this is case study about accounting theory

Important Information

For a student who has undertaken the required study, this assessment should take several hours to complete.

The course specification requires that your submission is your own individual work. You are strongly urged to complete this assessment yourself to receive clear feedback about your level of understanding of the course material. You will find information regarding plagiarism and academic misconduct, such as collusion and cheating in the course specification and on the USQ website.

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Instructions

This assignment is an essay where you are required to relate a practical example to accounting theory. The essay should include an abstract, introduction, body, conclusion and bibliography.

Maximum word count 1400 words not including the bibliography. You should incorporate at least 10 references.

The relationship between accounting research and professional practice has been discussed in the literature (Parker, Guthrie & Linacre 2011).

Using the article provided

“Sydney councils shift $1 billion repair bill with accounting 'fiction' in Fit for the Future scramble.” The Sydney Morning Herald, June 22 2015, discuss the following:

• What is the accounting issue relate to this article?

• Who are the stakeholders? Describe each stakeholder and their concerns.

• What is motivating councils to act in this manner and who will be affected by these actions?

• Using the stakeholders you have identified detail what accounting theory might explain their actions or perceptions?

• Compare and contrast the different theories and identify which of these theories is most important and explain reasons why you think your chosen theory is the most important.

Relate your answer to the link between theory and practice

You should consider theories such as stakeholder, legitimacy, measurement and/or public interest.

References

Parker, L, Guthrie, J & Linacre, S 2011, 'The relationship between academic accounting research and professional practice', Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 5-14.