Question

You are employed in a large accounting firm which specialises in preparing general purpose financial reports for large companies that are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). As the training manager, one of your key tasks is to prepare a regular newsletter for staff involved in the preparation of the above financial reports. The purpose of the newsletter is to keep staff updated on the latest financial reporting news, alerting staff of changes and developments that may impact their work, and provide enough information to staff to satisfy the following:

For staff to understand the nature of the news / change / development and its potential impact (so staff can decide whether they need to investigate further given the nature of their own work);

Provide directions to staff of where they can access further information on the news / change / development if they wish to (including website links where appropriate).

Required:

Prepare a 2 page newsletter that identifies and summarises changes / developments and news in the financial reporting environment for the period from 1 May 2018 to 31 July 2018.

6 local (Australian news and 6 international news. each news with the link) news should be only regarding changes and Amendments in accounting standards.

can take only from folloeing websites

a) Websites such as those of:

Australian Accounting Standards Board

Financial Reporting Council

Australian Securities and Investment Commission

Australian Securities Exchange

International Federation of Accountants

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand

CPA Australia

International Accounting Standards Board

Websites of large accounting firms

PLEASE ANSWER ASAP. REMINDER 02

PLEASE ANSWE AT YOUR EARLIEST. REMINDER 03. I NEED THE ANSWER URGENTLY.

Answer 1

The 2 page newsletter is given below:

Detailed guidelines for completing this task:

1. Identification of changes and developments

This will involve extensive research on a number of sources over the required period. We will need to identify and consider a range of developments/changes such as:

• Technical issues: for example the issue of new accounting standards, amendments to accounting standards, updates on AASB or IASB projects in progress, outcomes of AASB or IASB meetings, amendments to ASX listing rules.
• Regulation and monitoring of financial reporting: for example ASIC reviews on financial reporting.
• Political influences or other potential developments. 'Political' does not only mean action from politicians – it would also include lobbying/actions by other groups to promote their own interests – for example there may be articles about companies, or particular interest groups such as Group of 100, saying that if certain accounting standards are introduced this will disadvantage or have a negative impact.

We will need to consider both local (Australian) and international sources and developments.

It is not intended that we provide complete details of changes / developments (although we consider in particular cases that more detail is needed).

Appleaing to the target audience, it would be assumed that they have a working knowledge of common terms and abbreviations (such as AASB, IASB), so abbreviations may be used.

What not to consider?

We need to take care that the news / changes / developments included in the newsletter are relevant to the objective, in particular that they relate directly to the preparation of general purpose financial reports for large companies listed on the ASX. The newsletter should not consider areas only indirectly related to the preparation of financial reports such as .

• Fraud
• Auditing
• Taxation
• Other disclosures by listed companies such as industry disclosures required by peak organisations, and voluntary disclosures in the area of corporate social responsibility.

2. Potential sources

Given the scope of the potential influences on financial reporting, we need to research a range of sources. Below is a list of sources as this list which is not exhaustive, we should search for sources outside of these. We should not rely on any one type of source, but a range of sources from each category, i.e. do not just look at websites, also check journals, newspapers etc. Examples of possible information sources include:

(a) Websites such as those of:

• Australian Accounting Standards Board
• Financial Reporting Council
• Australian Securities and Investment Commission
• Australian Securities Exchange
• International Federation of Accountants
• Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand
• CPA Australia
• International Accounting Standards Board
• Websites of large accounting firms

(b) Professional publications:

• In the Black (CPA)
• Acuity (CAANZ)

(c) Newspapers/journals