units

ACF5956

Faculty of Business and Economics

18 September 2017 22 November 2024
Monash University

Postgraduate - Unit

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

LevelPostgraduate
FacultyFaculty of Business and Economics
Organisational UnitDepartment of Accounting
OfferedCaulfield First semester 2015 (Day)
Caulfield First semester 2015 (Evening)
Caulfield Second semester 2015 (Day)
Caulfield Second semester 2015 (Evening)

Synopsis

This unit is one of the final core units in the Master of Professional Accounting, and builds on knowledge and skills gained in earlier units in financial accounting. One of its primary purposes is to introduce students to theories currently being used to assist in understanding the role of financial accounting and reporting in the decision making process of both preparers and users of information. These theories include positive accounting theory, capital markets and systems theories. It also addresses how regulation might influence the production of accounting information.

The unit addresses a number of contemporary accounting topics, from both a practical and theoretical perspective. These include intangible assets, social and environmental reporting, financial instruments and foreign currency transactions.

Outcomes

The learning goals associated with this unit are to:

  1. apply a range of theories of accounting to explain financial accounting and reporting practices and appreciate the judgments, estimations and assumptions influencing accounting numbers
  2. critically assess and appreciate changing influences in standard setting; the compliance regime in capital markets and impacts of regulatory requirements on financial reporting practices
  3. assess the role of financial accounting in sustainable development and corporate social and environmental performance reporting
  4. analyse a range of financial reporting issues, including intangible assets, financial instruments and foreign currency transactions, from both a practical and theoretical perspective; and demonstrate effective individual research skills to produce professional quality business documents to solve financial accounting problems; and demonstrate in individual summative assessment tasks the acquisition of a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered by this unit.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 50%
Examination: 50%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities. The unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Chief examiner(s)

Associate Professor Michaela Rankin (First semester)
Dr Dean Hanlon (Second semester)

Prerequisites

If students are enrolled in course 0503 there are no prerequisites. If students are enrolled in course 0748, 0790, 0826, 3843 or 4402 prerequisite is ACF5953 or AFX9530.

Co-requisites

Students must be enrolled in one of the following courses before undertaking this unit: 0503, 0748, 0790, 0826, 3843 or 4402.

Prohibitions

AFF9631, AFG9040, ACG5940, AFX5631, AFX9560