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733N1 – Accounting for Decision Makers

Coursework Assessment – weighting 50%

Instructions (please read carefully)

· You have a choice. You must attempt EITHER Question 1 OR Question 2. 

· Your answer must be 1,500 words (+/- 10%) in total EXCLUDING any abstract, bibliography, or appendices. 

· Your answer needs to draw upon scholarly research. A lack of engagement with scholarly research e.g. using textbooks/websites alone, will attract a low score.

· Your answer also needs to draw upon recent sociopolitical developments.

· Please refer to the “Writing & Assessment” section on the University of Sussex Skills Hub webpages for suggestions on writing a good essay.  

· Also, refer to the “Referencing & Academic Integrity” section on the University of Sussex Skills Hub webpages for guidelines on referencing and plagiarism. You should use the Harvard referencing style. 

· Each student should submit only ONE document: the written essay, in Word (.doc or .docx), through Canvas. Please do not email your work directly to the module tutor. It will not be accepted as a submission. 

Submission deadline:  as per Sussex Direct

The marking criteria will be the standard marking criteria for Business and Management postgraduate work, a copy of which is provided below. 

Assessment notice 

Students submitting essays and other coursework assessments should be aware that the penalties imposed upon students committing academic misconduct may include obtaining zero marks for the assessment unit, or even more severe penalties. See http://www.sussex.ac.uk/s3/?id=155 for further information. The most common forms of misconduct that are usually detected are plagiarism and personation. To find out more about them – and how to avoid them, see: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/s3/?id=35 

Guidance on how you may approach this assessment will be provided in the seminars.

Question 1

The following information is available from the books of BudgeDine plc. The company operates in the UK hospitality sector and is well known for its hotels providing accommodation and quality comfort food and drink to customers on a budget.

You have been approached by a prospective investor intending to pick up a 40% stake in BudgeDine plc for advice.

Your colleague, however, is quick to point out that any analysis of BudgeDine plc using the above ratios is useless since ratios are not governed by any standards and more importantly, the numbers that they are based on are full of subjective assumptions of the accountant. He even suggests depreciation, valuation of work in progress, creating provisions, estimation of future cash flows etc. as examples of such subjectivity. Furthermore, he argues that all these numbers are based on only those facets of the organization that the accountant can and chooses to measure.

Write a report addressed to the prospective investor advising her about the suitability of investment. Your report should be limited to 1500 words and needs to draw upon the above ratios, current sociopolitical developments and any other research deemed necessary. (100 marks)

[TOTAL 100 MARKS]

Question 2

733N1 has introduced you to several management accounting techniques. These include:

a) Cost volume profit analysis & Marginal Costing

b) Absorption Costing

c) Budgeting

d) Investment appraisal

Critically evaluate the efficacy of any two of the above techniques to identify how management accounting information aids business decision making.

Note: Your answer should be limited to 1500 words. It needs to draw upon scholarly research and current socioeconomic developments to evaluate the contribution of the above methods to practice, using examples where necessary. It should not be a simple description of the techniques followed by a discussion of their advantages and disadvantages. Such basic descriptions will attract low scores. (100 marks)

[TOTAL 100 MARKS]

Learning outcomes to be assessed 

1. Examine key accounting concepts and principles and the process involved in producing financial reports. 

2. Interpret and analyse financial reports, using appropriate tools and explain the nature of earnings management and its relevance to users of financial reports. 

3. Appraise the need for regulation of financial reporting, including accounting standards and describe the problems faced by standards setters in an international context. 

4. Assess and apply key concepts and techniques in management accounting and control.