Outline

Overview

This unit reviews issues associated with sustainability reporting models which have been practised in the last decade and highlights current and possible future issues. These new reporting models claim to enhance understanding of organisational performance to a variety of stakeholders and are based on new performance measurement technologies that arguably improve decision making. This unit of study is designed to provide a critical analysis of the issues surrounding organisation performance and explores the key underlying issues associated with the emergence of these new reporting models. The unit looks at how the reporting of economic and non-economic performance enables private, public and third sector organisations to provide an account of their value creation and sustainability performance. The unit also explores the perspectives of significant bodies of research on reporting value-creating activities and non-economic performance.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	ACCT6015
Academic unit	Accounting
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	None
Prerequisites ?	ACCT5001
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	John Roberts, john.roberts@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Final exam (Take-home short release)	Final exam Type D	40%	Formal exam period	3 hours
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Individual essay Essay	20%	Week 07 Due date: 23 Sep 2021 at 16:00 Closing date: 30 Sep 2021	7 pages
Outcomes assessed:
Small continuous assessment	Group Work Weekly case study presentations and discussions	20%	Weekly	in-class time
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Weekly reflections Reflective essays	20%	Weekly	1 page + 30 minutes reflective writing
Outcomes assessed:
= hurdle task ? = group assignment ? = Type D final exam ?

Assessment summary

Group work: Each week, a number of readings and case studies will be used in class to help students engage with the material. Students will work collaborately and professionally in groups to create answer(s) to issues raised from the case study materials. Marks will be allocated based on the group’s performance in class. It is expected that each group member will participate in at least one graded presentation throughout the semester. Students who fail to attend the live session and thus fail to participate in the group work will not receive marks for the group work they have missed.

Weekly reflections:

Weekly Reading Summary.
Each week, students will be assigned a reading. Each student is required to submit a written reflection of this reading each Tuesday at noon. The reflection needs to be written entirely in the student's own words. No citations or quotations are allowed apart from the author(s)’ names. Any submissions containing quotations or citations will automatically receive a mark of zero.
Weekly Learning Reflection.
Each week, following the live session, students will reflect on their learning and understanding of the module content through the weekly learning reflection exercise. The learning reflection will require students to answer a set of questions about the module studied that week.

Final exam: The final exam assesses the students' ability to demonstrate integrated understanding and knowledge of the theories and exemplars of extended performance reporting discussed in the unit of study.
The final exam is an assessment listed as a HURDLE TASK. It means you must undertake the assessment and achieve a mark above a minimum standard. Students who fail to achieve this minimum standard in this assessment, even when their aggregate mark for the entire unit is above 50%, will be given a Fail grade for the unit. As a result the student's academic transcript will show a fail grade and the actual mark achieved if between 0-49 and a fail grade and a capped moderated mark of 49 for all other marks. The hurdle mark for this assessment (the final exam) is 45%.

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an exceptional standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Distinction	75 - 84	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a very high standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Credit	65 - 74	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a good standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Pass	50 - 64	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an acceptable standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see sydney.edu.au/students/guide-to-grades.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Introduction / Sustainable Development Goals	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 02	Reporting for Sustainability	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 03	Extended performance reporting for whom? - stakeholders	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 04	What do the numbers mean?	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 04	Responsible Investment	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 05	Work Health Safety	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 06	Human Rights	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 07	Accounting for supply chains	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 09	Accounting for Carbon	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 10	Climate Risk	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 11	Trust in Reporting? - Assurance	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 12	Extended performance reporting and The Accounting Profession	Seminar (3 hr)
Week 13	Just a Fad? / Revision	Seminar (3 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Lecture recordings: Each module has pre-recorded lecture content that students are expected to work through in their own time before the weekly seminar.

To protect student privacy, group discussions and presentations will not be recorded.

Please review the assessment information on Canvas. Failure to attend the live session will result in the student not participating in the group work component as it is assessed in class. Therefore, students who do not attend will receive no marks for that week’s group work.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

There is no set text for the unit of study.

Weekly required readings and additional resources are published in each module on Canvas.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. collect, organise, appreciate and critically evaluate relevant research-based knowledge about extended performance reporting
LO2. reflect on practice using theoretical frames and ideas contained within the literature, considering their strengths and weaknesses for such reflectional understanding
LO3. learn independently and assume responsibility (e.g. manage deadlines) for the learning process
LO4. tolerate ambiguity and appreciate the insights of a variety of perspectives.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

- Readings have been updated. - Introduction of learning reflections to assist with feedback on learning. - 2 new modules.

Additional information

Additional costs

There are no additional costs for this unit.

Site visit guidelines

There are no site visit guidelines for this unit.

Work, health and safety

There are no specific WHS requirements for this unit.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Additional costs

Site visit guidelines

Work, health and safety

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

ACCT6015: Extended Performance Reporting

Semester 2, 2021 [Normal day] - Remote

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Additional costs

Site visit guidelines

Work, health and safety

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect