The regulatory environment and financial reporting

You are employed in a large accounting firm which specialises in preparing general purpose

financial reports for large companies that are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange

(ASX). As the accounting graduate, you have been tasked with the development of a short

(1-page) newsletter for staff involved in the preparation of the above financial reports. The

focus areas for your next newsletter (which you need to prepare for this assignment) are:

Financial reporting considerations as a result of COVID-19;

Sustainability reporting and the current developments in relation to IFRS

Sustainability Standards.

Required:

Prepare a 1-page newsletter that analyses and summarises recent news / changes

/ developments in the financial reporting environment in the focus areas listed above. Your

newsletter must contain the following information:

An overview of the nature of the news / changes / developments, brief context as to

the reasons for the changes, and any other information that is relevant to your target

audience as they prepare for and/or apply the changes in their work;

Your sources should be referenced, so that staff can easily access further information

about the news / changes / developments, given the nature of their work.

Guidelines for completing this task:

Your newsletter will require you to undertake research across a range of sources. You will need

to consider both local (Australian) and international sources and developments

which are relevant to your target audience.

As your target audience is your peers, it is assumed that they have a working knowledge of

common terms and abbreviations (such as AASB, IASB), so abbreviations may be used in your

newsletter.

Below is a list of sources that may be of interest. Note that this list is not exhaustive.

You should not rely on any one type of source, but a range of sources from

each category, i.e. do not just look at websites, also check journals, newspapers etc.

1. Websites such as those of:

Australian Accounting Standards Board

Financial Reporting Council

Australian Securities and Investment Commission

Australian Securities Exchange

International Federation of Accountants

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand

CPA Australia

International Accounting Standards Board

Websites of large accounting firms

2. Professional publications:

In the Black (CPA)

Acuity (CAANZ)

Accounting Futures Magazine (CAANZ & ACCA)

3. Newspapers/journals