Assignment Task
1. Financial Statement Analysis
Prepare a report based on a selected organisation This assessment gives you an opportunity to demonstrate that you can apply concepts covered in topics 1-4. It requires you to examine, analyse and discuss the information contained in the General Purpose Financial Statements (GPFS) of a chosen organisation in order to draw conclusions regarding its financial performance and financial position.
Instructions
1. Obtain the most recent General Purpose Financial Statements (GPFS) of a listed organisation or any other organisation for which you are able to access the audited (GPFS).
2. Perform an analysis on these financial statements using a variety of analysis techniques, as covered in this unit and others that you may research. Ensure that you include financial ratio analysis.
3. Draft a report in which you describe, discuss and evaluate the financial performance and financial position of the organisation as reflected by the financial statements and the supporting financial analysis.
In order to inform your discussion and interpretation of the analysis, ensure that you:
Include a commentary on relevant context to the organisation, its industry and its operations
Ensure that your analysis clearly identifies the financial impacts of the organisation’s activities and operations
In your discussion, identify key financial issues that are of particular importance to the organisation.
2. Budgeting and cost analysis
This task requires you to examine and analyse a selected budget within your organisation (or business unit) to draw conclusions and recommendations regarding its effectiveness as a mechanism for monitoring costs and performance within your organisation. As part of this examination you are required to analyse the cost elements within the budget so as to understand the cost structure of the organisation (or business unit) and key factors influencing it.
Instructions
1. Select a budget from your work unit, department or the whole organisation, and develop an understanding of the budget composition, including key cost (and revenue) elements and the factors that drive those elements.
In addition, develop an understanding of the preparation and the monitoring process for this budget. You may wish to meet with the individuals who are responsible for preparing, authorising, managing or implementing the budget and /or access relevant organisational documentation.
2. Prepare a report in which you describe, analyse and critique the budget preparation and monitoring process.
In your discussion, identify any pitfalls associated with the budget process, and actions which you recommend could be taken to improve the either the budget process or performance against the budget.
Also comment on the cost structure and any recommendations you may have in relation to it.
In the discussion and analysis of the chosen budget, ensure that you include a discussion of the following aspects:
1. How the budget aligns to broader organisational planning, strategies and goals.
2. The budget development process, including; timing and timeframes, key stakeholders involved, signoffs, tools and systems used, communications.
3. The key cost elements (and revenues) in the budget. In discussing these, describe whether the key costs elements and revenues are regarded as fixed or variable, and what factors ‘drive’ them.
4. Any indirect costs that are allocated into this budget and on what basis the allocation is done.
5. Reflection on the costs and the cost structure in the budget and the implications of this structure in cost management.
6. How information is gathered to support the budget and budget assumptions, including any costing models or costing systems that are used to generate information for the budget.
7. How performance against the budget is measured and monitored.
8. Consideration of how the use of data analytics could impact the budget development or monitoring processes.
3. Each week, you are required to complete the topic by topic self-assessment multiple choice questions in myABS.
