Using Accounting for decision making assignment stage 1

Go to the list of companies on Moodle called Find Your Company . Find the company you have been given and click on its URL. This will take you to your firm s website, where you should be able to find your firm s annual reports under the Investor Relations section. This section might also be called Shareholders Information, Financial Information or something similar. Save a soft copy of the latest Annual Report for your firm. For example, your firm s latest Annual Report may be as at 30 June 2011. Only save its Annual Report. Do NOT save its interim or half-yearly reports. You can ignore these. I also suggest you have a quick browse through your firm s website. This will give you some initial insights into your firm s operations and activities.
If you have any difficulty finding your firm s latest Annual Report “ or would like to check you have the right one – please email me (Martin Turner “ your course co-ordinator) or ask your lecturer or tutor for assistance.
You can also find your company s spreadsheet in the Your Company folder in Moodle.
Step 1: Read Your Firm s Annual Report: Identify Clearly What Your Firm Actually Does
Carefully and thoughtfully read through your firm s latest Annual Report: words and numbers. While you do this, note down key concepts and questions (KCQs) that occur to you. In particular, identify areas of your firm s financial statements you are having difficulty understanding, areas of its business that seem most important or critical to you, key challenges the firm appears to be facing, how successful it appears to be in meeting these challenges and its apparent strategy.
Discuss your KCQs with other people in your study group (and also with others in the course). What similarities or differences are there between your firm and the firms of other people and in the way they present their financial statements? Are you happy with the firm you have been given to analyse; or would you have preferred to be given a different company? What concerns, if any, do you have at this stage?
Please allow about 270 “ 300 minutes to complete Step 1.
Step 2 is on the next page…..
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Step 2: Answer the following questions:
Q: What are the five elements of the extended fundamental accounting equation? Define each element and give an example of each from your company s financial statements. (5%)
Q: What is accrual accounting? Why is it an important concept to understand in accounting? Go to your company s income statement. Does the sales revenue figure in your company s income statement mean your firm has actually received payment from its customers for all of these sales during the year? Why or why not? (3%)
Q: The three broad forms of business structure are sole proprietorships (or sole traders), partnerships and companies. Which of these is a separate legal entity from its owners? The entity concept applies to all firms regardless of its business structure. What is the entity concept and how is this concept related to the duality concept (dual effect of transactions)? (5%)

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