Swinburne Business School

Faculty of Business and Law

Unit Outline
ACC80008
Managerial Accounting
Semester 1, 2016
Convenor:
Dr. Evangeline Elijido-Ten

Room: BA1230 9214 4471

Email: EElijidoten@swin.edu.au

Please read this Unit Outline carefully. It includes:

PART A
PART B
PART C

Unit summary
Your Unit in more detail
Further information

It is the responsibility of each student to be aware of the content of this document.

PART A:

Unit Summary

Unit Code(s)

ACC80008

Unit Title

Managerial Accounting

Duration

One Teaching period

Total Contact Hours

36 hours

Requisites:
Concurrent pre-requisites

ACC60005 Accounting Principles and

ACC60006 Accounting Information Systems

Credit Points

12.5

Campus/Location

Hawthorn
Class (3 hours)

Mode of Delivery

Assessment Summary

(A range of teaching methods will be used including

lectures and class discussion)
Test (Individual) 10-20%
Continuous Assessment (Individual) 5-15%
Assignment(s) (Group) 25-30%
Examination (Individual) 50-60%

Page 1 of 10

Aims
This unit is designed to provide students with skills and practice that are critical to building their
planning, decision making and performance evaluation capability to assist managers in making
informed judgements. The unit aims to provide an understanding of the relevant management and
cost accounting concepts necessary to evaluate a problem, source and use relevant information
(both financial and non-financial) and make valid decisions to achieve sustainable value creation
for the firm. Primarily, the thrust of this unit is to enhance the student's critical and analytical ability
through exposure to practical accounting problems and case studies. In so doing, the unit also
aims to encourage students to develop the skills necessary for lifelong learning.

Unit Learning Outcomes

Students who successfully complete this Unit should be able to:
1

Critically evaluate cost classifications and apply appropriate cost allocation methods and other
key managerial accounting techniques

Demonstrate a critical understanding and apply various performance measurement

techniques/models in different business environments

Apply appropriate management accounting techniques to a range of complex business

situations to enhance accountability within organisations and with different stakeholder groups
using a variety of presentation media.

Solve a range of structured and unstructured problems/case studies including sourcing and
applying the research processes both individually and in teams.

Key Generic Skills

This unit provides an educational experience that promotes an attitude of life-long learning.
Specifically, our goal is to develop the following generic skills in our students:

Teamwork skills
Analytical and problem solving skills
Communications skills
Ability to tackle unfamiliar problems, and
Ability to work independently

Content

Strategic decision-making and cost concepts

Cost volume profit analysis

Cost allocation, Activity Based Costing and Activity Based Management

Balanced Scorecard, Performance measurement and Reward system

Relevant costing & tactical decision analysis

Planning & Budgeting

Flexible Budgets, Standard costing & Variance analysis

Transfer Pricing

Page 2 of 10

PART B:

Your Unit in more detail

Unit Improvements
Feedback provided by previous students through the Student Survey has resulted in improvements
that have been made to this unit. Recent improvements include:

In-class quizzes via kahoot or in-paper to test student understanding of the lecture topics.

Unit Teaching Staff

Name

Role

Room

Phone

Email

Consultation Times

Dr. Evangeline
Elijido-Ten

Lecturer &
Convenor

BA1230

9214 4471

eelijidoten@swin.edu.au

Tuesday 3:30-5:00pm
Wednesday 3:30-5:00 pm

Learning and Teaching Structure

Activity

Total Hours

Hours per Week

Teaching Period Weeks

Weekly Class

36 hours

3 hours

Weeks 1 to 12

One three-hour class: Lecture material will be presented weekly followed by a tutorial which
works through assigned problems. It is the students responsibility to attempt all tutorial problems
and to participate in tutorial discussion. In a Semester, you should normally expect to spend, on
average, twelve and a half hours of total time (formal contact time plus independent study time) a
week on a 12.5 credit point unit of study.

ACC80008 Week by Week Schedule & Tutorial Questions

Week

Week
beginning
29
February

Staff

7 March

Eva

14 March

Eva

21 March

Eva

4 April

11 April

18 April

25 April

2 May

10

9 May

11

16 May

12

23 May

Eva

Lecture Topic
1.

Intro to Management
Acctg & Business
Strategy
2. Cost Concepts
No lecture

3.
4.

Cost Volume Profit

Cost allocation &
ABC
No lecture

Tutorial Topic

Tutorial Work

No tutorial

Nil

Intro to Mgt Acctg &

Business Strategy
Cost Concepts

See Handout PLUS

Horngren: 1.18; 1.28
1.30; 2.18; 2.28; 2.36;
2.37
Nil

No tutorial

Cost Volume Profit

Horngren: 3.21; 3.22;
Cost allocation and
3.25; 3.42; 3.45; 4.17;
Activity Based Costing
4.39; 5.25; 5.39
th
th
EASTER BREAK: From 24 March (Thursday) to 30 March (Wednesday)
Test 1
Eva 5. SPMS: Balanced
Nil
Scorecard
No tutorial
Eva 6. Financial
Balanced Scorecard
Horngren: 12.16;
Performance
12.34; 12.37 PLUS
Measures
Addl Q on Handout
th
ASSIGNMENT DUE DATE: 14 April, 2016 at 12:00 noon
Eva 7. Relevant Costing
Finl Performance
Horngren: 23.17;
Measures
23.22; 23.31; 23.34
Eva 8. Planning & Budgeting Relevant Costing
Horngren: 11.19;
11.20; 11.28; 11.38
Eva 9. Flexible Budgets and Planning & budgeting
Horngren: 6.22; 6.25;
Variance analysis
6.29; 6.37
Test 2
Eva 10. Transfer Pricing
Nil
No tutorial
Eva No lecture
Flexible budgets and
Horngren: 7.31; 7.36;
variance analysis &
8.26; 8.29; Horngren:
Transfer Pricing
22.25; 22.27; 22.31;
Addl Q on Handout
Eva 11. Revision
Questions - TBA
SWOTVAC & EXAM PERIOD
Page 3 of 10

Assessment
a)

Assessment Overview
Weighting

Unit Learning
Outcomes that
this assessment
task relates to

Assessment Due Date

Group

25%

1,3,4,5

14 April @ 12 nn

Class Tests

Individual

20%

1,2,3,4,5

Two tests worth 10%

each held in Week 5 and
Week 10 respectively.

Class Preparation

Individual

5%

1,2,3,4,5

Throughout the semester

Examination

Individual

50%

1,2,3,4,5

During Formal Exam

Period

Tasks and Details

Individual
or Group

Research Assignment

th

th

Assessment Task 1: Major Assignment (25%) Due Date: 14 April 2016 @ 12:00 noon
Details of the assignment are provided on pages 8 to 10 of this unit outline. Please ensure that the answers
are presented in the required format, appropriately structured with headings and all detailed calculations
and/or additional diagrams (if any) in appendices. Both hard copy and electronic submissions are required
(refer to p. 5 of this document).
Assessment Task 2: 2 Tutorial Tests (10% each)
The first test to be held in Week 5 will cover Topics 1 to 4 and it will consist of 40 Multiple Choice Questions
(MCQs). The second test to be held in Week 10 will cover Topics 5 to 8 and it will be a mixture of MCQs and
short problem solving type of questions. These tests will be held in the first hour (or so) of your normal class
before the lecture.
Assessment Task 3: Class Preparation (5%)
Class Preparation: Students need to BE PRESENT and reasonably attempt ALL the tutorial questions and
upload their written solutions onto Blackboard before the respective tutorial class. Attendance, by itself, does
not entitle students to earn marks.
The lecturer reserves the right to award proportionate marks to submitted tutorial solutions, i.e.
based on satisfactory or unsatisfactory attempt and participation. (Note: Tutors could award 0, .25,
.50, .75 or 1.00 per submitted tute work. At the end of the semester, tute marks will be totalled up and
a maximum of 5.00 will be awarded for class preparation.)

b) Minimum requirements to pass this Unit

To pass this unit, you must achieve an aggregate mark for the subject of 50% or more. There is no
Conceded Pass (CP) in this unit.

c)

Examinations
As this unit has an official examination, you are expected to be available for the entire
examination period including any Special Exam period.

M aterials Allow ed in the Ex am :

The following materials/ equipment may be taken into the examination venue:
Calculators
Writing materials
Students are not permitted to take foreign language or translation dictionaries into an exam venue.

Ex am Answ ering Instructions:

1.

Answer ALL questions in the separate examination answer booklet provided.

a) Start each question on a new page.
b) Clearly label each question answered.
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d) Team Assignment Submission Requirements

Both hard copy and electronic submission are due on 14th April. Hard copy must be submitted
on or before 12:00 noon in the designated assignment box (the location of which will be
advised closer to the due date). An Assessment Cover Sheet must be submitted with your
assignment. The standard Assessment Cover Sheet is available from the Current Students
web site (see Part C). The electronic version of your assignment must be submitted through the
Blackboard assessment submission system (Turnitin) on the same day but you have until to 8
pm to do so. Only one member of the team needs to make an electronic submission.
Please ensure you keep a copy of all assessments that are submitted and backup any
electronic data.
e)

Extensions and Late Submission

There will be no extensions. Late assignment will incur a penalty of 5% per day, up to a
maximum of 5 working days. After 5 working days, a zero result will be recorded.
Assessment due dates are published in Unit Outlines at the start of the teaching period and will
not normally be extended except where students had their studies adversely affected by acute
illness, misadventure or other extraordinary cause or circumstance reasonably beyond their
control. Students who need to request an extension of time to the due date for a piece of
assessment (excluding end of teaching period final examinations) should contact their Unit
Convenor directly to discuss their circumstances.

f)

Referencing
To avoid plagiarism, you are required to provide a reference whenever you include information
from other sources in your work. Further details regarding plagiarism are available in Section
C of this document.
Referencing conventions required for this unit should follow Harvard referencing style.
Helpful information on referencing can be found at
http://www.swinburne.edu.au/lib/studyhelp/harvard-quick-guide.pdf

g) Teamwork Guidelines
A team assignment is the collective responsibility of the entire team, and if one member is
temporarily unable to contribute, the team should be able to reallocate responsibilities to keep
to schedule. In the event of longer-term illness or other serious problems involving a team
member, it is the responsibility of the other members to immediately notify the Unit Convenor
or relevant tutor. Team submissions must be submitted with an Assignment Cover Sheet,
signed by all members of the group. All team members must be satisfied that the work has
been correctly submitted. Any penalties for late submission will generally apply to all team
members, not just the person who submitted.

Required Textbook(s):
Textbook: Horngren, Datar, and Rajan; Cost Accounting A Managerial Emphasis, 15th edition,
Prentice Hall, New Jersey. 2015. (Note: Tutorial Problems will predominantly come from this text.)

Recommended Reading Materials

Porter, M. E. 1980, Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, The Free
Press, New York.
th

Pearce, J.A. and Robinson, R. B. (2007), Strategic Management, 10 edition, McGraw-Hill Irwin (or later
editions).

Other Resources
The library has a large collection of resource materials, both texts and current journal. If you are
having difficulties with a particular topic, browse in the library at call number 657, you will find many
of the texts in this section of the library include chapters on the topics covered in this unit. Also, the
world wide web (WWW) has a vast amount of resources: simply Google the topic that you dont
understand. It is highly recommended that you explore other sources to broaden your
understanding.
Page 5 of 10

PART C:

FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information on any of the below topics, refer to Swinburnes
Current Students web page http://www.swinburne.edu.au/student/.

Student Charter
Please familiarise yourself with Swinburnes Student Charter. The charter describes what students
can reasonably expect from Swinburne in order to enjoy a quality learning experience. As students
contribute to their own learning experience to that of their fellow students, the charter also defines
the University's expectations of students.
Student behaviour and wellbeing
Swinburne has a range of policies and procedures that govern how students are expected to
conduct themselves throughout the course of their relationship with the University. These include
policies on expected standards of behaviour and conduct which cover interaction with fellow
students, staff and the wider University community, in addition to following the health and safety
requirements in the course of their studies and whilst using University facilities.
All students are expected to familiarise themselves with University regulations, policies and
procedures and have an obligation to abide by the expected guidelines. Any student found to be in
breach may be subject to relevant disciplinary processes. Some examples of relevant expected
behaviours are:
Not engaging in student misconduct
Ensuring compliance with the Universitys Anti-Discrimination, Bullying and Violence and
Sexual Harassment requirements
Complying with all Swinburne occupational health and safety requirements, including
following emergency and evacuation procedures and following instructions given by
staff/wardens or emergency response.
In teaching areas, it is expected that students conduct themselves in a manner that is professional
and not disruptive to others. In all Swinburne laboratories, there are specific safety procedures
which must be followed, such as wearing appropriate footwear and safety equipment, not acting in
a manner which is dangerous or disruptive (e.g. playing computer games), and not bringing in food
or drink.
Blackboard
You should regularly access the Swinburne Course Management System (Blackboard) available
via http://ilearn.swin.edu.au. Blackboard is regularly updated with important Unit information and
communications.
Communication
All communication will be via your Swinburne email address. If you access your email through a
provider other than Swinburne, then it is your responsibility to ensure that your Swinburne email is
redirected to your private email address.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the action or practice of taking and submitting or presenting the thoughts, writings or
other work of someone else as though it is your own work. Plagiarism includes any of the following,
without full and appropriate acknowledgment to the original source(s):
The use of the whole or part of a computer program written by another person;
the use, in essays or other assessable work, of the whole or part of a written work from any
source including but not limited to a book, journal, newspaper article, set of lecture notes,
current or past students work, any other persons work, a website or database;
Page 6 of 10

 The paraphrasing of anothers work;

The use of musical composition, audio, visual, graphic and photographic models,
The use of realia that is objects, artefacts, costumes, models and the like.
Plagiarism also includes the preparation or production and submission or presentation of
assignments or other work in conjunction with another person or other people when that work
should be your own independent work. This remains plagiarism whether or not it is with the
knowledge or consent of the other person or people. It should be noted that Swinburne encourages
its students to talk to staff, fellow students and other people who may be able to contribute to a
students academic work but that where independent assignment is required, submitted or
presented work must be the students own.
Enabling plagiarism contributes to plagiarism and therefore will be treated as a form of plagiarism
by the University. Enabling plagiarism means allowing or otherwise assisting another student to
copy or otherwise plagiarise work by, for example, allowing access to a draft or completed
assignment or other work.
Swinburne University uses plagiarism detection software (such as Turnitin) for assignments
submitted electronically via Blackboard. Your Convenor will provide further details.
The penalties for plagiarism can be severe ranging from a zero grade for an assessment task
through to expulsion from the unit and in the extreme, exclusion from Swinburne. Consequently
you need to avoid plagiarism by providing a reference whenever you include information from other
sources in your work.
Student support
You should talk to your Unit Convenor or Student Services, for information on academic support
services available for Swinburne students.
Special consideration
If your studies have been adversely affected due to serious and unavoidable circumstances
outside of your control (e.g. severe illness or unavoidable obligation) you may be able to apply for
special consideration (SPC).
Applications for Special Consideration will be submitted via the SPC online tool normally no later
than 5.00pm on the third working day after the submission/sitting date for the relevant assessment
component.
Special needs
Sometimes students with a disability, a mental health or medical condition or significant carer responsibilities
require reasonable adjustments to enable full access to and participation in education. Your special needs
can be addressed by Swinburne's Disability Services, who can negotiate and distribute an 'Education Access
Plan' that outlines recommendations for university teaching and examination staff. You must notify the
University Disability Liaison Officer of your disability or condition within one week after the commencement of
a unit of study to allow the University to make reasonable adjustments.

Review of marks
An independent marker reviews all fail grades for major assessment tasks. In addition, a review of
assessment is undertaken if your final result is a marginal fail (45-49) or within 2 marks of a grade threshold.
If you are not satisfied with the result of an assessment you can ask the Unit Convenor to review the result.
Your request must be made in writing within 10 working days of receiving the result. The Unit Convenor will
review your result to determine if your result is appropriate.
If you are dissatisfied with the outcomes of the review you can lodge a formal complaint.

Feedback, complaints and suggestions

In the first instance you may discuss any issues with your Unit Convenor. If you are dissatisfied with the
outcome of the discussions with the Unit Convenor or would prefer not to deal with your Unit Convenor, then
you can complete a feedback form.

Advocacy
You are advised to seek advice from the staff at the Swinburne Student Amenities Association (SSAA) if you
require assistance with any academic issues.
Page 7 of 10

ACC80008:
Managerial Accounting
Team Assignment: TEAM OF 4
Weighting: 25%
Due Date: 14th April, 2016 @ 12:00 nn
In order to succeed, organisations must learn to respond and adapt quickly to the challenges in
todays rapidly changing business environment. Horngren, Datar and Rajan (2012, p. 467) stated
that In formulating its strategy, an organisation must thoroughly understand its industry.
Understanding the firms industry is important but learning to deal with changing circumstances
and competing demands posed by various stakeholders such as shareholders, customers,
employees as well as the government and the media (just to name a few) is possibly more
challenging. The latter could sway the firm to adopt one or both the strategies of product
differentiation and/or cost leadership.
Specific Requirements:
COMPANY RESEARCH (40%):
1. Company Profile
You are required to select ONE company that has introduced a new product or service in the
past twelve months (i.e. from January 2015). Conduct an extensive research on the profile of the
company chosen. Your research should include an analysis of the products and/or services
provided by the firm before the launch of the new product/service. Clearly discuss the launch of the
new product/service and identify the circumstances leading to the launch of the new
product/service.
2. Company Performance
Considering the knowledge you gained from your prior studies and other related topics covered/to
be covered in this unit (e.g. Business Performance Measures, Balanced Scorecard, SWOT
analysis, etc.), analyse and discuss the overall economic and/or social and environmental
performance of the company for the past two years before the launch of the new product/service.
Your analysis and discussion should explain how the company has either succeeded or failed to
strengthen its competitive advantage as a result of the new product/service launched.
INDUSTRY & STRATEGY RESEARCH (40%):
1. Industry and Generic Strategy
From the point of view of your chosen firm, prepare a Five-Force Analysis (Porter, 1980; 1985) of
the industry to which your company belongs to. Considering the two generic strategies of product
differentiation and cost leadership, identify and explain whether your chosen firm is likely to
adopt one or a combination of these strategies. Your analysis and explanation must be supported
by research (e.g. media releases, statistics, industry report) and the relevant literature on strategic
management and competitive advantage.
2. Strategic Recommendation
Taking the role of a team of management accountants employed by the chosen company, provide
recommendation/s on how the company could better adapt to changing circumstances to maintain
its competitive advantage. Your recommendation must be supported by research (e.g. media
releases, statistics, industry report) and, where necessary, the relevant literature on strategic
management and competitive advantage.
Page 8 of 10

PRESENTATION (20%)
Present your research in an essay/report format with approximate word length of 4,000-4,500
words.
You are expected to use a combination of books, journals/newspaper articles and company
annual reports. An examination of between 20 40 articles is a guide to the level of research
required.
Use Harvard referencing style throughout your report.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Students are advised to form their team of 4 as early as possible (latest by Week 3 of
the semester). Ideally, its better to form teams with students in your respective classes.
However, you are allowed to find teammates from other classes. If you are having
difficulty finding teammates, please post a message on Blackboards Discussion Board
and inform your lecturers as early as possible. This is a team assignment. Under no
circumstances would an individual assignment submission be accepted.
This assignment will be marked as a team effort (i.e. all team members will receive the
same mark overall). In case of dispute among team members, it is possible to mobilise
the teamwork-dispute option (see Part D of the Assignment Feedback Sheet on p. 10).
There will be no extension allowed. Late submission will be penalised at the rate of 5%
per day. Late penalty will apply to ALL hard copy submissions received after 12 noon on
14th April, 2016.

Important Sources of Information:

o For Section A, useful references can be found from numerous sources such as Annual
Reports, Sustainability Reports, Shareholder Reviews, company website and through
various library electronic databases such as DatAnalysis and Factiva, among others.
(An examination of between 10 to 20 articles is a guide to the level of research
required.)
o For Section B, you may use industry reports which can be sourced from databases
such as IBISWorld, Factiva and DataMonitor (now called Marketline). In conducting a
review of the literature on stakeholder theory, you are required to consult the
academic literature. Library databases such as Elsevier, Emerald, Ebscohost and
Google Scholar would be useful. (Another 10 to 20 articles are expected.)

Page 9 of 10

ACC80008: ASSIGNMENT FEEDBACK SHEET

STUDENT NUMBER

STUDENT NAMES:
1.
2.
3.
4.

CRITERIA / REQUIREMENT
A. Company Research
1) Brief & succinct discussion of company profile
2) Analysis of products/services prior to launch
3) Clear discussion of new product/service
4) Clear identification of possible circumstances leading
to launch
5) Students should attempt to use around three or more
analytical tools (e.g. ROI, BSC, SWOT, etc.) to
comment on companies overall economic
performance
=> for the past 2 years before the launch
6) Comment on how the company can strengthen its
competitive advantage
7) Proper references used (cite as you write)
B. Industry-specific research
1) Five-Force industry analysis supported by industry
reports/statistics/media releases, etc
2) Identification and justification of generic
strategy/strategies
3) Recommendation on how the company can
strengthen its competitive advantage
4) Proper references used (cite as you write)
C. Overall structure and presentation
1) Overall readability: flow/links/grammar/ spelling
2) Proper report format including:
a. Executive Summary;
b. Table of Contents;
c. Introduction;
d. Body appropriately divided into sub-topics;
e. Proper use of tables, figures (labelled);
f. Conclusion clear and succinct;
3) References & Appendices (if applicable; should be
clearly labelled and referred to in the report/essay)
D. Teamwork-Dispute Option (Note: As a team
assignment, it is expected that the overall assignment
mark is awarded to all team members. However, in
case of disputes, each members work may be
marked separately.) In the interest of transparency and
full disclosure, the following conditions must be met:
a) The convenor must be informed prior to submission
deadline of the reason for dispute and provide
documentary evidence (e.g. emails, schedule of
meetings attended/not attended, etc.)
b) A Teamwork Feedback Sheet must be submitted
together with hard copy assignment submission. ALL
TEAM MEMBERS SHOULD SIGN THE TEAMWORK
FEEDBACK SHEET providing details of:
Who wrote which part of the assignment
AND, WHERE APPLICABLE, mark each other on the:
Quality of research content
Team meeting attendance (state total number of
meetings & number attended by each member)
Cooperation/willingness to help teammates
Proper references provided in correct format.
TOTAL

MARK
(Max)

40
5
5
4
4

No
Attempt

Very
Limited
Attempt

Limited
Attempt

Adequate
Attempt

More than
Adequate
Attempt

Excellent
Attempt

12

6
4
40
15
3
18
20
10
1
1
1
3
1
1
2

100

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