ACC5AAI Advanced Accounting Issues Semester 2 2022

Assessment Task 2: Research Project (30%)

Assessment Task 2	Due Date	%	SILOs Assessed
Research Project	2 October 2022	30%	SILOs 1-5
Description of Task
This is a team work on a research project, weighting 30% of the total assessment in this subject. Each team consists of no more than three members. The project has two components: Part 1 is a 3000-word written submission (20%) due on 2 October and Part 2 is a live virtual presentation due on Thursday 6 October (class time).

Project topic: Issues in accounting for cryptocurrencies

There are many issues that accountants may encounter in practice for which no accounting standard currently exists; one example is cryptocurrencies. For example, as no accounting standard currently exists to explain how cryptocurrency should be accounted for, accountants have no alternative but to refer to existing accounting standards

Sourced from ACCA, Accounting for cryptocurrencies, https://www.accaglobal.com/in/en/student/exam-support-resources/professional-exams-study-resources/strategic-business-reporting/technical-articles/cryptocurrencies.html, accessed 13 July 2021.

References:

IBIS World: Cryptocurrency Exchange industry in Australia, available at https://my-ibisworld-com.ez.library.latrobe.edu.au/au/en/industry-specialized/od5539/about (Latrobe student email required to login for free access).

Nadeem MA, Liu Z, Pitafi AH, Younis A, Xu Y. Investigating the Adoption Factors of Cryptocurrencies—A Case of Bitcoin: Empirical Evidence from China. SAGE Open. January 2021. doi:10.1177/2158244021998704

The footnote analyst: Bitcoin: The financial reporting challenge for investors, https://www.footnotesanalyst.com/bitcoin-the-financial-reporting-challenge-for-investors/, accessed 13 July 2021

Hileman, G. & Rauchs, M. (2017). Global cryptocurrency benchmarking study, https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Global-Cryptocurrency-Benchmarking-Study.pdf

Money Smart, Cryptocurrencies and ICOs: What to watch out for with cryptocurrencies and ICOs, https://moneysmart.gov.au/investment-warnings/cryptocurrencies-and-icos, accessed 13 July 2021

PwC (2019) Cryptographic assets and related transactions: accounting

considerations under IFRS, https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/audit-services/ifrs/publications/ifrs-16/cryptographic-assets-related-transactions-accounting-considerations-ifrs-pwc-in-depth.pdf

Vetter, A., (2018). CPAs’ top 5 questions about blockchain, cryptocurrencies, https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/newsletters/2018/jul/5-questions-blockchain-cryptocurrencies.html

Section 1 Assessment objectives

This assessment task has two related objectives. The first objective is to evaluate student’s skills development in accounting technical competency areas (TCA), and the other objective is to evaluate students’ skills development in professional competency areas (PCA). Both are in line with the expectations of the 2021 accounting professional accreditation guidelines.

Objective 1 TCA

O1.1 Financial accounting and reporting

a). Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used to prepare financial statement and apply significant professional judgement in the context of climate-related financial disclosures

b). Discuss the theoretical principles underlying accounting practice

c). Interpret reports including non-financial data and information such as sustainability, reports, integrated reports and extended external reporting

O1.2. Information and Communications Technology

Use relevant software to record virtual professional presentations

Objective 2 PCA

O2.1 Intellectual Skills

Evaluate data and information
Apply practical thinking to solve problems, make decisions and exercise good judgment in complex organisational situations.

O2.2 Interpersonal and Communication Skills

Demonstrate collaboration, cooperation, and teamwork when working towards organisational goals.
Communicate clearly and concisely when presenting, discussing, and reporting knowledge and ideas in formal and informal situations.
Demonstrate awareness of cultural and language differences in all communication
Apply active listening and effective interviewing techniques.
Apply negotiation skills to reach solutions and agreements.

O2.3 Personal Skills

a) Set high personal standards of performance and monitor through reflective activity and feedback from others

b) Manage time and resources to achieve academic, personal and/or professional commitments.

c) Anticipate challenges and plan potential solutions

d) Apply an open mind to new opportunities.

e) Identify the potential impact of personal and organizational bias.

f) Identify the implications of professional values, ethics and attitudes in decision making

O2.4 Ethical Principles, Professional Values and Integrity

Explain the role and importance of ethics in relation to business and good governance.

Section 2 Project requirements

You and your team are required to

Briefly explain the concept of cryptocurrencies by review the Cryptocurrency Exchange industry in Australia (IBIS World).

Critically review literature (see p. 2) on the issues in accounting for cryptocurrencies, for example, recognition, classification, and measurement.

Apply either Positive Accounting Theory or Institutional Theory to explain factors that may influence the adoption (or rejection) of cryptocurrencies.

Identify three listed companies at your group’s choice. The three companies can be based in Australia and/or overseas (for example, your home country if you are international student). All selected companies must have accepted cryptocurrencies in business transactions.

Analyse how cryptocurrencies are recognised, measured, and reported by the sample companies

Discuss the implications of cryptocurrencies for accounting professionals and practices.

Critically reflect on the project experience in terms of successes and lessons learnt in terms of the assessment objectives (see Section 1 above).

Section 3: Submission requirements

Part 1 Written report (20%, due on 2 October)

The written report (team work) of approximately 3000 words (excluding references, abstract, tables, and team reflection) needs to include the following headings
Project Title
Background including the objective of the project
Literature review
Theoretical framework
Project data collection and analysis
Discussion
Individual reflection on the team project (no more than 100 words for each member)

The group written report must be submitted through the Turnitin online submission on LMS.

Note: If you experience difficulty in submitting your group assignment online, please contact La Trobe Edu Tech service at https://latrobe.service-now.com/edt?id=edt_index for assistance, or by phone 03-94791555

The Turnitin Similarity Report should be no more than 15%.

Referencing and style

Assignment must be typed using Word document, with double alignment, and 1.5-lines space.
Assignment is required to use either an APA or Harvard referencing style (see La Trobe library http://latrobe.libguides.com/referencing/ for further details).
Assignment without proper referencing will be subject to substantial deduction of marks. This may result in the assignment being marked zero.

Observing relevant university policies outlined below.

Late submission

The University requires fair, consistent and transparent treatment of late submission of assessment tasks. The procedure for late submission is documented in the Late Submission of Assessment Tasks document (Ref. no. 112027D). It states:

The standard penalty for late submission of assessment tasks is 5% of the marks for that task for each delay in submission of a day or partial day up to a maximum of five (5) working days after the due date. Assessment tasks will not be accepted after the earlier of the following occurrences:

The fifth (5^th) working day after the due date; or

Feedback on the assessment task has been returned to any student by the Teaching Team member.

Special consideration

Submission of special consideration applications for assignments, mid-semester tests and final examinations should be made online at: https://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/admin/forms/special-consideration/submit-or-review-application

Students are responsible to protect their work and save data by making necessary backup. Loss of data due to a computer or storage devices problems will not be considered a legitimate reason for an extension.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity means being honest in academic work and taking responsibility for learning the conventions of scholarship. La Trobe University views this seriously as evidenced by the following extract:

Academic honesty is a fundamental principle in teaching, learning, research and scholarship. The University requires its academic staff and students to observe the highest ethical standards in all aspects of academic work and it demonstrates its commitment to these values by awarding due credit for honestly conducted scholarly work, and by penalising academic misconduct and all forms of cheating.

Academic Integrity Procedures (2012, p. 1 of 6)

Academic misconduct includes improper referencing, plagiarism, copying and cheating. You should familiarise yourself with your responsibilities in relation to Academic Integrity and if you have any questions, direct them to your Course Advisor. Information can be found on the website at: www.latrobe.edu.au/students/academic-integrity

For assistance with referencing visit http://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/academic- integrity/referencing-help

Plagiarism is defined as ‘The practice that involves use of another person’s intellectual output and presenting it (without appropriate acknowledgement) as one’s own’.

Examples of plagiarism:

Word-for-word copying of sentences/paragraphs in an assignment without acknowledgement or with insufficient or improper acknowledgement;
Downloading essays or assignments from the web and presenting these for assessment;
Presenting another student’s work or research data as the student’s work;
Copying out parts of any text without acknowledging the source(s). This may be written text, structures within texts, diagrams, formulae, sound files, still photographs, audio-visual material (sound and image files), graphics/animations/multimedia objects, other computer based material, mathematical proofs, art objects, products and others. This can be done as verbatim copying or paraphrasing.
The use of someone else’s concepts, experimental results, experimental conclusions or conclusions drawn from analysing evidence or arguments without acknowledging the originator of the idea(s) or conclusion(s).

To prevent plagiarism, students are responsible for:

Understanding and respecting the University’s policies and procedures regarding plagiarism, collusion, and other forms of academic misconduct, and as such should only submit work for correction or academic credit that is their own or that properly acknowledges the ideas, interpretations, words or creative works of others;
Avoiding the lending or making accessible original work to others;
Being clear about the appropriate referencing rules that are applicable to their field of study;
Refusing to be a party to another student’s efforts to undermine the academic integrity of the University.
Seeking assistance with their learning and assessment tasks if they are unsure of appropriate forms of acknowledgement.

Part 2 Virtual Oral Presentation (Week 11 Live Zoom class on Thursday)

The team presentation should be no more than 15 minutes. See attached presentation rubric to prepare your presentation.
Each member of the group needs to participate in the team presentation, and marks are allocated for both individual performance and group performance.

Section 4 Marking criteria

Part 1 Written Report (20%)

Requirement	Assessment Criteria	Possible Marks	Marks received
R1	Demonstrate the ability to summarise cryptocurrencies	10
R2	Demonstrates the ability to conduct literature review; understand and synthesise complex ideas in accounting for cryptocurrencies	20
R3	Demonstrates the ability to apply accounting theories to interpret the adoption (or rejection) of cryptocurrencies	20
R4	Demonstrates the ability of data collection and analysis	20
R5	Demonstrates the ability to develop persuasive argument	10
R6	Team reflection on the learning experience in the research project	10
Style and presentation	The presentation of the results should be clear, concise and accompanied by expository text accessible to the reader.The presentation of the entire assignment should be written in English of an appropriate academic register and of a format and standard of presentation acceptable to business study	10
Total possible marks out of 100		100

Task response(maximum marks)	Good response (8-10)	Satisfactory response (5-7)	Unsatisfactory response (0-4)
Structure and content (2)	Appropriate structure and organisation	Generally appropriate structure and organisation some parts difficult to follow	Structure and organisation not appropriate –difficult to follow
Introduction（1）	Outlines context, topic and content	Outlines context, topic and content but not all clear	Does not outline context, topic and content
Body（1）	Main ideas logical & clear	Main ideas generally clear Some lack of clarity	Does not clearly address main ideas
Conclusion（1）	Sums up topic well	Generally sums up topic well	Does not sum up – no clear conclusion
Evidence（1）	Appropriately paraphrases & references	Generally appropriately paraphrases & references	Relies on information copied from texts; not appropriately referenced
Use of notes / slides（1）	Notes used well	Notes / slides used more than necessary	Overuse of notesRead rather than talked
Volume and clarity of expression（1）	Clear, easy to hear and understand; appropriate expression for oral presentation	Mainly clear ; appropriate expression – errors do not detract from meaning	Difficult to understand; inappropriate words and expression for oral presentation
Timing（1）	Timing enhances meaning, suitable pauses	Mostly well timed; could pause	Too fast/slow; timing detracts from meaning
Eye contact with camera & body language（1）	Eye contact consistent	Eye contact but not necessarily inclusive	Little eye contact with camera