Final Written Exam - Assignment Example

Final Research Name Date Course Question 1: Contextual Appreciation and Awareness of Assumptions  Regulations mainly involve the rules that have been put in place by an independent authority and it outlines how the accounting processes and activities need to be done. In Australia, four bodies are in place to regulate the field of accounting. However, a lot of emphasis is placed on the government in regulating the accounting concepts as opposed to the professional accounting bodies. The presence of such regulations is therefore likely to have negative future impacts on the accountants. Some of the regulations may have negative impacts on the accounting activities and this may make it difficult to carry out different activities. However some of the regulations may also be positive and will enhance future professionalism when carrying out the accounting activities. According to lecture 2, free goods are usually overproduced. However, with the presence of regulation, the production will be monitored to reduce the overproduction. According to the public interest theory, regulation is supplied as a result of demand from the public to correct inefficiencies or inequitable market practices (Young, et al, 2011). This is an indication that some of the regulations are as a result of inefficiencies with an example being the case of Enron Corporation. As a future accountant it is therefore important to understand that some of the regulations are for the best interest of the general public. Such regulations have to be fully supported to ensure that the members of the public receive the services that they require. The regulatory bodies usually represent the interest of the society when carrying out their duties (Warren, & Young, 2011). As a future accountant, it will therefore be prudent to work closely with the regulatory bodies. As a future accountant, politics will also influence the future accounting roles. Politics play an important role in the society in determining the distribution of wealth. This has a direct impact on accounting. The political pressure is also a factor that affects most of the financial reports. Most of the accountants are usually forced by the political pressure to prepare the financial report in a favourable manner as opposed to the reality (Warren, & Young, 2011). It is for this reason that the accountants in some instances end up preparing false accounting reports to please the shareholders and avoid alarming the members of the public. As a future accountant it will be important to avoid bowing to the political pressure and maintain high levels of ethics and integrity. Political pressure can also result to fraud and this will have to be avoided in future. According to positive accounting theories, if certain conditions exist then particular accounting practices will be adopted (Penman, 2013). This also indicates that the political pressure has the potential of affecting the outcome of the accounting activities. According to lecture 3, positive accounting seeks to explain why the accountants adopt a particular accounting method in preference to others. Most of the accounting reports are not prepared according to the accounting standards but they are prepared as a result of political pressure. As a future accountant, it is important to ensure accounting standards are followed during the preparation of the accounting reports. This will ensure that all the stakeholders are satisfied with the report regardless of the effects that it may have on the stakeholders. List of References Young, M, et al, 2011, FEI@ 80-Regulation and Accounting Standards-Regulations and accounting standards, which have helped shape the business and financial environment, continue to change dramatically, Financial Executive-Magazine of Financial Executive Institute, 27(5), 20. Warren, D, L, & Young, M, N, 2011, Integrated accounting principles: A best practices course for introductory accounting, Issues in Accounting Education, 27(1), 247-266. Penman, S, 2013, Accounting standard setting: Thoughts on developing a conceptual framework, China Journal of Accounting Studies, 1(3-4), 157-167. Question 2: Developing own perspective or position My perspective on accounting has totally changed while studying accounting. After lecture 4, I realized that accounting is not just about financial aspects but it also involves the physical aspects. Physical accounting is dependent on what is being measured and this may include kilograms, liter or kilowatt hours. The aspects of physical accounting are mainly used during the process of valuation (Pashang, et al, 2014). Valuation of properties is an important aspect in accounting as it is used for the preparation of the financial reports as well as costing. I have learned that accounting is mainly for the purposes of accounting for and it plays an essential role in promoting accountability. The financial measurement mainly involves the use of monetary or currency as a unit of measurement. I have learnt that accounting is also complex and it requires a lot of accuracy. An error in accounting can impact negatively on the financial aspect of the whole organization. The company may end up with losses if an accountant makes errors during the preparation of accounting reports. The accounting information is important in the decision making process. The accounting information is usually used by different stakeholders for making decisions (Edwards, 2013). The shareholders require the accounting information to make decisions regarding their investments. New shareholders also make their decisions based on the financial performance of the company. The information is usually prepared by the accountants. The managers of the company also require the financial information for the purposes of decision making. The information is required by the managers to determine how the organization will be run with the finances that are available. The accounting information is also required by the employees to determine whether or not to work for the company (Edwards, 2013). The government also requires the accounting information to determine whether or not the license of an organization. I have also learnt that accounting also plays an important role in contributing positively to the environment. According to lecture 4, the information about pollution is required which is usually prepared using the concepts of accounting. Corporate accounting and accountability creates a better understanding of the environmental aspects in the figures. The return on investments is an important aspect of accounting according to lecture 9. It is used for the purposes of measuring the performance of the organization. The information about performance can be used for rewarding the employees or undertaking further action to improve on the productivity of the employees. The accounting information is therefore required for the purposes of developing information that is required to increase the value of the customers and shareholders (Reeve, et al, 2012). Accounting therefore contributes towards the success of an organization. The performance measurement systems in most of the organizations are dependent on the accounting concepts. The theory of accounting theory is therefore important in ensuring that the organization is able to achieve its goals and objectives. The reward system in most of the organizations is based on the concepts of accounting (Reeve, et al, 2012). I have learnt that the accounting aspects play a significant role in influencing the organizational behavior. The success of an organization is therefore dependant on the aspects of accounting. List of References Pashang, H, et al, 2014, Cost Accounting, Ethical Accountability, and Accounting Principles, Journal of Modern Accounting and Auditing, 10(1), 20-31. Edwards, J, D, 2013, Accounting Principles: A Business Perspective, Global Text. Reeve, J, M, et al, 2012, Principles of Accounting, South-Western Cengage Learning. Question 3: Supporting data/evidence  Accounting framework enhances accounting profession. Currently various accounting frameworks that are in place includes IFRS and IASB. The frameworks are for the purposes of promoting the accounting standards. Despite the current framework being in place, the field of accounting is still experiencing a lot of challenges. The main challenge in accounting is false reporting. Most of the organizations provide false accounting information to attract more investors (Marshall, Valdosta & Varnon, 2012). Changes are required for the purposes of ensuring that the accounting standards are improved and the incidences of also accounting eliminated. According to lecture 6, the duty to provide an account is part of accountability which is required in the accounting framework. The responsibility to undertake certain actions that promotes accountability is required in the accounting frameworks. This will ensure that the profession is improved and hence leading to future positive changes. The steps for reporting also require some improvements to meet the needs of all the stakeholders. According to the accountability model, an acceptance of responsibility to report is required. This means that the framework should be improved to ensure that the accountants and their organizations take responsibility for any incidence of false reporting. The framework should also indicate clearly on the actions that need to be taken against the accountants and the organization that has been involved in false accounting and provision of misleading information. According to the institutional theory, organizations will adopt particular practices due to institutional pressures (Needles, et al, 2012). Strengthening the capacity of the institutions will therefore promote the development of effective accounting standards and frameworks. The accounting aspects play an essential role in improving the society. All the investors in different companies are members of the society. The framework therefore requires changes to ensure that the accounting adds value to the society. Protection of the members of society from exploitation and fraud has to be the main focus of the accounting framework. This will play an essential role in preventing the incidences such as that of Enron Corporation. In the current framework, the moral obligations of the corporate managers have not been considered. This has negative impacts on the society as managers engage in unethical activities without taking responsibility. The moral obligations of the managers should be clearly outlined to ensure that they are not engaged in unethical activities. Currently the main focus of most of the managers is to increase the profitability of their organizations (Warren & Young, 2011). This has seen some of the managers using unethical means to gain profitability. The framework should therefore be improved so as to ensure that the managers only use the legal means for the purposes of making profits. According to lecture 6, the media usually applaud the profitable organization. This contributes to the false accounting problem as each of the organization is in need of positive image from the media. The framework should therefore address this problem to ensure that the media focus of different aspects of the organizations. The future frameworks therefore need to ensure that the organizations are accountable to the society for how it operates. Promoting accountability will be essential in reducing most of the challenges that is associated with accounting. List of References Marshall, L, L, Valdosta, G, & Varnon, A, W, 2012, An empirical investigation of clicker technology in Financial Accounting Principles, Learning in Higher Education, 6. Needles, B, et al, 2012, Principles of accounting, Cengage Learning. Warren, D, L, & Young, M, N, 2011, Integrated accounting principles: A best practices course for introductory accounting, Issues in Accounting Education, 27(1), 247-266. Question 4: Case study reflection  The immediate social and physical environment is an important aspect of the social context. Accounting plays an important role in the management of the natural resources. The natural resources are supposed to be exploited in a manner that is beneficial to all the members of the society. In the case study, the gas drilling companies in Queensland have been involved in negative environmental aspects when exploiting the natural gas resources (Frackman, 2015). The companies with the support of the authorities are drilling the gas even in private properties. The processes have also led to environmental pollution with the gases leaking to water bodies. The gases are also leaking leading to negative effects on the air quality. The environmental pollution is also affecting the health of the members of the society. The members of the society have demonstrated and have totally objected the activities of the gas drilling companies. This has however not yielded results with the gas drilling companies arguing that their projects is creating employment and impacting positively on the economy of the country. According to the concepts of green accounting, the activities of an organization should promote sustainability (Jiang & Penman, 2013). It should also ensure that it does not impact negatively on the environment. An organization is supposed to account for all its activities to ensure that it does not impact negatively on the environment. The gas drilling companies have therefore failed to promote the aspects of green accounting (Wake up World, 2015). This is due to the high levels of environmental pollution. The negative effect on the environment is also an indication that the companies are not accountable to the society. The case study indicates that accounting is quite different from the social context. This makes accounting harmful to the society as compared to being beneficial. It is also an indication that accounting does not consider the moral obligations. The gas drilling companies are mainly driven by profitability as opposed to the social context. The managers are not taking their moral responsibility as they are engaged in unethical activities. This has seen the community members suffering as a result of the companies failing to be accountable. The main disadvantage of accounting is that a lot of focus is placed on financial and economic profitability as opposed to the social issues. The accountants are mainly trained on the aspects of profitability and not social aspects (Jiang & Penman, 2013). It is for this reason that the gas drilling companies are only focused on profitability and doing very little as far as the social aspects are concerned. This disadvantage of accounting makes it more harmful to the society. The concepts of accounting are closely related to accounting. A lot of focus is placed on the economy as opposed to the social context. The gas drilling companies are only focusing on profitability as opposed to the social contexts and the effects on their activities have on the society (Frackman, 2015). Long term and short term development is also an aspect of accounting. The benefits of the projects in the long term and short term basis have not been considered by the organization. The drilling projects have short term benefits to the economy but it lacks long term benefits to the society. This is considering that the high levels of pollution may end up affecting the health of the people as well as the environment. The project also has negative impacts on sustainability due to its negative effects on the environment. This is a further indication that the accounting has negative impacts on the social context. List of References Frackman, 2015, The movie: Official trailer, Retrieved on 11th November 2015 from, . Wake up World, 2015, 60 minutes Australia- Fracking-The coal seam gas land grab, Retrieved on 11th November 2015 from, . Frackman, 2015, Frackman: Dayne Pratzky takes on Coal seam gas, Retrieved on 11th November 2015 from, . Jiang, G, & Penman, S, 2013, A fundamentalist perspective on accounting and implications for accounting research, China Journal of Accounting Research, 6(4), 233-245. Read More