Reference no: EM134012828 , Length: Word Count:2500

Corporate Accounting

Assessment task

The assignment is to be prepared on the three listed companies of Australian Securities Exchange allocated to you.

The list of companies allocated for:

Melbourne Campus: BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP); Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST) and Pilbara Mineral (ASX: PLS).
Sydney Campus: Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO); Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) and Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN)
Brisbane and Gold Coast Campuses: Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG); South 32 (ASX: S32) and Aeris Resources (ASX: S32)

Note that the report that is prepared on three companies other the allocated three companies will not be graded.

Go to the websites of your allocated companies. Then go to the Investor Relations section of the website. This section may be called, "Investors," "Shareholder Information," or similar name. In this section, go to your companies' annual reports and save to your computer latest annual reports of your companies. Do not use your companies' interim financial statements or their concise financial statements. Read the financial statements (balance sheet, comprehensive income statement, statement of changes in owner's equity, cash flow statement) very carefully. Also, read the relevant footnotes of your companies' financial statements carefully and include information from these footnotes in your report.

You are required to complete the following tasks:

OVERVIEW OF THE COMPANIES AND THE INDUSTRY

Briefly introduce the selected publicly listed companies.
Provide an overview on financial performance and financial position of the companies.

OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME STATEMENT

What items have been reported in the other comprehensive income statement for each company?
Why have these items not been reported in Income Statement/Profit and Loss Statements?
Provide a comparative analysis of the items shown in the other comprehensive income statement section for the three companies. If these items were included in the income statement / profit and loss statements of each company, how would the profit attributable to shareholders of the company be affected?
Should other comprehensive income be included in evaluating the performance of managers of the company?

INTANGIBLE ASSETS, PROVISIONS, COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Summarize the accounting policies applied to intangible assets such as goodwill, brand names, and computer software.
Create a table that shows the additions, impairments, and amortization of intangible assets over the last two years.

CASH FLOW STATEMENT

Discuss the difference between the direct method of cash flow statement and the indirect method of cash flow statement. Include one research/journal-based reference.
Provide a comparative analysis of three broad categories of cash flows (operating activities, investing activities, financing activities) of all the companies, and make a comparative evaluation of cash flows for two years. Refer to the cash flow statements and supporting disclosures where relevant.

ACCOUNTING FOR CROPORATE INCOME TAX

What are the tax expenses shown in the latest financial statements of the three companies that you have been allocated?
Calculate the effective tax rate for both companies that you have selected. Effective tax rate is calculated as (income tax expense / earnings before tax). Which one of the companies has the higher effective tax rate?
Comment on deferred tax assets/deferred tax liabilities that is reported in the balance sheet articulating the possible reasons why they have been recorded.
Calculate the cash tax amount for both companies using the book tax amount, changes in the deferred tax assets and deferred tax liability.
Calculate the cash tax rate for both companies (tax paid in cash during the period/earnings before tax). Which company has higher cash tax rate?

NON-CONTROLLING INTEREST (NCI)

Define what NCI is and include one research/journal-based reference.
Explore related Note # of the selected companies and report the dollar amount of NCI for the last two years.

Format of the Report

Your submitted assignment should have at least the following details:

Assignment Cover page clearly stating your names and student numbers.
Executive summary
A table of contents
Body of the report where you write your answers with appropriate section headings.
Conclusion (No recommendation is necessary).
List of references.