³ÉÈË´óƬ

Melbourne Campus Trimester 2:

Course Coordinator: Janice Loftus

Contact details: janice.loftus@adelaide.edu.au

Melbourne Campus students
- Students in this course are expected to attend two 1-hour lectures and one 2-hour practical (tutorial) class each week.
- PRACTICALS (tutorials) commence in WEEK 2 and ASSESSMENT in practicals BEGINS in WEEK 2.
- Melbourne Campus students are asked to refer to MyUni for applicable timetable and assessment information.

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

1. Explain the nature, role and purpose of financial accounting in accordance with the Conceptual Framework.
2. Describe the main features of the institutional and regulatory context in which financial accounting is practiced in Australia.
3. Explain and apply the concepts of definition, recognition, measurement, and disclosure outlined in the Conceptual Framework and across selected accounting standards.
4. Perform tasks involved in accounting cycle manually and using accounting software (for example recording transactions in journals, ledgers, adjusting and closing entries and generating income statement and balance sheet from trial balance)
5. Display professional behaviour consistent with business expectations

Text Book:
During this course we will be making extensive use of the electronic resources associated with the text:
Financial Accounting, 11th Edition by Hogget, Medlin, Chalmers, Beattie, Hellman and Maxfield.
Details of where you can purchase the text will be provided on MyUni.


Use of the internet:
Accounting Foundations will make extensive use of MyUni and various internet sites which are accounting related, including the Conceptual Framework and Accounting Standards from the AASB’s website https://www.aasb.gov.au/. AASB documents will not be posted on MyUni, as it is important in our profession to go to the original source for the most accurate and up-to-date information.

Access to the internet can be via the library or various computer pools located within the university.

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

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

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

There are four key activities:

1. Pre-class activity – Preparation
Each week students should read through the appropriate chapter of the textbook and watch the online lecture modules. Do this online by following the link in the weekly module on MyUni. Students are not expected to be able to do activities 100% correctly at this stage but they should at least watch and attempt them as it will give you a broad overview of the weekly topic which enables you to get the maximum benefit from the following lecture and tutorial time. After reading the relevant chapter and activities students should also have a first attempt at the relevant tutorial activity.

2. In-class activities – Understanding
Having completed the preparation students can come to the face-to-face lecture - which will be conducted as an interactive workshop - 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 students 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 the students’ body of knowledge and understanding. Not all of the weekly material will be covered in each class. The activities are designed so that students can use the skills they have learned to answer the remaining questions. In particular, students will have a chance to discuss and reflect on their prepared answers from the pre-class activities in more depth. Suggested tutorial answers are provided to assist with revision.

3. Application in software case – Consolidation
Many of our examples are often looked at in topic ‘silos’. The real test comes in applying the concepts students have learned across the semester in a more comprehensive case study. This means that we take abstract concepts demonstrated in examples in the textbook and lectures/tutorials and illustrate these in more complexity in a case that resembles transactions from the real world. In this assignment, students will not only learn how to use accounting software, but they will also apply the knowledge they have acquired across several topics, as they would in the real world. By applying your knowledge in this way, students will consolidate their understanding. The software assignment contains both formative and summative activities.

4. Assessment - Demonstration
At various points throughout the semester and ultimately at the end of the semester, students will complete assessment tasks. These give students an opportunity to demonstrate that they have achieved the learning outcomes of the course. In addition, and most importantly, students get feedback and find out which concepts they are struggling with so that they 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 per week.

Students in this course are expected to attend all lectures throughout the semester plus one tutorial class each week.

1. Introduction to Accounting
2. Conceptual Framework (Part 1)
3. Conceptual Framework (Part 2)
4. Recording Process
5. Adjusting, Closing, and Reversing Entries
6. Accounting for Retailing
7. Accounting Systems
8. Current assets: Cash Management and Control
9. Current assets: Accounts receivable, Allowance for doubtful debts and inventory
10. Non-current assets: Property, Plant and Equipment
11. Partnership and Companies and Equity
12. Revision

Assessment Task	Task Type	Due	Word count / time	Weighting	Learning Outcome
Professionalism	Individual/Formative and summative	Ongoing	Various	5%	3, 4, 5
Mid-semester test	Individual/Summative	Week 6	45 min	20%	1, 2, 3, 4
Accounting Software assignment	Individual/Formative and summative	Week 7 - 11	20 hours	20%	3, 4
Final exam	Individual/Summative	Exam Period	180 min	55%	1, 2, 3, 4

Professionalism (5%)
This assessment component relates to students’ active engagement and communication skills. Professional behaviour is an essential part of becoming and being an accountant. This assessment component aims to provide an incentive for you to engage in a professional manner as you transition into the labour market. It is also designed to incentivise students to be prepared and develop their understanding through active engagement with the course content in both face-to-face classes and the students’ own time.

More detail about this assessment component will be communicated to you in the first lecture.

Marks can be deducted for poor communication or disrespectful behaviour and other behaviour, which might be considered unprofessional. 

In this assessment component, students are able to demonstrate they have achieved Learning Outcomes 3, 4 and 5.

Mid-semester Test (20%)
In the mid-semester test, students will demonstrate their learning relating to topics 1 to 4 inclusive. The test will be conducted during week 6. Further details, including location(s), will be posted on MyUni.
In this assessment, students are able to demonstrate that they partially achieve Learning Outcomes 1 to 4.

Accounting Software Assignment (20%)
In this activity, students will learn and demonstrate their learning to use accounting software, which is used by a wider variety of companies and entities both in Australia and nationally. Students will have access to a formative learning module for a two week period. Following this period, students will have access to the summative assessment over a further two week period. During this time, you will be able apply the content covered in lectures and tutorials using the software.
In the summative assessment component, students are able to demonstrate that they achieve Learning Outcomes 3 and 4.

Final Exam (55%)
There will be a three-hour exam. All content from this course is examinable. As such, students will be able to demonstrate that they have achieved all learning outcomes of this course, with the exception of Learning Outcome 5 and the software component of Learning Outcome 4.
Please note that to successfully pass this course, students need to obtain 50% overall.

Submissions relating to Professionalism

Across the semester, there are two activities where you will have to submit an individually prepared response to a tutorial question via MyUni before the tutorial. You can find details about the submission on MyUni. 

Submission of Accounting Software assessment

Details of the accounting software assessments will be announced in the course.