Question 1:
Step 1
In the file "Find Your Company" you will find the listed company you have been given for this course. This file will be made available on Fri 9 November 2012 (Week 2). Complete this assignment for the company you have been given. Please be careful to use the listed company you have been given. Your assignment will not be marked if you use a different company to the one you have been given; and you will be asked to resubmit your assignment using the right company.
Go to the website of your company, by clicking on the URL next to your company in the list of companies in the file "Your Company". Then go to the Investor Relations section of the website.
This section may be called, "Investors", "Shareholder Information" or similar name. In this section, go to your firm's annual reports and save to your computer your firm's latest annual report. For example, these may be dated 30 June 2012 or 31 March 2012. Do not use your firm's interim financial statements or their concise financial statements. Within your firm's latest annual report, find its balance sheet.
From your firm's balance sheet, list each item of equity and write your understanding of each item.
Make sure you read carefully any footnotes for each item of equity and also look at your firm's Statement of Changes in Equity. Also discuss any changes in each item of equity for your firm over the past year.
Step 2
Participate in the discussion forum "Assignment Forum - My Firm's Equity" on Moodle. Please feel free to discuss with others in the course any issues or questions you have in understanding each item of equity in your firm's balance sheet. Include in your assignment a description of some of your discussions with others in the course on this discussion forum, and also other discussions you may have with others face-to-face, by email and in other ways. You may also have discussions with work colleagues, friends and family. How helpful did you find these discussions? Were you able to help each other understand the aspects of each other's equity in your firms' balance sheets? Why or why not? What remaining questions do you have about your firm's equity? What insights have you gained?
Submit the following for
Question 1:
1. Your firm's latest annual report (either as a pdf or as a link to the specific page on your firm's website that has your firm's latest annual report).
2. A list of each item of equity of your firm (name and amounts for the past two years) and your description (in your own words) of what each item is.
3. A description of your discussions with others in the course (and also perhaps with work colleagues, friends and family) ... did these discussions help you understand each item of your firms' equity: if so, why; if not, why not? ... were you able to help others understand
each item in their firm's equity: if so, why; if not, why not? ... what other comments do you have about how you felt about these discussions and your learning so far in the course? Estimated (max.) time required to complete
What is your firm's tax expense in its latest financial statements? Is this figure the same as the company tax rate times your firm's accounting income? Company tax rates are Australia (30%), New Zealand (2012: 28%; 2011: 30%) and UK (2011 & 2012: 26%; 2010: 28%).
Explain why this is, or is not, the case for your firm.
Include in your answer the result of discussions with others in the course. How did your firm's tax expense compare with the tax expense of firms of other students in the course? Also, ensure you read the relevant footnotes of your firm's financial statements carefully and include information from these footnotes in your answer. It is fine if you do not understand every aspect of your firm's treatment of its tax - it can be a very complicated area, particularly for some firms. What do you find interesting, confusing, surprising or difficult to understand about the treatment of tax in your firm's financial statements? What new insights, if any, have you gained about how companies account for income tax as a result of examining your firm's tax expense in its accounts?