Team Assignment – Research And Presentation

Assessment Description

Learning Outcome 3: Apply the different phases of the audit to practical scenarios, working in teams in  some instances  

Learning Outcome 4: Evaluate the different audit opinions that could be expressed following the  completion of an audit as they apply to different audit scenarios, working in teams in some instances

Objective: The objective of this assignment is to effectively work in teams to formulate and recommend  possible solutions in practical scenarios  

Required:  

This assignment comprises three parts working in teams as follows:  

Technical Skills (15%): Part 1: Written answers to a research case study involving two companies.  Part 2: Written answers to a research question on a current area of concern. Professional Competency Skills (10%):  

 Part 3: (5%): Team meetings and minutes  

 Part 4: (5%): Team presentation  

You are required to complete the assignment working in teams of 3 – 4 members. You need to obtain  your lecturer's approval as to the size and members of your group. Your group presentation will be  limited to 10 minutes per group of 3 members (13 minutes for 4 members), and each member of the  team must present a part of it demonstrating an understanding of the technical aspects being tested and  individual oral presentation skills. A separate mark will be given to each member of the team for  presentation skills. Minutes of team meetings must also by maintained and submitted with the  assignment.  

Please check the marking sheet for each part to ensure that you have followed all the guidelines for  presenting your work and are aware of how you can score marks.  

The assignment is designed to test the following skills:  

1. Your knowledge and your ability to research the issues and then apply the information appropriately using judgement  
2. Your teamwork and communication skills  

Please make sure that you follow the guidelines noted on your assignment and those relating to the  presentation of written work, late policy and academic integrity.

PART 1: (40 marks – Assessable value 10 marks)  

Review the audited annual reports including financial statements presented to the shareholders in  respect of the two companies noted below and answer the questions. Please note that if the web-link  fails to open you may need to 'right click' on it and use 'open hyperlink' to access it.  

(A) Qantas Ltd: Financial year ended 30 June 2014  

http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/investors-full-year-results/global/en 

(B) Treasury Wine Estates: Financial Year ended 30 June 2014  

http://www.tweglobal.com/investors/annual-reports/ 

Questions to be answered by the team or group:  

Assume that your team is responsible for planning the audits for both 'Qantas' (year ended 30  June 2014) and 'Treasury Wines Estates' (year ended 30 June 2014) discuss your strategies in  relation to the questions noted below –  

(A). Identify at least three (3) inherent risks that you would have considered for each company in the  audit planning phase and justify your answer  

(B). What audit procedures and/or tasks would you have plan to carry out in response to the inherent  risks identified by you in (A) above?  

(C). Carry out an analytical review on the financial statements of these companies in the planning  phase and identify areas of concern (high risk or problem areas) or comfort. Justify your answer –  identify at least three (3) points for each company.  

(D). What audit procedures and/or tasks would you have planned to carry out in response to the high  risks or problem areas identified by you in (C) above? Alternatively, in relation to which area would you  have minimised your evidence gathering procedure?  

(E). An Independent Auditor's Report to the Members has been issued for each company:  (a) Identify the type of audit opinion issued by each auditor, and justify your answer.  (b) Do you agree with the type of opinion issued by the auditor? Why or why not? Please indicate an  alternative audit opinion if you do not agree with the one issued.  

(c) Are there any other matters or events that have taken place after the issue of the audit report that  strengthens or weakens the auditor's opinion?  

(F). In relation to corporate governance research and justify your answer to the following questions-  (a) Do the above companies have any process relating to corporate governance? Under which section  of the annual report would you expect to find information on it?  

(b) Do the companies have an audit committee and does it have the correct composition?  (c) In your opinion, are audit committees of benefit to the auditor, the company, the auditing profession  and/or society as a whole?  

PART 2: (20 Marks – Assessable Value 5 Marks)  

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released Information Sheet 196 in March  2014 titled 'Audit Quality: the Role of Directors and Audit Committee'. In response to this the Head of  Audit Policy at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and New Zealand welcomed it saying it  was 'important in supporting audit committees fulfill their responsibilities in the financial reporting and external audit process.' 

In your own words (as a group/team) comment on this statement. Your team commentary should include  (but doesn't have to be restricted to) answers to the following: What your team understands by audit  quality? Is it important? Do audit committees and directors have an impact on audit committees? How?  The report also makes a number of recommendations? Explain whether you think they are necessary,  useful or redundant? Is this mandatory or should it be made mandatory? Why or why not? Should the  auditing profession be regulated in this manner? Why or why not? 

REQUIRED:  

1. Complete the questions in Parts 1 and 2 and submit your answers electronically using the link on the  student portal under assessments overview and submission. Note to include the names and student ID  numbers of the team members but submit just the one answer for your team. 
2. As a team you will conduct meetings and will have had guidance on how to conduct meetings using  an agenda and taking minutes etc. The team should have a minimum of three meetings (the team may  have as many meetings as they need to) and should maintain agendas and minutes of those meetings.  A copy of these documents should be attached to your team submission. Please make sure that all  members of the team sign the minutes of the meetings in agreement to their accuracy. A pro forma is  attached to this assignment for reference.  
3. Group Presentation – prepare and present a group presentation of 10 minutes (13 minutes for 4  members) on all or some of the material you have researched in parts 1 and/or 2 above. All members  of the group should be part of the presentation. Questions will be asked of the group during and/or after  the presentation to test your understanding of the material.  

Summary of Marks:  

Parts 1 and 2: Written response 15 marks  

Part 3 Teamwork (minutes) 5 marks  

Part 4 Team presentation 5 marks 

 25 Marks 

A detailed marking sheet relating to requirements 1 and 3 and a marking rubric for requirement 2 is also  available and you should check them to ensure that you have followed all the guidelines for presenting your work and are aware of how you can score marks

The five risks in relation to the planning phases of the companies (Quantas and Treasury Wine Estates) are enumerated hereunder-

• The planning and execution of Quantas do not comprehend the goals of the organization. There is a PBT loss of $ 646 million for the year ended 30th June 2014 (Quantas , 2014). It may happen that the current organization is in the recession of the business cycle and is not able to invest elsewhere, especially when the investment required is above a certain limit. A project charter and plan may fail to take the organizational goals into contemplation and only focus on operations. The managers need to mitigate the risk by making sure that the operations comprehend the goals of the organization. The resources of the company should be utilized to the maximum. Approval of the stakeholders should be taken. Treasure Wines, on the other hand, has a PBT of $143.5 million. Their planning seems to comprehend the goals.

• In the course of conceptualizing and initializing the project, it may happen that the scope of the project is not defined in clear and specific terms, which may lead to disapproval or ineffective implementation. Statistics show that there is a non-cash fleet impairment of a $2.6 million (Quantas , 2014). Inaccurate estimation of disbursements is taking place in Quantas. This may be in the form of employee remuneration, the high cost of fuel or fewer revenues. The decrease in net assets in Treasury Wine Estates was principally driven by the $345.2 million (pre-tax) impairment charge. The head of the respective departments is responsible for this. In order to work in a desirable manner, the estimates should be made with utmost precision. In fact, some extra scope also needs to be kept for each cost so as to cover unforeseen expenses.

• On evaluating the success of the project, although the operations are instructed by the main professionals for providing the best amenities to the employees and customers, the lack of flexibility in the layout may lead to the ineffective working of Quantas presently. There are transformation benefits of a $440 million (Quantas , 2014). The layout and plan in relation to the execution should be flexible in operation as well as in time frame also. The scope should be wide. This proves that the company has a greater scope to move forward. Nothing like this was seen in case of Treasury Wines.

• In the process of evaluation of the project, another risk in this regard would be over/underestimation of fixed costs like rent, salaries and other overheads at the time of project planning and now at the time of implementation. Therefore, fixation of budget ineffectively results in deviating from the same and therefore results in greater risks.
• After evaluating the offers of every vendor, the one with the best-offered price should be considered. The risk of loss of control should also be considered.