problem 1: Find out a newspaper article or web page report of an item of accounting news that is, it refers to a present event, consideration, comment or decision which has been published after November 2013. Your article could as well come from one of the professional journals like 'Charter' or 'In the Black'. The article must not come from an academic journal. Academic journals usually don’t contain news articles or articles of less than one page and are generally only published 2 or 4 times a year. If you are having a problem making sure that your article is from a suitable source contact Caroline Pezzuto ([email protected]).

Describe the article which you have found in your own words and clearly relate the concepts, ideas and facts in the article to one or more of the theories or topics which you have studied this session. For illustration, the Australian Financial Review article can be linked to topics like ethics, accounting regulation and politics and normative accounting theories (conceptual framework projects). Give a copy of the article or web page, with details of the source, date and page number with your problem-answer.

problem 2: Find out the comment letters received on a present exposure draft or proposal for a new accounting standard (these can be found on the websites of most standard-setting organizations, like the IASB, AASB and FASB. Hint: Such websites can be quite difficult to navigate, so as a first step try typing ‘IASB comment letters’/’FASB comment letters’ into Google or other search engine of your choice). Read a sample of the comments from a range of respondents. Try to aim for between two and four respondents, for illustration, from accounting bodies, industry, companies or corporate bodies. If you are having problems in finding appropriate comment letters then contact Caroline Pezzuto ([email protected]). Comprise copies of the comment letters you wish to describe and complete the given tasks:

a) describe in your own words the issues which the exposure draft or proposal and comment letters are dealing with.

b) Is there agreement among the different groups? describe the issues where there is agreement or disagreement and give illustrations.

c) In your opinion, name the theories or regulation (ex: public interest, private interest or capture theory) best describe the comment letters? Validate your answer.