ACF5956 Advanced Financial Accounting

Semester 1, 2025

Task 1: Patchwork Text Individual Assignment Assessment Requirements:

Task 1 comprises Parts A and B

Due Date:  Part A due in Week 4 (Friday 28 March 2025 by 11.55pm) – 10% (marked out of 100)

Part B due in Week 7 (Thursday 17 April 2025 by 11.55pm) – 15% (marked out of 100)

Warning:

AI & Generative AI tools MUST NOT BE USED within the assessment for the following reasons:

This whole assessment requires students to demonstrate human knowledge and skill acquisition without the assistance of AI.

THIS ASSIGNMENT IS TO BE COMPLETED AS AN INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT TASK. 

Weighting: Total 25% - submission in two parts

Word Limit: The combined word limit for Task 1 Parts A and B is 1,200 words, as follows:

· 300 words for Part A which comprise the summary of the research article 1; and

· 900 words for Part B which comprise i) 300 words for the summary of the research article 2 and ii) then you should be able to link the research article 2 with the research article 1 and write 600-word critique report on those research articles. You are required to support your critiques using other research articles. Personal opinion is not allowed.

Citations/References:  You are required to provide citations with a minimum of 5 (five) references to support your critique report in Task 1 Part B.

Presentation style.           The format or presentation style. of your assignment is up to you.

Important information

· A word count must be included for each part. 10% more than required word limit will incur a penalty of 5%.

· A signed assessment cover sheet must accompany your assignment and it must be submitted SEPARATELY from your assignment electronically via the submission site on Moodle.

· Late penalties are 5% per day. Assessments submitted after 7 calendar days will not be marked therefore it will be awarded zero mark. 

· Marks will be released in Week 6 for Part A; and Week 10 for Part B.

Learning objectives assessed:

This assessment task is designed to test your achievement of learning objectives 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Patchwork Text

A patchwork text is where students write a number of small pieces of work (‘patches’), which they then have to later ‘stitch’ together in a reflective commentary in the form. of critique report. The patches and the tasks upon which they are based are discrete and complete entities in their own right, but they can help contribute to a holistic understanding of the module content (Centre for the Development of Teaching and Learning from the University of Reading).

As stated above, the combined word limit for Task 1 Parts A and B is 1,200 words (300 words for Part A which comprise the summary of the research article 1; and 900 words for Part B which comprise i) 300 words for the summary of the research article 2 and ii) then you should be able to link the research article 2 with the research article 1 and write 600-word critique report on those research articles. You are required to support your critiques using other research articles. Personal opinion is not allowed.

The selected topic should be related to a global issue or it has a global impact or phenomenon. The two articles of your choice need to be from a different topic area which are drawn from the following topics below (i.e.,):

· Earnings quality/Earnings management;

· Fair value measurement;

· Intangible assets;

· Equity compensation;

· Political connections;

· Agency theory: principal-agent conflict (Agency problem type 1) and/or principal-principal conflict (Agency problem type 2);

· Corporate governance;

· International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Please do not choose topic related to “Corporate social responsibility” or “Environmental, social and governance (ESG)” or “Sustainability reporting” since this topic is covered and assessed in Task 2.

Also, please see the following examples in relation to the restriction on the topic choice: 

Example 1:

You cannot choose two articles on the same theme or topic. For example, you cannot choose a research article 1 on earnings management and a research article 2 on earnings quality or accruals quality and corporate governance, given thatthe research article 2 is also related to earnings management.

Example 2:

You are not allowed to choose a research article which covers “equity compensation” and/or “earnings quality” as a research article 1 and then choose a research article 2 on “earnings management” and/or “equity compensation”. The two research articles must be from different topic areas.

Requirement:

For example, you choose a research article 1 on “equity compensation” and/or “earnings quality”, and then for another research article 2, you can choose on “issues related to agency theory” and/or “corporate governance” or “political connections” or “International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): or other topics which are not related to either “equity compensation” or “earnings quality” or “both of them”.

Warning: Marks will be deducted if you chose two articles from the same topic area.

Further, the choice of articles and references must be sourced from the following journals or from the following link ABDC Journal Quality List.

· Abacus

· Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal

· Accounting and Business Research

· Accounting and Finance

· Accounting Horizons

· Accounting Organisations and Society

· British Accounting Review

· Contemporary Accounting Research

· Critical Perspectives on Accounting

· Journal of Accounting and Economics

· Journal of Accounting Research

· Journal of Accounting and Public Policy

· Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance

· Journal of Business Ethics

· Journal of Business, Finance & Accounting

· Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics

· Management Science

· Meditari Accountancy Research

· Review of Accounting Studies

· The Accounting Review

· European Accounting Review

Part A. Total 300 words –10% (marked out of 100) due in Week 4 (Friday 28 March 2025 by 11.55pm).

Provide a summary of the first article that you have chosen. Your summary should address the following questions:

(1) What is the objective, motivation and contribution of the article?

(2) How did they conduct the research?

(3) What were the findings/results?

(4) What were the limitations of the study?

The summary is to be in your own words. You cannot simply copy statements from the actual article. Marks will be deducted for plagiarism. 

Part B. Total 900 words –15% (marked out of 100) due in Week 7 (Thursday 17 April 2025 by 11.55pm).

(i) Summary of article 2 – Total 300 words

Provide a summary of the second article that you have chosen. Your summary should address the following questions:

(1) What is the objective, motivation and contribution of the article?

(2) How did they conduct the research?

(3) What were the findings/results?

(4) What were the limitations of the study?

(ii) Reflection by providing critique report – Total 600 words

A reflective piece is an analytical practice where you are required to critique what you have read. You need to mesh or ‘stitch’ the two research article themes/ideas/results together. This part of the report is not a summary of what you have already summarised. You must ensure that you identify your critiques and conclusion on the topics you have chosen and supported by other research articles. In other words, it requires you to critically think about the articles and support your critiques with other research articles. Personal opinion is not allowed. Your critical reflection can do one of the following:

· Compare and contrast the two articles;

· The strengths and weaknesses of the two articles;

· Agree or disagree with the research outcomes of those two articles.

Assessment Criteria:

A matrix (rubric) outlining the assessment criteria and how your work will be assessed against these criteria will be provided on pages 6 to 9 of this document. This will assist you in completing the assessment task and to understand the allocation of marks.

For more information on appropriate report writing, formatting and referencing, you should refer to Research and Learning Online (RLO) at the following site: https://www.monash.edu/rlo

Turnitin

Your summaries must be run through Turnitin software that will indicate the same or similar pieces of work. Your Turnitin report must accompany your summary. Please refer to the following for information on Turnitin at the following link: https://guides.lib.monash.edu/turnitin/using-turnitin

Justification for Selection of this Assessment Task:

This assignment is designed to assist you in demonstrating your knowledge of, and ability to critically assess, influences on a contemporary issue in financial reporting and disclosure. It also provides you with an opportunity to further enhance your research, judgement and written communication skills.

In addition to the development of knowledge of a contemporary area impacting accounting, this task is also designed to develop the following competencies (Please go through the assignment marking rubrics of Task 1, Parts A and B on pages 6 to 9 of this document).

The research assignment is designed to broaden your understanding and application of theoretical knowledge gained in topics in the unit. The above competencies, which involve the analytical skills and communication of research findings through a short report, are essential skills that our graduates are required to demonstrate to employers.

This assignment is designed to further develop these valuable skills and attributes. The issue addresses contemporary issues in the business and accounting arena.

This assignment also enables you to demonstrate your written communication ability – a skill that is deemed by your future employers to be essential for graduates. In the most recent Graduate Outlook survey accounting and finance employers rated good communication skills as their number one priority when hiring graduates (Graduate Careers Australia, 2011).

All higher education providers of accounting degrees in Australia are required to provide evidence that their accounting graduates have achieved common national minimum threshold learning outcomes (TLOs) at the time of graduation. These TLOs were developed collaboratively with input from the professional accounting bodies, various business practitioners and accounting academics. Five TLOs were developed for the accounting discipline of which both the judgement and communication standards are relevant for this assignment. These standards require that an accounting graduate of a master’s degree must demonstrate:

“Exercise judgement under supervision to solve routine accounting problems in diverse contexts using social, ethical, economic, regulatory and global perspectives.”

“Justify and communicate accounting advice and ideas in diverse collaborative contexts involving both accountants and non-accountants.”

Please keep this TLO in mind when preparing your assignment, as this is the basic benchmark against which your assignment submission will be assessed. These standards have been incorporated into the marking rubric.