Assessment Task 1
Description:
An annual report is an annual publication that public companies must provide to their shareholders to describe their operations and financial conditions. The front part of the report usually contains an impressive combination of graphics, photos and an accompanying narrative, all of which chronicle the company's activities over the past year. The back part of the report contains detailed financial and operational information (Definitions: Investopedia).
Most companies generally follow a standard annual report format. You would have had an opportunity to look at sample annual reports prior to undertaking this task. You can use sample reports as guides for your template. However, due care must be taken to cite all external reference sources to avoid the risk of plagiarism. As you may also need to use logos and company details in your template, make sure that you use only fictitious names and symbolic logos to avoid copyright infringements. There are seven sections that make up a standard annual report format:
Letter to the shareholder
Highlights of the past year
Management discussion and analysis
Auditor's report
Financial statements (Income Statement, Balance Sheets, and Cash Flow Statement)
Notes to financial statements
Corporate information
In this assessment task, you will assume the role of a finance officer working with a public limited company based in Australia. As this is a simulated exercise, your trainer/assessor will play the role of your manager.
This task has two parts; design and production. In the design part, you will be required to prepare a sample document (1-2 pages) and discuss and clarify format and style requirements with your manager (trainer/assessor role-play). Based on the feedback received, your will produce and finalise the entire document as the second part.
Ensure that you cover all the organisational requirements as listed under
Assessment Task 2
Part A: Develop Linked Spreadsheets
Description:
Financial statements are important reports for any business. They show how a business is doing at any stage and are useful for company's stakeholders, both inside and outside the company, including board of directors, shareholders, prospective investors, government agencies and financial lenders such and institutions. The key financial statements include;
Cash Flow Statement
Profit and Loss
Balance Sheet
A cash flow statement shows where the cash of the business goes and where it comes from during an accounting period. A profit-and-loss statement shows company’s financial performance from the beginning to the end of an accounting period. A balance sheet shows company's net worth (different between assets and liabilities), and lists all of the assets and liabilities of the business at the end of the period. You would have reviewed sample financial statements prior to undertaking this task.
Using Microsoft Excel, create three linked spreadsheets within one file that links and shares data between all three statements (create templates only – actual data is not needed). You may use contents and structure of sample financial statements to ensure that you correctly use standard information/items that these statements include.
Your trainer/assessor will guide you with information on which data needs to be linked between the sheets with an example.As this is a simulated exercise, your trainer/assessor will also play the role of your manager.
Basic company requirements are;
Consistent style and format with a header and footer
Company logo in the header
Document name, location, version, and page number in the footer
Arial 9.0 point font
Header rows which remain constant across different pages
Linked cells with the required formulas
Protected formula cells
Password protected file Use Excel tutorials and/or online help resources to learn about linking worksheets.
Your manager (trainer/assessor role-play) will provide you with the required information. Excel/spreadsheet is a vital tool for accounting professionals and this task will prepare you for a more complex use of the software/spreadsheets in other parts of the course. Once completed, enter some sample data to check and verify the links and data. Modify and finalise the document ensuring all the requirements have been addressed. Completion timeframe for the document would be the completion requirement for this task.