HI5001 Accounting for Business Decisions T2

Group Assignment

The assignment will require the group to undertake research using the website of the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) and/or the Company whose industry is MATERIALS that you have chosen.

The assignment aims to develop an understanding of financial statements structure and their use in decision-making. The task is to choose a publicly listed company from the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) which should be approved by your Lecturer as not to have the same company from other groups. Furthermore, an analysis on the profitability based on the latest financial report is very important.

This group assignment is in itself includes several areas of the course, each of which comprises a part of the groups’ task. However, it is well encouraged to include any additional information that the group may think will be useful in conducting financial statements analysis of the selected company.

General Rules & Requirements:

The report should be prepared by a group with a maximum of four (4) members. Reports must be confined to 3,000 words (+/- 5%). The report should include as a minimum a title page, abstract or executive summary, table of contents page, introduction, main body, conclusion, recommendations, references and appendices. Font type should be Arial (size 11), paragraph spacing should be 1.5. Five (5) points will be awarded for reports that followed the instructions to the letter. The total points is 100.

Note: Any additional material from external sources that you “copy and paste” into your report is NOT included in the word limit. Also, ensure it is appropriately referenced.

Part 1 Executive Summary & Introduction (15 points)

Provide an executive summary which states the problem, how it was investigated, what was found, and what the findings mean. The introduction may include the company’s background relating to business structure, operations, services and all other business activities that are conducted, etc.

Part 2 Main Body

Statement of Financial Position (10 points)

Use the annual report for the year ending 30 June 2015. Your group will need to review the major sections of this report in order to familiarize yourselves with the content of each of the financial statements and appropriate notes to the financial statements.

Review the balance sheet of the company and indicate the amount of the following:

Total current assets
Total non-current assets
Total current liabilities
Total non-current liabilities
Total stockholder’s equity

Compare the above figures with the previous year and compute the percentage increase or decrease and comment on the comparative financial condition of the company.

Stockholders’ Equity (10 points)

Review the stockholders' equity section in your chosen company's most recent year-end balance sheet and compare that with the previous year-end balance sheet. Compare percentage increase or decrease.

List the stockholders' equity account balances and number of outstanding shares from these two balance sheets and compute the increase or decrease for each during this past year.

Statement of Profit & Loss (10 points)

Review the income statement and indicate the following:

Total (operating) revenues
Cost of Goods Sold (if relevant)
Total expenses (before income taxes)
Any non-operating (or extraordinary) gains and losses
Earnings per common share

Compare the above figures with the previous year and compute the percentage increase or decrease and comment on the comparative financial operation of the company.

Statement of Cash Flow (10 points)

Review the statement of cash flows for the most recent year and indicate the following:

net cash inflow (outflow) from operating activities
net cash inflow (outflow) from financing activities
net cash inflow (outflow) from investing activities
net increase (decrease) in cash during the year

Analyse the Cash Flow Statements for the last 2 years and comment on the cash position of the company.

Part 3 Conclusion Discuss the importance & interpretation of the findings.		(15 points)
Part 4 Recommendations What is the course of action based on your conclusion?		(15 points)
Part 5 References List all sources used. Harvard style of referencing should be used.		(5 points)
Part 6 Appendices		(5 points)

Graphs, charts, tables or other data not mentioned in the body.

CHECKLIST for SUBMISSION

Item	Yes	No	Questions
1			Have the group members familiarised themselves with the Safeassign Software? If not, read the Safeassign Student Guide in the Blackboard.
2			Have the group submitted in the Safeassign Self-check?
3			After getting the Self-check report, is the matching percentage equal or below 20%? If yes, submit the softcopy to the Safeassign Final Submission. If not, revise and submit to the Safeassign Final Submission. If the final submission still exceeded the 20% rule, email your Lecturer and request that your submission be deleted in order to resubmit a second version.
4			Did the group attach the first page of the Final Submission report?
5			Did the group Fill-up the Assignment Cover Sheet and attach it to the report?
6			Did the group follow the correct sequence of attachments needed? First page should be the Assignment Cover Sheet followed by the first page of the Safeassign Final Submission Report and finally the report itself.
7			Did the group submit the hardcopy in the box located in the Library (Level 1)?