Financial Accounting & Reporting (FIN)

Module outline

Last updated: 03 December 2014

FIN module outline

Chartered Accountants Program

Financial Accounting & Reporting

Financial Accounting & Reporting

Overview
Financial accounting is a pivotal aspect of an accountants work and is the main reporting
mechanism for preparing financial statements for organisations across all sectors of the
economy.
FIN includes two case studies and other practical examples and activities that will develop your
understanding of the conceptual framework for financial reporting, and enable you to reference
Accounting Standards and pronouncements and apply your knowledge to a variety of practical
scenarios.
The FIN module is one of the five compulsory modules in the Chartered Accountants Program.
It requires a good understanding of financial accounting from a candidates previous tertiary
studies.

Units
The FIN module comprises the following units:
Unit

Name of unit

Approximate hours

Financial reporting

Presentation of financial statements

11

Revenue

Income taxes

9
Online assessment

Foreign exchange

Fair value measurement

Property, plant and equipment

Intangible assets

Financial instruments

15
Online assessment

10

Impairment of assets

11

Provisions (including employee benefit entitlements),

contingent liabilities and contingent assets

12

Leases

13

Earnings per share

14

Share-based payments

15

Business combinations

5
Online assessment

16

Accounting for subsidiaries

12

17

Accounting for joint arrangements and the equity method

of accounting

18

Preparation of financial statements

8
120

Final examination

Module outline

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Financial Accounting & Reporting

Chartered Accountants Program

How is the FIN module taught?

The FIN module is 12 weeks in duration and offers flexible learning options with the delivery of
materials online through myLearning. MyLearning is accessible after you enrol in the module
by logging into myAccount and selecting myLearning.

Assessment
The assessment components are outlined below:
3 online assessments 20%.
Final examination 80% (3 hours plus 15 minues reading time, open book)
To pass the module, candidates must pass the final examination (achieve 50% or more ofthe
available marks), and pass the module overall (achieve 50% or more of the available marks).

Time allocation
The expected workload for this module is a minimum of 10 hours per week over 12weeks, or
120 hours in total, excluding module orientation, online assessments, final exam and study time
for the final exam. Candidates are advised to plan their enrolment carefully around work and
other commitments, to ensure they are able to devote the time required to their studies.

Assumed knowledge
It is assumed that candidates have a good understanding of financial accounting and reporting
from their tertiary studies. Detailed below is a summary of the assumed knowledge of the
module:
Understanding of the relevant framework, in particular the definitions of and recognition
criteria for assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses.
Basic understanding of financial accounting and reporting concepts, particularly the general
format and content of a set of financial statements.
Understanding of the principles of disclosure relating to the presentation offinancial
statements.
Understanding of the principles relating to the selection and changing ofaccounting
policies.
Understanding of the accounting treatment and disclosure of changes inaccounting
policies, accounting estimates and corrections of errors.
Basic understanding of revenue recognition requirements.
Understanding of the principles of accrual accounting.
Basic understanding of the taxation treatments for assets, liabilities, income and expenses.
Understanding of accounting for inventory.
Basic understanding of accounting for property, plant and equipment and intangible assets.
Basic understanding of the principles of consolidated financial statements.
Basic understanding of accounting for intragroup transactions.
Basic understanding of acquired goodwill its nature and accounting treatment under the
relevant standard on business combinations.
Understanding of the concept of the time value of money and discounted cash flows and
how to calculate its impact.
Understanding of accounting for equity.
Understanding of accounting for the issue of equity and movements in retained earnings
and other reserves.

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Module outline

Chartered Accountants Program

Financial Accounting & Reporting

Basic understanding of the accounting for income tax.

Basic understanding of the accounting for a business combination.
Understanding of the translation of an amount from one currency to a foreign currency.
An assumed knowledge quiz can be accessed when you log into MyLearning. From this landing
page, click on Chartered Accountants Program then scroll down to Additional support.

Learning resources and supports

Each technical module has a range of resources and supports available for candidates,
including:

Online learning material

Introduction.
Core content.
Worked examples.
Activities.
Excel worksheets, supporting selected activities.
Adaptive learning lesson.
Readings.
Quick reference guides.
Unit quiz.
Mind maps.

Additional support
Optional virtual classrooms the focus of the virtual classrooms will be on the more
challenging topics within the module.

Recordings of the virtual classrooms will also be available these can be accessed by all
candidates, regardless of whether or not they attended these sessions.

Candidate Study Guide (CSG) after enrolment candidates will receive a CSG for all
technical modules, containing the core content, the scenario and task for the activities and
the readings for each unit.
Discussion forums
Technical query forums where candidates can post specific questions to a technical
specialist.
Peer-to-peer forums where candidates can form study groups or discuss issues with
other candidates.
Past exams to help candidates prepare for the final exam, past exams will be available
todownload with examiners feedback.

Prescribed reading material

The required reference for this module is:
For Australia:
Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand, Financial Reporting Handbook Australia 2015,
JohnWiley &Sons Australia Ltd, Milton, Qld.

Module outline

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Financial Accounting & Reporting

Chartered Accountants Program

For New Zealand:

Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand 2015, Financial Reporting Handbook New Zealand 2015,
JohnWiley &Sons Australia Ltd, Milton, Qld.

Module summary
The FIN module will help you develop your knowledge and understanding of the conceptual
framework for financial reporting and the Accounting Standards relevant for the preparation
of a set of financial statements. This understanding is important for both the preparation and
interpretation and analysis of financial statements.

For more information and to enrol

Take a look at the timetable to find out when you can enrol in this module.

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Module outline