Course coordinator
Associate Professor Sergeja Slapnicar
Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 1, 2025 (24/02/2025 - 21/06/2025)
- Study level
- Postgraduate Coursework
- Location
- Brisbane City
- Attendance mode
- In Person
- Units
- 2
- Administrative campus
- St Lucia
- Coordinating unit
- Business School
Accounting involves compiling and interpreting financial information about an enterprise and its activities as a basis for making and evaluating economic decisions about the deployment of resources. Accounting knowledge is important for anyone involved in modern enterprises, whether they be profit oriented or government/non-profit entities. The aim of the course is to provide a broad understanding of the accounting discipline to enable students to comprehend, evaluate, interpret, question and intelligently discuss accounting information; and understand the uses, limitations, complexities and evolving nature of accounting. This broad understanding will enable students to make better decisions both when using accounting information and when working with their finance
teams.
The course will equip you with the essential accounting knowledge you need as a manager or investor. It covers three key areas:
1. Measuring business activity
We explore how business transactions are recorded in the three financial statements—the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Cash Flow Statement— what they tell and how they are interconnected.
2. Analysing performance
In the second part of the course, we learn accounting techniques for analysing an organisation’s performance. First, we examine financial statements from an investor’s perspective using ratio analysis and learning about how to value a company. Then, we take a managerial perspective and analyse the costing of products and services, their profitability, the break-even point, and marginal costs.
3. Driving performance
In the final part of the course, we focus on driving performance to meet stakeholders’ objectives. We cover governance and ESG reporting requirements, discuss aligning incentives and motivating employees to achieve organisational goals. We also study effective control of responsibility centres in large organisations and examine how transfer pricing impacts the performance of units and segments.
Course requirements
Assumed background
No accounting background assumed
Incompatible
You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:
ACCT1110 or 2101 or 2111 or 2112
Restrictions
GCBA, GDipBA, MBA
Course contact
Course staff
Lecturer
Associate Professor Sergeja Slapnicar
Timetable
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
Additional timetable information
Please note: Teaching staff do not have access to the timetabling system to help with class allocation. Therefore, should you need help with your timetable and/or allocation of classes, please ensure you email business.mytimetable@uq.edu.au from your UQ student email account with the following details:
- Full Name
- Student ID
- Course Code
Aims and outcomes
The aim of the course is to provide a broad understanding of the accounting discipline to enable students to comprehend, evaluate, interpret, question and intelligently discuss accounting information; and understand the uses, limitations, complexities and evolving nature of accounting. This broad understanding will enable students to build their confidence and to make better decisions both when using accounting information and when working with their finance teams.
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Use financial terminology and accounting principles to read and interpret financial reports.
LO2.
Analyse revenues and costs to critically evaluate and improve performance.
LO3.
Individually and in teams, evaluate and compare investment options in ambiguous and/or uncertain contexts.
LO4.
Communicate the outcomes of your analysis to diverse stakeholders.
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quiz |
A1: Online Quizzes
|
20% |
18/03/2025 8:00 pm 15/04/2025 8:00 pm 20/05/2025 8:00 pm |
| Presentation |
A2: Financial Projections for Startups
|
40% |
11/04/2025 3:00 pm |
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation | A3: Financial Analysis and Valuation | 40% |
20/05/2025 |
Assessment details
A1: Online Quizzes
- Online
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Quiz
- Weight
- 20%
- Due date
18/03/2025 8:00 pm
15/04/2025 8:00 pm
20/05/2025 8:00 pm
- Other conditions
- Time limited.
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02
Task description
3 Online Quizzes. focused on
- Financial Terminology
- Management Accounting
Schedule:
- Quiz 1: Week 4
- Quiz 2: Week 8
- Quiz 3: Week 12
Each quiz allows up to three attempts.
Best Score out of the three attempts will be recorded.
AI STATEMENT
This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Submission guidelines
Submission via Blackboard
Deferral or extension
You may be able to defer this exam.
Late submission
Exams submitted after the end of the submission time will incur a late penalty.
A2: Financial Projections for Startups
- Team or group-based
- In-person
- Mode
- Activity/ Performance, Oral
- Category
- Presentation
- Weight
- 40%
- Due date
11/04/2025 3:00 pm
Task description
Groups will form in Week 4.
• Review, analyse and compare an entity to a listed (or publicly available) entity
• Make a recommendation of whether to invest in the company and why
• Present and submit your analysis as a slide deck with speaker notes
• Presented live in-class + questions (20 mins total)
• All need to be prepared to answer questions
AI STATEMENT
This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Please Note: The presentation will be recorded for marking purposes per UQ Policy.
Submission guidelines
Submission via Blackboard
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
A3: Financial Analysis and Valuation
- Mode
- Oral, Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia
- Category
- Paper/ Report/ Annotation
- Weight
- 40%
- Due date
20/05/2025
- Learning outcomes
- L03, L04
Task description
Using an enterprise of your choice, or using a provided fictional case, in Excel:
• Prepare projected 5-year proforma financial statements based on relevant assumptions
• Prepare a sensitivity analysis showing the impact of variations in your key assumptions
• Calculate 6-8 financial ratios that demonstrate the financial health of the enterprise
• Prepare a breakeven analysis for the enterprise
Prepare a short-written report:
• Explaining how you determined which assumptions were most relevant and how you estimated the assumptions
• What the five-year outlook is for the venture including any funding may they need to source and when.
• Make a recommendation as to whether a person should invest in this enterprise.
• Approximate word count: 2,000 words
AI STATEMENT
This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Submission guidelines
Submitted in Turnitin via Blackboard Assessments in PDF format only.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
Extensions or deferrals are not available for this in class presentation. An extension may be available for the submitted material only.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
10% Late Penalty applies to submitted material only. Late submissions are not accepted for in-class presentations. Failure to present at the scheduled time will result in a mark of zero for the presentation portion of this assessment.
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Cut off Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) | 0 - 29 |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 2 (Fail) | 30 - 46 |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) | 47 - 49 |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes |
| 4 (Pass) | 50 - 64 |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 5 (Credit) | 65 - 74 |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 6 (Distinction) | 75 - 84 |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 7 (High Distinction) | 85 - 100 |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
Additional course grading information
Grades will be allocated according to University-wide standards of criterion-based assessment.
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is available for this course.
Learning resources
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Library resources
Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.
Learning activities
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Week 1 |
Seminar |
Introduction to Accounting Learning outcomes: L01 |
Week 2 |
Seminar |
Balance Sheet Learning outcomes: L01 |
Week 3 |
Seminar |
Income Statement Learning outcomes: L01, L02 |
Tutorial |
Tutorial 1 - Balance sheet and Income Statement Learning outcomes: L01, L02 |
|
Week 4 |
Seminar |
Cash Flow Statement Learning outcomes: L01, L02 |
Tutorial |
Tutorial 2 - Cash Flow Statement Learning outcomes: L01, L02 |
|
Week 5 |
Seminar |
The link between the three statements in financial projections (budgeting) Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
Tutorial |
Tutorial 3 - Financial Projections Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
|
Week 6 |
Seminar |
Financial Statement Analysis Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
Week 7 |
Seminar |
Valuation Learning outcomes: L03, L04 |
Week 8 |
Seminar |
Financial Analysis and Valuation Learning outcomes: L03, L04 |
Tutorial |
Tutorial 4: Financial Analysis and Valuation Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
|
Mid-sem break |
No student involvement (Breaks, information) |
In-Semester Break No Lecture. In-Semester Break |
Week 9 |
Seminar |
Cost behaviour and Break-Even Analysis Learning outcomes: L02 |
Tutorial |
Tutorial 5 - Cost Behaviour and Break-Even Point Learning outcomes: L02 |
|
Week 10 |
Seminar |
Costing and Analysing Profitability of Products and Services |
Tutorial |
Tutorial 6 - Costing and Analysing Profitability of Products and Services Learning outcomes: L02 |
|
Week 11 |
Seminar |
Governance and ESG reporting |
Week 12 |
Seminar |
Controlling Responsibility Centres and Transfer Prices |
Policies and procedures
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.