Students

ACCG8228 – CA - Strategy, Performance and Financial Modelling

2024 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor, Strategy Lecturer
James Hazelton
james.hazelton@mq.edu.au
Contact via Email
Refer iLearn
Financial Modelling Lecturer
Carl Shen
carl.shen@mq.edu.au
Contact via Email
Refer iLearn
Unit Moderator
Amy Tung
manamy.tung@mq.edu.au
Contact via Email
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to MProfAccg and (ACCG6011 and ACCG6014 and ACST6003 and ECON6049)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

In this unit, students will combine their technical and professional expertise with practical financial modelling approaches, enabling you to contribute to solving business problems and marking business decisions. Students will explore best practice financial modelling principles and develop the skills and knowledge to prepare robust, flexible and transparent financial models.

In addition, students will be able to contribute and add value to strategy development process through the application of business acumen and financial skills, providing key insights to evaluate, adapt and design organisational strategy. Students will also create measurement frameworks that monitor strategic performance on an ongoing basis and develop the skills required to present strategy in ways that influence decision making and gain stakeholder support.

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: Apply technical and professional expertise to analyse how financial modelling can contribute to business decisions.
  • ULO2: Analyse and critically evaluate existing financial models to determine their ability to produce a desired or intended result.
  • ULO3: Apply best practice financial modelling principles and professional judgement when designing and developing financial models
  • ULO4: Advise on the development of strategy to enhance stakeholder value in changing environments.
  • ULO5: Critically review and adopt an organisation’s existing strategy to take advantage of opportunities for improvement and create a measurement framework to monitor an organisation’s strategic performance.
  • ULO6: Effective communicate recommendations to key stakeholders to support strategic proposals.

General Assessment Information

Unit Description

In this unit, students will combine their technical and professional expertise with practical financial modelling approaches, enabling you to contribute to solving business problems and marking business decisions. Students will explore best practice financial modelling principles and develop the skills and knowledge to prepare robust, flexible and transparent financial models.

 

In addition, students will be able to contribute and add value to strategy development process through the application of business acumen and financial skills, providing key insights to evaluate, adapt and design organisational strategy. Students will also create measurement frameworks that monitor strategic performance on an ongoing basis and develop the skills required to present strategy in ways that influence decision making and gain stakeholder support.

 

 

Pre-requisites

Admission to MProfAccg and (ACCG6011 and ACCG6014 and ACST6003 and ECON6049)

NB: Students must successfully complete CA - Ethics and Business module prior to enrolling in this unit. Students should directly enroll in the Ethics and Business module directly with CA ANZ.

 

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Written assignment and recorded presentation (Financial Modelling) 35% Yes 5th June
CA - Written submission and pre-recorded presentation (Strategy and performance) 35% Yes 12th June
MQ Final Exam 30% No 17th June

Written assignment and recorded presentation (Financial Modelling)

Assessment Type 1: Case study/analysis
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 5th June
Weighting: 35%
This is a hurdle assessment task (see assessment policy for more information on hurdle assessment tasks)

 

Candidates will review a case study of an organisation facing a decision. Candidates will use case study data and information to scope, design and build a working financial model according to best practice standards, record and submit a video presentation to present and explain their financial model to an identified stakeholder, and communicate written insights based on the financial model that they built.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply technical and professional expertise to analyse how financial modelling can contribute to business decisions.
  • Apply best practice financial modelling principles and professional judgement when designing and developing financial models

CA - Written submission and pre-recorded presentation (Strategy and performance)

Assessment Type 1: Case study/analysis
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 12th June
Weighting: 35%
This is a hurdle assessment task (see assessment policy for more information on hurdle assessment tasks)

 

Candidates will review a case study and develop recommendations for the development of a strategy and a performance measurement framework for the organisation. Candidates will submit a business case to communicate their recommendations to key stakeholders, along with a recorded video presentation to influence a key stakeholder to adopt their recommended strategy

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Advise on the development of strategy to enhance stakeholder value in changing environments.
  • Critically review and adopt an organisation’s existing strategy to take advantage of opportunities for improvement and create a measurement framework to monitor an organisation’s strategic performance.
  • Effective communicate recommendations to key stakeholders to support strategic proposals.

MQ Final Exam

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 17th June
Weighting: 30%

 

Students are expected to sit and complete the MQ final exam.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply technical and professional expertise to analyse how financial modelling can contribute to business decisions.
  • Analyse and critically evaluate existing financial models to determine their ability to produce a desired or intended result.
  • Apply best practice financial modelling principles and professional judgement when designing and developing financial models
  • Advise on the development of strategy to enhance stakeholder value in changing environments.
  • Critically review and adopt an organisation’s existing strategy to take advantage of opportunities for improvement and create a measurement framework to monitor an organisation’s strategic performance.
  • Effective communicate recommendations to key stakeholders to support strategic proposals.

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 Readings

Digital study guide of this unit

Unit Schedule

 

Seminar Week

Commencing

Topics

Assessment Tasks

1

22nd April

FM

  • Introduction to financial modelling
  • Best practice principles

SP

  • Modern Strategy
  • Designing Strategy

 

2

29th April

FM

  • Best Practice principles (cont.)
  • Model reviews

SP

  • The Business Model Canvas

 

3

6th May

FM

  • Design and build a financial model

SP

  • Evaluating Strategy

 

4

13th May

FM

  • Design and build a financial model (cont.)

SP

  • Evaluating Strategy (cont.)

 

5

20th May

FM

  • Design and build a financial model (cont.)

SP

  • Monitoring and measuring strategy

 

6

27th May

FM

  • Design and build a financial model (cont.)

SP

  • Presenting strategy with influence

FM assessment available 30 May

7

3rd June

FM & SP

  • Final exam Wednesday 5th June (usual room / time)
  • No Friday class  

assessment due 5 June SP assessment available 6 June

8

10th June

No classes

SP assessment due 12 June

9

 17th June No classes FM & SP Final exam 17 June 

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

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

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/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

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

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

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

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

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

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.

Changes since First Published

Date Description
16/05/2024 The final exam date has been changed to Monday 17 June due to exam clashes for many students. Please refer to the ACCG 8228 iLearn page for further details regarding the final exam.

Unit information based on version 2024.02 of the Handbook