean that queries received after the release of final results regarding assessment marks (not including the final exam mark) will not be addressed.

  • In the cases where a special consideration application is approved, the student may be offered an alternative assessment or may receive a mark based on the percentage mark achieved by the student in one or more other assessment tasks, at the unit convenor’s discretion.

  • Late submissions and extensions

    Tasks 10% or less – No extensions will be granted. Students who have not submitted the task prior to the deadline will be awarded a mark of 0 for the task, except for cases in which an application for special consideration is made and approved.

    Tasks above 10% - No extensions will be granted. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for special consideration is made and approved. No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Final Exam 60% No University Exam Period
Individual assignment 20% No Week 11
Class Test 20% No Week 8

Final Exam

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 28 hours
Due: University Exam Period
Weighting: 60%

 

The final examination will be closed book, a three-hour written paper with ten minutes reading time, to be held during the University Examination period.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Describe the process of financial reporting and interpret financial reports.
  • Examine key financial concepts and interpret how these concepts are illustrated in corporate financial practice.
  • Evaluate and critique issues in finance and financial reporting.

Individual assignment

Assessment Type 1: Quantitative analysis task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Week 11
Weighting: 20%

 

This is an individual assignment which focuses on finance and financial reporting.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Evaluate and critique issues in finance and financial reporting.
  • Apply finance and financial reporting knowledge in a group project to solve a practical problem
  • Examine and identify issues of financial reporting in corporate practice.

Class Test

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 8
Weighting: 20%

 

The test will be approximately 90 minutes, to be held during class time.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Describe the process of financial reporting and interpret financial reports.
  • Examine key financial concepts and interpret how these concepts are illustrated in corporate financial practice.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Required and Recommended Texts and/or Materials

Text

Brealey, R., Myers, S., and Allen, F. 2019. Principles of Corporate Finance (13th ed.). McGraw- Hill

Reference

Ross, S., Westerfield, R. and Jordan, B., 2019. Fundamentals of Corporate Finance (12th ed.). McGraw-Hill

Hoggett, J., Medlin, J., Chalmers, K., Beattie, C., Hellmann, A., Maxfield J., 2018. Accounting (10th ed.). Wiley

Weygandt, J., Kieso, D., Kimmel, P. 2016. Financial Accounting (10th ed.). Wiley

Technology Used and Required

Calculators You may use a calculator in the class test and in the final examination provided it is portable, silent and battery operated, but you must show clearly the steps involved in every calculation. You may NOT use any calculators that have a text-retrieval capacity, whether or not they have a full alphabet on the keyboard. Calculators may be checked at the commencement of the class test and final exam, and the make/model may be recorded.

Word processing Students need to have access to word processing software (like Word) to complete the Group Assignment. You will need electronically submit your Assignment (using iLearn) as a PDF file. Check your word processing software can generate a PDF file.

Spreadsheet program Many of the problems you will encounter in this unit can be solved easily with the spreadsheet program, Excel. You can use this spreadsheet program to verify your solutions to many of the problems you are solving. Students need to have access to word processing software (like Word) to complete the Group Assignment. You will need electronically submit your Assignment (using iLearn) as a PDF file. Check your word processing software can generate a PDF file. Spreadsheet program Many of the problems you will encounter in this unit can be solved easily with the spreadsheet program, Excel. You can use this spreadsheet program to verify your solutions to many of the problems you are solving.

 

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct​

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.