Introduction to Financial Accounting

Key details:

Assessment title:

Written Assignment (Collaborative) Report

Module Name:

Introduction to Financial Accounting

Module Code:

IY404

Teacher’s Name:

Dalia El-Demellawy (Module Leader)

Sameen Rukh

Taha Mohebbi

Assessment will be set on:

w/c. 7 October 2024

Feedback opportunities:

Written feedback from class tutor upon draft submission

Assessment is due on:

Monday 25th November 2024 9am (UK time)

Assessment weighting:

50%

Assessment Instructions

What do you need to do for this assessment?

This report is worth 50% of your overall mark. It is a portfolio of work that you will complete throughout the term with a final submission date at the beginning of week 10. The report will be submitted via Turnitin. Tutors will monitor your progress from week 6 to week 8 and will have regular meetings to discuss your progress. You will be assessed on: 

A. the content of the report 

B. the transferable research skills evidenced in your work 

The report consists of group work (40%) and individual work (60%). 

Task:

You are required to
write a group report for a listed company on the FTSE 100 (note: avoid financial and insurance companies). The aim of the report is to be an advisory resource for the business from a financial accounting perspective.

In your report, you and your team members must first decide which company you are writing this report on, then download their latest annual report and financial statement from their website and write a report advising whether this company is worth investing in. The analysis should be based on the theory and accounting practices you have learned in this module. You are required to conduct a considerable amount of independent research to support your analysis.

Guidance:

For this assessment you should make use of the following formative activities that you have already completed. These activities have been designed to support this summative assessment:

· Week 1 homework task

· Week 6 in-class group activity

Please note:

Group sizes can be 2 to 4 people. 4 is the maximum – NO exceptions.

Each group will research on a separate company – the chosen company must be approved by your tutor.

No two groups can conduct research on the same company.

As responsible students/adults, it is 100% your responsibility to resolve any and all issues/disputes that occur among your group.

It is up to the group members to ensure that everybody contributes equally and fairly. You must set your own standards.

Your tutor will also ask for a draft copy of your report and provide written feedback.

Before you submit this assessment, you will have an opportunity to receive feedback from your team members. Your tutor will arrange a time for you to share and discuss your progress with your classmates. You do not have to act on their feedback, but you may find it useful to enhance your final submission.

Structure:

**Sections 1, 6 and 7 should be completed as a group. Sections 2 – 5 should be completed individually. Each student should select a different section to work on. If there are less than 4 students in your group, you do not need to complete the additional sections. E.g. groups of 3 would only complete 3 of the sections from 2 – 5**

Cover page with student number.

Table of contents.

Executive Summary.

Section 1. Introduction (group task: 450-500 words)

a. Introduction to the Industry of the Chosen Company

b. Corporate profile

c. Structure of the report

Section 2. Analysis of the company’s Income Statement (individual task: 900-1000 words):

Section 3. Analysis of the company’s Balance Sheet (individual task: 900-1000 words):

Section 4. Analysis of the company’s Cash Flow Statement (individual task: 900-1000 words).

Section 5. Ratio Analysis (individual task: 900-1000 words)

Section 6. Conclusion (group task: 450-500 words):

a. Summary of the main findings

b. Recommendation – Is it worth investing into the company? List of References.

Section 7: List all the references you have used in-text throughout the report

Theory and/or task resources required for the assessment:

Financial Information: 
All financial information must come from the last three financial years (2023, 2022, 2021 and 2024 if available). For that, you will most likely need the last two Annual Reports (2023 and 2022). The figures must be for the Financial Year and not for Quarters (interim results) throughout the year or Trailing Twelve Months. All comparisons in the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Statement of Cash Flow and Ratio Analysis section must be made for the last three financial years (comparing 2023, 2022, 2021 or 2024 if available). 

Example: Analyse the company’s revenue. What is the total? Has it increased or decreased? Explain why. 
You must show the company’s revenue for the financial years 2024 (if available), 2023, 2022 and 2021, its composition and comment on changes throughout this period.

Referencing style:

You should refer to a minimum of 5 relevant sources for your report.

Please refer to your module homepage on the VLE for a list of useful resources.

You must include a Harvard-style reference list at the end of your report.

A full bibliography is NOT required
.

Expected word count:

You are expected to write around 5,000 words (+/- 10%), following the specific structure outlined above.

Learning Outcomes Assessed:

· Explain the accounting principles that underpin the way in which different types of transactions are presented in accounting statements

· Undertake an accounts analysis using trends and ratios

· Analyse the impact of different types of business transactions on profits and cash flows

Submission Requirements:

Your group must include the following paragraph on your title page:

We confirm that this assignment is our own work.

Where we have referred to academic sources, we have provided in-text citations and included the sources in the final reference list.

How to avoid academic misconduct

You should follow academic conventions and regulations when completing your assessed work. If there is evidence that you have done any of the following, whether intentionally or not, you risk getting a zero mark:

Plagiarism & poor scholarship

· stealing ideas or work from another person (experts or students)

· using quotations from sources without paraphrasing and using citations

Collusion

· working together with someone else on an individual assessment, e.g., your work is corrected, rephrased or added to by another (both parties would be guilty)

Buying or commissioning work

· submitting work as your own that someone else produced (whether you paid for it or not)

Cheating

· copying
the work of another student

· using resources or aids that are not permitted for the assessment

Fabrication

· Submitting work, e.g., laboratory work, which is partly or completely made up. This includes claiming that work was done by yourself alone when it was actually done by a group

Personation

· claiming to be another student and taking an assessment instead of them (both parties guilty)

Specific formatting instructions:

You must type your assessment in Arial font 11, with single spacing.

You must submit the assessment electronically via the VLE module page. Please ensure you submit it via Turnitin.

Assessments submitted after the submission deadline may incur penalties or may not be accepted.

How will this assessment be marked?

The assessment will be marked using the following areas and weightings: 

· Introduction (group task – 25%) 

· How well you briefly discuss the industry that the chosen company operates in the context of this report 

· The extent to which the accounting/financial metrics in the corporate profile of the chosen company are identified 

· Analysis of the company’s Income Statement (individual task – 50%) 

· A good explanation of the meaning of income statement and its importance 

· An extensive discussion of the changes in the main items of the income statement 

· Accurate reasons given for the changes identified 

· Appropriate choice of numerous primary/secondary sources used.

· In-text reference to sources is well used to support points.

· Analysis of the company’s Balance Sheet (individual task – 50%) 

· A good explanation of the meaning of balance sheet and its importance 

· A comprehensive discussion of the changes in the main items of the balance sheet 

· Accurate reasons given for the changes identified 

· Appropriate choice of numerous primary/secondary sources used.

· In-text reference to sources is well used to support points.

· Analysis of the company’s Cash Flow Statement (individual task – 50%). 

· A good explanation of the meaning of cash flow and its importance 

· A detailed discussion of the changes in the main items of the cashflow statement 

· Accurate reasons given for the changes identified 

· Appropriate choice of numerous primary/secondary sources used.

· In-text reference to sources is well used to support points.

· Ratio Analysis (individual task – 50%) 

· A good definition of ratio analysis with advantages and disadvantages 

· A calculation of a minimum of one ratio within each of the four main types of ratio 

· Accurate explanation of the performance of the chosen company using ratios 

· Appropriate choice of numerous primary/secondary sources used.

· In-text reference to sources is well used to support points.

· Conclusion (group – 15%)

· How well the main findings in the entire report is summarised 

· The reasons behind the recommendation if the company is worth investing in or not

· Academic Integrity (Individual – 10%)

· Information from sources is appropriately paraphrased / summarised rather than relying on quotes. 

· Any direct and indirect quotations are clearly marked and acknowledged with correct citations.  

· References match the citations and are correctly formatted. 

· Data/facts presented are genuine and accurate. 

You will receive a % mark in each of these categories. The overall mark will be a percentage (0-100%).

How will you get feedback?

Your tutor will mark the assessment and provide you with a written feedback sheet. You can use this feedback to guide your further learning on the module.

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