MACC204 Auditing and Ethics Assignment
MBA (ACCOUNTING SPECIALISATION)
Auditing and Ethics (MACC204)
Group Assignment
Assignment Title: Audit planning and risk assessment
Assessment Weighting: 30% (20% written and 10% presentation) Length of assignment paper: maximum 2,000 words for the writing part.
Due Date: Week 9 for the writing part (submission via Moodle); week 11 for presentation
A. Assignment topic:
You are going to be allocated a company that is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and has published its 2022 annual report – see the list of companies on page 7. Assuming you are the auditor of the chosen company for the accompanying financial statements (in our unit we assume the financial statements have not been audited). You are in the process of understanding client’s business, identifying and assessing the related risk for the purpose of planning a financial audit at the client.
Required: Based on the relevant Australian Auditing Standards, prepare a partial audit strategy addressing the following issues:
- Prepare a preliminary review on the financial information provided by the company in relation to the 2022 financial reports by calculating the key financial ratios for 2021 and 2022. Provide your analyses, comments on the ratios calculated and suggest the key areas at risk as well as strategies to address these areas in the audit.
- Given the current situation of the covid-19 pandemic, based on the guidance provided by the AUASB (see https://auasb.gov.au/support-resources/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance/), present your assessment of the client’s risks and their associated impacts on your audit of the 2022 financial statements.
B. Marking criteria
There is 2 rubrics at the end of this document – 1 for writing part and 1 for presentation part.
C. Other issues
Extensions and late submissions
Please read the section on extensions and late submission in the Appendix to Unit Outline.
Plagiarism
Please read the section on plagiarism in the Unit Moodle site.
Submission requirements
- Assignments must be submitted via the Moodle unit site through the ‘Assessments’ block.
- Keep a backup of your submission. If your assessment goes astray, for whatever reason, you will be required to reproduce it.
- Assignment must be accompanied by a cover page with signatures of all members in the group. An assignment paper without any of those will NOT be marked.
- It is expected that all work submitted, will have been edited for spelling, grammar and clarity.
- Students are expected to dig into the relevant literature to support their ideas/arguments/findings in the assignment. References are cited and presented correctly in accordance with the Victoria university Harvard referencing style.
The list of companies (listed on the Australian Security Exchange ASX) that students can work on is as below:
| Company name (ASX code) | Financial year ends on |
| Pilbara Minerals Ltd (PLS) | 30 June 2022 |
| Rio Tinto (RIO) | 30 December 2022 |
| BHP Group Ltd (BHP) | 30 June 2022 |
Assignment Marking Criteria: The following assignment criteria are designed to give the student a guide as to what markers are looking for in the assignment.
Assignment paper: worth 20 marks
| Marks allocated | High Distinction | Distinction | Credit | Pass | Fail | |
| General presentation, format and references | 5 | (4 – 5 marks) Assignment cover sheet with all names listed and declaration signed. The assignment is presented in one single Microsoft Word document with the correct title and format as required. Language is presented in a highly professional way that is easily comprehensible throughout the assignment. References other than the company’s annual report are used extensively. References are cited completely appropriately | (3.5 marks) Assignment cover sheet with all names listed and declaration signed The assignment is presented in one single Microsoft Word document with correct title and format as required; Language is presented in a professional way that is easily comprehensible throughout the assignment. References other than the company’s annual report are used to a large extent and are cited appropriately throughout the assignment | (3 marks) Assignment cover sheet with all names listed and declaration signed The assignment is presented in one single Microsoft Word document with correct title and format as required; Language is presented competently. References other than the company’s annual report are used to a relatively large extent and are cited relatively appropriately throughout the assignment. | (2.5 marks) Assignment cover sheet with all names listed and declaration signed The assignment is presented in one single Microsoft Word document with correct title and format as required; The language is sufficiently professionally presented References other than the company’s annual report are used to a limited extent and are presented to an acceptable level throughout the assignment. | (0 – 2 marks) Assignment does not meet the basic requirements of assignment format; Language is presented in a way that makes it difficult to be comprehensible; References and citation are cited inappropriately or the company’s annual report is the only source of information |
| throughout the assignment to support the strategy. | to support the strategy. | |||||
| Assignment content –– The extent to which the assignment provides the calculation, comments on key risk areas and strategies to address the key risk areas. | 8 | (6.5 – 8 marks) The assignment comprehensively and well presents analytical review of the information provided in relation to balance sheet and profit and loss information. Correct ratio calculations, analyses and identification of key risk areas. Strategies to address the key risk areas are considered highly appropriate. | (6 marks) The assignment effectively presents analytical review of the information provided in relation to balance sheet and profit and loss information. Correct ratio calculations, analyses and identification of key risk areas. Strategies to address the key risk areas are considered highly appropriate. | (5 – 5.5 marks) The assignment reasonably presents analytical review of the information provided in relation to balance sheet and profit and loss information. Correct ratio calculation, analyses and identification of key risk areas. Strategies to address the key risk areas are considered appropriate. | (4 – 4.5 marks) The assignment adequately presents analytical review of the information provided in relation to balance sheet and profit and loss information. Correct ratio calculations, analyses and identification of key risk areas. Strategies to address the key risk areas are considered appropriate. | (0 – 3.5 marks) The assignment does not adequately present analytical review of the information provided in relation to balance sheet and profit and loss information. Incorrect ratio calculations, analyses Or incorrect identification of key risk areas. Strategies to address the key risk areas are considered irrelevant or inappropriate. |
| Assignment content –– The extent to which the assignment presents and discusses the risks associated | 7 | (6 – 7 marks) The assignment presents discussions and assessment of the impact of covid-19 pandemic based on the client’s circumstances and in relation to guidance provided by the AASB-AUASB, with references to support. Analysis of the client and the | (5 – 5.5 marks) The assignment presents a relatively deep discussions and assessment of the impact of covid-19 pandemic based on the client’s circumstances and in relation to guidance provided by the AASB- AUASB, with references to | (4.5 marks) The assignment presents a clear discussions and assessment of the impact of covid-19 pandemic based on the client’s circumstances and in relation to guidance provided by the AUASB, with references to | (3.5 – 4 marks) The assignment presents a sufficient level of discussions and assessment of the impact of covid-19 pandemic based on the client’s circumstances and in relation to guidance provided by the AUASB, with references to support. | (0 – 3 marks) The assignment does not meet the required discussions and assessment of the impact of covid- 19 pandemic based on the client’s circumstances and in relation to guidance |
| with the covid-19 pandemic and the impacts of those risk on the audit of financial statements. | anticipated impacts on auditor’s future work are discussed thoroughly and persuasively. | support. Analysis of the client and the anticipated impacts on auditor’s future work are discussed quite thoroughly and persuasively. | support. Detailed analysis of the client and the anticipated impacts on auditor’s future work are competently discussed. | Analysis of the client and the anticipated impacts on auditor’s future work are sufficiently discussed. | provided by the AUASB, with references to support. Analysis of the client and the anticipated impacts on auditor’s future work are not sufficiently discussed and supported by the relevant references. |
Assignment Marking Criteria: The following assignment criteria are designed to give the student a guide as to what markers are looking for in the assignment presentation.
Assignment presentation: worth 10 marks
| Marks allocated | High Distinction | Distinction | Credit | Pass | Fail | |
| Contact and Engagement with audience | 3 | (3 marks) The student has demonstrated the five attributes: enthusiasm for the topic; successful techniques to engage the audience; and appropriate eye contact, poise and body language. | (2.5 marks) The student has demonstrated only four of the attributes: enthusiasm for the topic; successful techniques to engage the audience; and appropriate eye contact, poise and body language. | 2 marks The student has demonstrated only three of the attributes: enthusiasm for the topic; successful techniques to engage the audience; and appropriate eye contact, poise and body language. | 1.5 marks The student has demonstrated only two of the attributes: enthusiasm for the topic; successful techniques to engage the audience; and appropriate eye contact, poise and body language. | 0 – 1 marks The student has demonstrated only one or none of the attributes: enthusiasm for the topic; successful techniques to engage the audience; and appropriate eye contact, poise and body language. |
| Voice and Pace | 3 | (3 marks) The student has a clear voice, is expressive, and uses precise pronunciation and a good pace which enables all audience members to hear the presentation. | (2.5 marks) Student has a clear voice, is mainly expressive, uses precise pronunciation and reasonable pace which enables audience to hear the presentation | 2 marks Student has a clear voice, but is not expressive and/or pronounces some words incorrectly. Delivery is slightly fast or slow. | 1.5 marks The student’s voice is not always clear or expressive and/or pronounces a number of words incorrectly. Delivery is too fast or too slow at times. | 0 – 1 marks The student mumbles, incorrectly pronounces words, is not expressive and cannot be heard by most of the audience. Delivery is too fast or too slow. |
| Explanation of issue | 4 | 3.5 – 4 marks The issue/problem to be considered critically is stated clearly and described comprehensively, delivering all relevant information necessary for full understanding. | 3 marks The issue/problem to be considered critically is stated, described and clarified so that understanding is not seriously impeded by omissions | 2.5 marks The issue/ problem to be considered critically is stated with terms and boundaries defined but lacking in clarity with some ambiguity. | 2 marks The issue/ problem to be considered critically is stated but the description leaves terms undefined, ambiguities unexplored, boundaries undetermined, and/or background unknown. | 0 – 1.5 marks The issue/problem to be considered critically is either not or narrowly, identified or accurately summarised. |