Accounting Theory and Contemporary Issues Assessment: Individual case study

Learning Outcome: Research and argue a position in regard to a contemporary issue in the accounting profession.

Individual Research Assignment - Case Study

Case Study Details:

You work for a large consulting firm.

Several of your clients are accounting practices who are interested in the possible opportunities and threats generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

Some feel that AI may threaten their current business models whereas others believe that it presents opportunities to provide services to clients more efficiently.

As you are a recent accounting graduate your manager has tasked you with writing a draft report on AI as it may impact on accounting businesses. The report will be available to clients and used a marketing tool to showcase the skills of your consulting firm.

The key elements of your report should be understandable to both accountants and non-accountants (the boards of the accounting firms often include non-accounting professionals).

Your manager has requested that the report contains (but is not necessarily restricted to) responses to the following aspects (as they impact on accounting):

1) What is AI?

2) How has technology changed the work of accountants in recent decades?

3) Opportunities from the use of AI

4) Threats from the use of AI

It is important that your report comes to some clear conclusions and make some practical recommendations for accounting practices to follow.

You are aware of some excellent literature on the topic of artificial intelligence that you will also incorporate in this report. You can include any information in the report which you think will assist your clients to better understand this important topic. You must support your arguments and hence use at least ten resources to inform your discussion. The library databases will provide many useful journal articles on this topic.

After you have submitted the report plan (Part 1) to your manager, they will provide some feedback on your work to assist you with the final report (Part 2).

In Part-2, your manager is keen that you include a response to their feedback at the end of your report, after the references. You must outline how you were able to reflect on this feedback, and on any areas for improvement you identified yourself, in order to enhance your final report.

REQUIRED:

You need to provide this information requested above in a report format in two stages as outlined below.

Part 1: Evaluating information resources and research plan - detailed instructions:

1) Based on the above scenario, answer the following questions:

a) What is the purpose of your report?

b) What is the audience for your report?

c) What are the (key) decisions to be made?

d) What information would help you to make these decisions?

e) When you search for relevant information (in a database for example) what keywords will/are you using?

2) Identify 10 sources relevant to the project (e.g. journal articles, textbooks, websites etc.). At least 4 of these must be academic journal articles but there should be a variety of different sources used.

3) Complete a source analysis on 3 of the 10 sources with full bibliographic references. At least 2 of these sources must be academic journal articles. Refer to the source analysis template.

4) Provide a full plan of main and sub headings of the report (include appropriate numbering). Resources to help you understand these requirements and in particular the source analysis template are provided on Moodle, including explanatory documents, marking rubrics and slides (which accompany a presentation by your lecturer in week 2).

The Part 1 word limit is 1500 words.

Part 2:

Required:

Write a report based on the assignment details noted below. Your final report (Part 2) should be approximately 3000 words not including references, abstract and appendices. You should include a word count on your report. Submissions that exceed the word count by more than 10% will cease to be marked from the point at which that limit is exceeded.

The Assignment is designed to test the following skills:

1. Your knowledge, your ability to research the issues and then critically analyse the information appropriately using judgement to answer the research questions raised.

2. Your communication skills - report writing.

Attachment:- Assignment Files.rar