ACC3005 Auditing & Assurance Research Project Help

Assessment Description

This assessment is a part of a capstone accounting research project. The whole project is comprised of three (3) individual assessments. Section (a) provides information related to the overall project and section (b) provides information related to the assessment (1).

a) Description of the research project

The main objective of this research project is to confirm your ability in conducting research and executing key steps involved in the research process. The research needs to appraise and evaluate contemporary accounting issues. In this project, you need to identify a contemporary research topic, which has theoretical and empirical implication in current account practices. The identified topic needs to be related to sustainability, ethics and/or social accounting issues. For theoretical research, you need to identify the relevant theories on your topic using literature review and incorporate your own ideas of various researchers with your understanding. For empirical research, you need to identify 10 ASX listed companies and investigate their practices using accounting annual reports and other media reports. Overall, you need to

a) Critically analyze relevant theories on accounting information and corporate social responsibility using peer reviewed journal articles.

b) Analyze annual reports of 10 ASX listed companies for related accounting issues

c) Identify the research methodologies

d) Investigate the qualitative data and interpret

e) Provide discussion on main findings of the researched companies

f) Provide conclusion with justification

b) Description of the assessment A1

In this assessment A1, you need to,

a) Apply theories and accounting knowledge in developing research idea

b) Apply regulatory, sustainability and ethical issue related to research idea

c) Clearly state research objectives, research aim and research questions.

d) Develop research framework: conceptual, theoretical, methodological and analytical.

e) Provide information sources.

Research expectation:

· The submission needs to be supported with information by credible sources.

· Use adequate number of peer reviewed journal articles.

· Credible sources should be varied and include, but not limited to, the Textbook, Government reports, Industry reports, Newspaper articles, Books, and Journal articles.

· Use the EBSCO Databases accessed through the Library and Learning Support page on Moodle to find journal articles, case studies and more to help you prepare your assessment. Speak with the library assistants or email (support@aih.nsw.edu.au) if you require further assistance.

Detailed

Submission Requirements

· The word limit is 1000.

· Retain the formatting of the template (11 font, 2.5 margins, 1.5 spacing)

· Use Harvard referencing including the reference list

· Student must submit the assessment through the Assessment 1 Turnitin link on Moodle page for this unit.

Misconduct

· Turnitin is plagiarism software, which will identify if you have copied information and included it in your assessment.

· Copying information from others (i.e. websites, partner company information, or other students etc.) without the acknowledging the author is classified as misconduct.

· Engaging someone else to write any part of your assessment for you outside of the group work arrangement is classified as misconduct.

· To avoid being charged with Misconduct, students need to submit their own work and apply Harvard Style Referencing (ask your lecturer or the learning support coordinator (support@aih.nsw.edu.au) if you do not know what this means, or you need assistance applying it).

· The AIH misconduct policy and procedure can be read on the AIH website (https://aih.nsw.edu.au/about-us/policies-procedures/).

· Use the AIH referencing guide accessible via Library and Learning Support Page on mMoodle.

Late Submission

· Any assessment submitted past the specific due date and time will be classified as Late.

· Any Late submission will be subject to a reduction of the mark allocated for the assessment item by 5% per day (or part thereof) of the total marks available for the assessment item. A ‘day’ for this purpose is defined as any day of the week including weekends. Online Tutorings submitted later than one (1) week after the due date will not be accepted, unless special consideration is approved as per the formal process.

Special consideration

· Students whose ability to submit or attend an assessment item is affected by sickness, misadventure or other circumstances beyond their control, may be eligible for special consideration. No consideration is given when the condition or event is unrelated to the student’s performance in a component of the assessment, or when it is considered not to be serious.

· Students applying for special consideration must submit the form within 3 days of the due date of the assessment item or exam.

· The form can be obtained from the AIH website (https://aih.nsw.edu.au/current-students/student-forms/) or on-campus at Reception.

· The request form must be submitted to Student Services. Supporting evidence should be attached. For further information please refer to the Student Assessment Policy and associated Procedure available on

· (https://aih.nsw.edu.au/about-us/policies-procedures/).

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INTRODUCTION

the introduction to sustainable practices in companies has made a huge change in how the company works internally and externally keeping all the parties happy and satisfied. In this research, I will be discussing about the sustainability practices that Australian companies are considering along with what, these companies are doing or the Australian environment. This research will only focus on one of the companies listed in ASX. There are a lot of companies that are listed In ASX and have been doing numerous things for the environment as well as the consumer market. Some of their doings are going to be discussed in rest of this research.

SUSTANABILITY AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

In this research, I will be talking about a company named AACo (Australian Agricultural Company). This company produces integrated cattle and beef in a large number in Australia. Started in 1824, today AACo owns and operates a strategic balance of feedlots and farms comprising almost 6.4 million hectares of land in Queensland and the northern territory. Since they are a leading producer of beef and agricultural products In all over Australia, they are continuing to diversify their business into a vertically integrated agribusiness, with a solid history of sustainability. [1]

This is a business that relies on the natural resources available which is why their environment and sustainability initiatives are focused in respecting the natural resources and their commitment to innovative environmental management which protects the resources. The natural resources they focus on are the grazing land, water resources, pest management, climate change and so on. Since these companies are the largest producers of beef and cattle, they need to be sure about their food consumption in order of their proper growth. These needs to be carried out, without hampering the natural vegetation. For example, too much use of chemical fertilizers can decrease the fertility of soil, resulting in the less production of the vegetation for the beef and the cattles to feed on which will create a huge problem in the business. Water comes in hand by hand when we talk about food. In order to provide their business with proper watering, they need to have proper and improved understanding of the ground aquifers which is being achieved through comprehensive water quality monitoring. [2]

AACo tends to be the leader in the sustainable beef production. In order to do so, they need to have a good sustainability guiding principles. This results in continuous improvement in the management of the environment and animals under their supervision, minimizing the negative impacts from their activities and contributing positively to the environment they operate. In order for a company to run perfectly and smoothly, there needs to be a good corporate governance. The board of the company is responsible for the establishment of the corporate governance of the company having regard of the ASX Corporate Governance Council (CGC) published guidelines along with its governance principles and recommendations. Sustainability is achieved by a company of the corporate governance is good and it is successful in satisfying the needs and the demands of the consumers. [3]

So, the question here that arises is, what is the corporate governance that leads a company to its sustainability. In simple words, corporate governance can be described as the rules, practices and processes by which a firm is directed and controlled. As per ASX rules, listed entities are required to publish a corporate governance statement, either in their annual reports or in an intuitive and easily accessible section of the website. Companies like AACo is highly dependent on the natural resources that are available and has been using the resources for the growth and the development of their company. But let us take a moment and ask ourselves that what are these companies doing for the environment as well. Only a few generations ago, it seemed that we have infinite resources and people need to access them to create business and grow humanity. We know that, rather than finding ways to deplete or use all the resources, people and companies need to commit on finding sustainable ways to grow, while preserving the environment and the resources we have left. Companies can be effecting the environments in various ways that they might not be aware of. For examples, deforestations to increase the industrialization. It increases the chances of soil erosion causing many damages to life and properties. Excess emission of CO2: leading in the depletion of the ozone layer, increase in the pollution/toxic waste. In order for these companies to focus to do something good for the environment, we that is the consumers also have to play some roles to raise awareness to the companies and tell them if they are doing any harm to the environment. Since we are talking about AACo, the efforts that they have been putting to preserve the natural resources remaining by managing natural resources sustainably and to address environmental risks. In order to keep their grazing land productive, they use pasture that are perfect for the land’s condition making it fertile. they are also trying to improve efficiency in the consumption of energy in their operations and play a vital role in aiding industry to address enteric greenhouse gases. As the world’s population is increasing day by day, the company has to meet more needs and demands of the consumers for which they have to focus on increasing their products and if they can do that by without causing any harm to the environment then that would be much more acceptable for the society. [4]

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CONCLUSION

In a nut shell, from the discussions that we had and based on the research done, we can conclude that ACCo is positively responding to the environmental factors that are required or expected by the society. Since the society is now pressurizing most of the companies to focus on the environment as well for the sustainability of the business. If a company success in doing so then that company becomes sustainable and sets a perfect example of good corporate governance to the other competing companies across the globe.

REFERENCES

[1]	AACo, “the art of australian beef,” [Online]. Available: https://aaco.com.au/about-us/environment-sustainability. [Accessed 02 01 2020].
[2]	AACo, “the art of australian beef,” [Online]. Available: https://aaco.com.au/about-us/environment-sustainability. [Accessed 02 01 2020].
[3]	AACo, “the art of australian beef,” [Online]. Available: https://aaco.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Sustainability-Policy-website-version-FINAL-January-2019-v3.pdf. [Accessed 02 01 2020].
[4]	innvestopedia, “invesetopedia,” [Online]. Available: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/corporategovernance.asp. [Accessed 02 01 2020].
[5]	“the art of australian beef,” [Online]. Available: https://aaco.com.au/about-us. [Accessed 02 01 2020].