Coursework Brief: This coursework aims to reinforce your appreciation of the module material by applying your knowledge and skills to data obtained from financial statements and other sources with a view to assess company accounting policy on the conceptual framework 2018, financial performance and position, and recommendations of improvements in the context of COVID 19. Requirement You are required to choose 3 UK companies from the FTSE100 index as the subject of your assignment and obtain the latest audited annual report and financial statements for each company. The companies should be in the same industry sector (i.e., a FTSE sector) You are required to prepare a written report to Discuss, compare, and critically evaluate selected companies’ accounting policies on the conceptual Framework 2018, particularly focus on revenue recognition and non-current assets (for examples: PPE, intangible assets, substance over form).Critically evaluate and compare selected companies’ financial position and performance and a recommendation of improvement in the context of COVID 19. Further information • You are not required to calculate the ratios. You can access the ratios for your chosen companies from the FAME database. You are required to extract total 18-21 ratios (6-7 similar ratios for each of 3 companies) from all the groups of ratios you have studied in the module. • When carrying out the analysis and formulating a recommendation, due consideration must be given to the effect(s) of any financial reporting practice and standards which may affect comparisons between selected companies within the same sector. •When writing your report, please ensure that: 1. The companies come from a homogenous industry. In 400 words, there must be sufficient background information of the companies’ and the industry. 2. In 600 words, there are non-financial aspects of the company included in the analysis. 3. In about 1600 words, there is appropriate application and interpretation of specific accounting standards, practices, financial performance and position, and recommendation; there is appropriate use of additional sources of information beyond the Statement of Financial Position, Income Statement, and the Statement of Cash Flows, Notes, amongst others. For both 2 and 3 above: In addition to using the main financial statements, you should consider consulting other relevant sections of the annual report, such as the Business Review and the Directors’ report, as well as other sources, such as share price movements, news reports and press comments. You needs to be selective in the information gathered. The analysis is not merely a rephrasing of information provided in the annual report, the report demonstrates a critical evaluation and use of evidence drawn from the appropriate published theoretical and empirical literature (e.g., journal articles) to support arguments. 4. In 400 words, the report’s conclusions are adequately supported by the analysis contained from 2 and 3 The report should be clearly structured, coherent and that there is a logical flow to the argumentation No marks will be rewarded on copying and pasting the information from annual report without analysis. Length The assignment should be 3,000 words in English, excluding references and appendices. A 10% (+/-) variation in word length is permissible. Structure The assignment should be presented in a logical sequence of sections/chapters. It should not be a personal narrative and must not be purely subjective or descriptive in content. Your assignment will normally have the following format: • Title page • Contents list (with section headings and page numbers) • Introduction • Non-financial aspects • Discussion and Evaluation Accounting policies • Discussion and Evaluation financial performance and position • Recommendation and conclusions • References (in alphabetical author order using the Harvard • Appendices (for example: ratio calculations from Fame) Format The assignment must be word processed using Times 12-point font double spaced for the body of the text. A margin of at least 2.5cms should be left on both sides and at the top and bottom of the page. The bottom margin should include a page number. Quotations of more than a few words should be indented and single spaced; shorter quotations should be shown in quotation marks. You must submit an electronic copy only through Turnitin on Blackboard. Submission The submission date is 4pm on 17th May 2021. There is a university-wide penalty. You may request an extension in advance and if necessary are advised to do so in good time before the deadline. If an extension is granted and the assessment is submitted by the revised deadline, no penalty will be applied. Extensions will only be granted for good reasons. You are strongly advised to ensure that the assignment is submitted by the deadline. Important: If you have any problems during the submission process you should contact ServiceLine immediately by email at Serviceline@soton.ac.uk or by phone on +44 (0)23 8059 5656. Role of Academic Staff The assignment is wholly the result of independent work by you, the student. You will NOT be allocated a supervisor for this assessment. Assessment Criteria The assignment is marked 100% on the text submitted. See Appendix A to this handout for further guidance. Some Advice The following points may be helpful. 1. Avoid story-telling. Your text should not be a simple account of a process or history of a company. Avoid uncritical repetition of the company’s own material and their evaluation of their performance and achievements. 2. The assignment requirements are key statements of what your assignment is trying to do. You need to keep reminding yourself of them to ensure you maintain your focus on what is relevant. 3. Keep reviewing your work-in-progress. 4. Use charts and diagrams and tables to present data in a useful way. Diagrams make your assignment more interesting for the reader but avoid too many diagrams especially if the diagram or chart conveys very little information. 5. The purpose of your analysis is to produce the evidence upon which you are able to draw your conclusions with regard to the assignment requirement. Beware opinions and conclusions unsupported by clear evidence. 6. Keep all your notes and other evidence (electronic files/folders). This evidence of your work may be revisit from time to time during the writing. Make sure you keep a note of your sources/references as you go along (it is much more difficult to find these weeks later). 7. Plagiarism is the theft of other people’s words. It is an offence of which examiners always take a severe view, as they are bound to do by University rules and conventions. People who steal by trying to pass off long passages of other people’s writing or an entire assignment as their own are aware of what they are doing and will be found out. 8. Check the typescript. You are responsible for the accuracy of the final text. Leave plenty of time for careful checking. Don’t leave the checking until the last minute. 9. Always keep a spare copy of your assignment and a spare hard copy. You should regularly back up all work done in multiple ways e.g. cloud, USB stick, e-mail attachment. 10.Keep working to your plan on the topic in a regular manner. You will find that the time passes very quickly. Manage your time by setting your own timeline and targets, reviewing this periodically to ensure a successful completion of your assignment. Marking Rubric ![]() |
