HI6026 T3 2021 Audit, Assurance and compliance

Group Assessment Details and Submission Guidelines
Trimester	T2 2021
Unit Code	HI6026
Unit Title	Audit, Assurance and Compliance
Assessment Type	Group Assignment
Assessment Title	Executive Compensation, Independence and Covid-19 Impact on auditing
Purpose of the assessment (with ULO Mapping)	Students are required to explain the executive qualification, experience, compensation from your 10 ASX listed companies and effect of COVID-19 from your selected company.   Learning Outcomes: Evaluate the economic and legal basis for auditing and the applicable auditing standards and reporting requirements Analyse and communicate knowledge of the auditor’s professional judgement, legal and ethical responsibilities to their clients and third parties Assess audit strategies including the evaluation of business risk and internal controls Apply audit concepts and processes to gather evidence and formulate judgments with respect to the underlying information
Weight	40% of the total assessments
Total Marks	40
Word limit	3,000 words ± 500 words
Due Date	Group Formation: Please form the group by self-enrolling in Blackboard. There should be a maximum of 4 members in a group—email BBHelpdesk@holmes.edu.au for any issues with self-enrolling into groups.   Assignment submission: Final Submission of Group Assignment: Week 10, Friday at 11:59 pm.   Late submission incurs penalties of five (5) % of the assessment per calendar day unless an extension and/or special consideration has been granted by Student Services of your campus prior to the assessment deadline.
SubmissionGuidelines	All work must be submitted on Blackboard by the due date, along with a completed Assignment Cover Page. The assignment must be in MS Word format, single spacing, 12-pt Arial font and 2cm margins on all four sides of your page with appropriate section headings and page numbers. All reference sources must be provided using Holmes Harvard referencing style. Holmes will be implementing as a pilot program a revised Harvard approach to referencing. The following guidelinesapply:   1. Reference sources in assignments are limited to sources which provide full text access to the source’s content for

lecturers and markers. The Reference list should be located on a separate page at the end of the essay and titled: References.It should include the details of all the in-text citations, arranged alphabetically A-Z by author surname. Inaddition, it MUST include a hyperlink to the full text of the cited reference source. For example; P Hawking, B McCarthy, A Stein (2004), Second Wave ERP Education, Journal of Information Systems Education,Fall, http://jise.org/Volume15/n3/JISEv15n3p327.pdf All assignments will require additional in-text reference details which will consist of the surname of the author/authors or name of the authoring body, year of publication, page number of contents, paragraph wherethe content can be found. For example; “The company decided to implement a enterprise wide data warehouse business intelligence strategies(Hawking et al, 2004, p3(4)).   Non-Adherence to Referencing Guidelines   Where students do not follow the above guidelines:   Students who submit assignments which do not comply with the guidelines will be penalised by 10% from the total awarded marks.Students who comply with guidelines and the citations are “fake” will be reported for academic misconduct

Assignment Specifications

Required Task:

Part A: (25 marks)

Listed companies are required to make certain disclosures in their annual reports about the compensation paid to their top executives. One reason for this is to help interested stakeholders assess the performance of executives. It also helps executives and companies set appropriate compensation levels, based on what other companies in the same industry and/or of the same size are paying their executives. These disclosures are audited.

Required

Obtain the annual reports of 10 listed Australian companies in the same industry from the Year 2020. (Hint: See www.asx.com.au for a list of companies on the ASX, industry membership and links to company websites where you can download annual reports.) Extract the information on executive remuneration and describe the data using graphs and tables. Write a report addressing the following questions (justify your responses by referring to the data where appropriate).

1. How are the executives paid (cash, bonuses etc.)?
2. Discuss details about executive qualification, experiences and independence.
3. Which companies’ executives are paid the most and what is the range of pay?
4. Which companies’ executives’ pay is most linked to the company’s profit and/or share price performance?

(Explain any assumptions you have to make.)

• Overall, what do you conclude about how Australian company executives are paid and how clearly the compensation data is reported?

Part B: (10 marks)

Explain Auditing in times of social distancing: the effect of COVID-19 on auditing quality proposed by Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) in the following situations:

1. What should be the focus areas for auditors under COVID-19 conditions?
2. Should audit fees be reduced when reviewing other cost saving initiatives?
3. Should an auditor delay their opinion until a limitation or uncertainty is resolved?
4. What should be influence of COVID-19 and going concern assessment?

The assignment structure must be as follows:

1. Holmes Institute Assignment Cover Sheet – Full Name, Student No., Contribution.

2.    Executive Summary

1. The Executive summary should be concise and not involve too much detail.
   1. It should make commentary on the main points only and follow the sequence of the report.
   1. Write the Executive Summary after the report is completed, and once you have an overview of the whole text.
2. The Executive Summary appears on the first page of the report.
3. Contents Page – This needs to show a logical listing of all the sub-headings of the report’s contents. Note

this is excluded from the total word count.

• Introduction – A short paragraph which includes background, scope and the main points raised in order of importance. There should be a brief conclusion statement at the end of the Introduction.
• Main Body Paragraphs with numbered sub-headings – Detailed information which elaborates on the main points raised in the Introduction. Each paragraph should begin with a clear topic sentence, then supporting

sentences with facts and evidence obtained from research and finish with a concluding sentence at the

end.

• Conclusion – A logical and coherent evaluation based on a thorough and an objective assessment of the research performed.
• Appendices – Include any additional explanatory information which is supplementary and/ or graphical to help communicate the main ideas made in the report. Refer to the appendices in the main body paragraphs, as and where appropriate. (Note this is excluded from the total word count.

Group submission Guideline:

To ensure that all students participate equitably in the group assignment and that students are responsible for theacademic integrity of all components of the assignment. You need to complete the following Group Assignment Task Allocation table, relevant evidence (authenticity of your assignment) which identifies which student/students are responsible for the various sections of the assignment.

Assignment Section	Student/Students

This table needs to be completed and submitted with the assignment as it is a compulsory component requiredbefore any grading is undertaken. Students that are registered in a solo group are not required to fill this table.

Both assessment items must be submitted on Blackboard. The written assignment must be in a report format and submitted through safe-assign prior to final submission. The originality percentage should be as low as possible. The written submission must be double-checked, edited and rephrased if the originality percentage and plagiarism risk is noted as high, as per safe-assign.

Marking Criteria

Group Assignment Marking Criteria	Weighting
Executive Summary	2%
Introduction and Main Body of the Report	35%
Overall Presentation (Report presentation, Correct referencing, consistency)	3%
Total Weight	40%

Academic Integrity

Holmes Institute is committed to ensuring and upholding Academic Integrity, as Academic Integrity is integral to maintaining academic quality and the reputation of Holmes’ graduates. Accordingly, all assessment tasks need to comply with academic integrity guidelines. Table 1 identifies the six categories of Academic Integrity breaches. If you have any questions about Academic Integrity issues related to your assessment tasks, please consult your lecturer or tutor for relevant referencing guidelines and support resources. Many of these resources can also be found through the Study Sills link on Blackboard.

Academic Integrity breaches are a serious offence punishable by penalties that may range from deduction of marks, failure of the assessment task or unit involved, suspension of course enrolment, or cancellation of courseenrolment.

Table 1: Six categories of Academic Integrity breaches

Plagiarism	Reproducing the work of someone else without attribution.When a student submits their own work on multiple occasionsthis is known as self-plagiarism.
Collusion	Working with one or more other individuals to complete anassignment, in a way that is not authorised.
Copying	Reproducing and submitting the work of another student, with or without their knowledge. If a student fails to take reasonable precautions to prevent their own original work from being copied, this may also be considered an offence.
Impersonation	Falsely presenting oneself, or engaging someone else to presentas oneself, in an in-person examination.
Contract cheating	Contracting a third party to complete an assessment task,generally in exchange for money or other manner of payment.
Data fabrication and falsification	Manipulating or inventing data with the intent of supportingfalse conclusions, including manipulating images.

Source: INQAAHE, 2020

Marking Rubric

	Excellent HD	Very Good D	Good C	Satisfactory P	Unsatisfactory F
Executive Summary   (2 marks)	Very effectively written synopsis with clear communication of the main points in a concise paragraph.	Competently composed a strong synopsis.The main pointsare communicated well.	Synopsis is well written with allthe expected points raised.	Synopsis is clearly written, but itis brief or hassome errors.	Synopsis is deficient and poorly written. Too brief.
Main Body	Excellent. Well	There are valid	There are valid	Some	Poorly organized;
Including	organised. Main	points raised with	points raised,	organization;	no logical
Introduction	points are logically	a good argument	paragraphing is	main points	progression;
(35 marks)	ordered; sharp	/ thesis	noted, and the	are there but	beginning and
	sense of	statement,	points in the	they are	ending are vague.
	structuring and	paragraphing is	introduction are	disjointed;	No structure.
	arrangement of key	noted, and the	explained in	Minor	Lacks substance.
	information.	points in the	more detail	structuring	No research
	Supporting details	introduction are	with supporting	issues.	noted.
	are specific to the	explained in more	evidence.
	main points and	detail with
	adequate facts and	supporting
	other evidence is	evidence.
	provided and well-
	articulated.
Referencing and Citation (3 marks)	References are consistently correct using Harvard style. No missing citations.A strong reference list with relevant andcredible sources used. Evidence of extensive research.	References are consistently correct using Harvard style. No missing citations. References usedare good, but not extensive.	Generally correct referencing using Harvardstyle. More references required.	Some References are used, butnot used consistently. Not enough research done.	References are missing or do not comply withcorrect referencing style.