Financial Accounting & Reporting (FIN)
Module outline
Last updated: 03 June 2016 FIN module outline
Chartered Accountants Program
Financial Accounting & Reporting
Financial Accounting & Reporting Overview Financial accounting is a pivotal aspect of an accountant’s work and is the main reporting mechanism for preparing financial statements for organisations across all sectors of the economy. FIN includes one case study and other practical examples and activities that will develop your understanding of the conceptual framework for financial reporting, and enable you to reference Accounting Standards and pronouncements and apply your knowledge to a variety of practical scenarios. The FIN module is one of the five compulsory modules in the Chartered Accountants Program. It requires a good understanding of financial accounting from a candidate’s previous tertiary studies.
Units The FIN module comprises the following units: Unit
Name of unit
Approximate hours
1
Financial reporting
8
2
Presentation of financial statements
13
3
Revenue
5
4
Income taxes
9 Online assessment
5
Foreign exchange
4
6
Fair value measurement
5
Integrated activity 1
1
7
Property, plant and equipment
5
8
Intangible assets
5
9
Financial instruments
15 Online assessment
10
Impairment of assets
6
11
Provisions (including employee benefit entitlements), contingent liabilities and contingent assets
4
12
Leases
5
13
Earnings per share
4
Integrated activity 2
1
14
Share-based payments
4
15
Business combinations
5 Online assessment
16
17
Accounting for subsidiaries
14
Integrated activity 3
1
Joint arrangements and investments in associates
6 120
Final examination
Module outline
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Financial Accounting & Reporting
Chartered Accountants Program
How is the FIN module taught? The FIN module is 12 weeks in duration and offers flexible learning options with the delivery of materials online through myLearning. MyLearning is accessible after you enrol in the module by logging into myAccount and selecting myLearning.
Assessment The assessment components are outlined below: •• 3 × online assessments – 20%. •• Final examination – 80% (3 hours plus 15 minutes reading time, open book) To pass the module, candidates must pass the final examination (achieve 50% or more of the available marks), and pass the module overall (achieve 50% or more of the available marks).
Time allocation The expected workload for this module is a minimum of 10 hours per week over 12 weeks, or 120 hours in total, excluding module orientation, online assessments, final exam and study time for the final exam. Candidates are advised to plan their enrolment carefully around work and other commitments, to ensure they are able to devote the time required to their studies.
Assumed knowledge It is assumed that candidates have a good understanding of financial accounting and reporting from their tertiary studies. Detailed below is a summary of the assumed knowledge of the module: •• Understanding of the relevant framework, in particular the definitions of and recognition criteria for assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses. •• Basic understanding of financial accounting and reporting concepts, particularly the general format and content of a set of financial statements. •• Understanding of the principles of disclosure relating to the presentation of financial statements. •• Understanding of the principles relating to the selection and changing of accounting policies. •• Understanding of the accounting treatment and disclosure of changes in accounting policies, accounting estimates and corrections of errors. •• Basic understanding of revenue recognition requirements. •• Understanding of the principles of accrual accounting. •• Basic understanding of the taxation treatments for assets, liabilities, income and expenses. •• Understanding of accounting for inventory. •• Basic understanding of accounting for property, plant and equipment and intangible assets. •• Basic understanding of the principles of consolidated financial statements. •• Basic understanding of accounting for intragroup transactions. •• Basic understanding of acquired goodwill – its nature and accounting treatment under the relevant standard on business combinations. •• Understanding of the concept of the time value of money and discounted cash flows and how to calculate its impact. •• Understanding of accounting for equity. •• Understanding of accounting for the issue of equity and movements in retained earnings and other reserves.
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Module outline
Chartered Accountants Program
Financial Accounting & Reporting
•• Basic understanding of the accounting for income tax. •• Basic understanding of the accounting for a business combination. •• Understanding of the translation of an amount from one currency to a foreign currency. Candidates can check their assumed knowledge for each of the technical modules by taking the Quiz in myLearning and if necessary, using the recommended resources to refresh their learning.
Learning resources and supports Each technical module has a range of resources and supports available for candidates, including:
Online learning material •• Introduction. •• Core content. •• Worked examples. •• Activities. •• Adaptive learning lesson. •• Integrated activities •• FIN bites technical videos •• Excel worksheets, supporting selected activities. •• Exam preparation series •• Unit quiz. •• Readings. •• Quick reference guides.
Additional support •• Optional virtual classrooms – the focus of the virtual classrooms will be on the more challenging topics within the module.
Recordings of the virtual classrooms will also be available – these can be accessed by all candidates, regardless of whether or not they attended these sessions.
•• Candidate Study Guide (CSG) – after enrolment candidates will receive a CSG for all technical modules, containing the core content, the scenario and task for the activities and the readings for each unit. •• Discussion forums –– Technical query forums – where candidates can post specific questions to a technical specialist. –– Peer-to-peer forums – where candidates can form study groups or discuss issues with other candidates. •• Past exams – to help candidates prepare for the final exam, past exams will be available to download with examiner’s feedback.
Module outline
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Financial Accounting & Reporting
Chartered Accountants Program
Prescribed reading material The required reference for this module is: For Australia: Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand 2016, Financial Reporting Handbook Australia 2016, John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd, Milton, Qld. For New Zealand: Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand 2016, Financial Reporting Handbook New Zealand 2016, John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd, Milton, Qld.
Module summary The FIN module will help you develop your knowledge and understanding of the conceptual framework for financial reporting and the Accounting Standards relevant for the preparation of a set of financial statements. This understanding is important for both the preparation and interpretation and analysis of financial statements.
For more information and to enrol Take a look at the timetable to find out when you can enrol in this module.
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Module outline
