U18659 Contemporary Issues in Accounting and Finance Module Assignment 1 Brief 2025 | CCCU

U18659 Module Learning Outcomes

This assignment has been designed to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your achievement of the following module learning outcomes: 

Module Outcome 1 

• Understand and critically evaluate key contemporary issues facing accounting and financial management. 

Module Outcome 2 

• Critically investigate, using a range of types of enquiries and research methods, in detail, one contemporary issue in accounting and financial management. 

Module Outcome 3 

• Have an in-depth understanding and critical appreciation of contemporary issues in accounting and financial management.

U18659 Assignment Requirements

Overview

In this assignment, students must select a contemporary issue in accounting or finance that has significantly impacted a business or the financial sector. The issue should be analysed using relevant theories, case studies, and academic literature. The report should provide critical insights into the selected issue, its implications, and recommendations for businesses or policymakers.

Assignment Tasks to be completed

Students should choose a contemporary issue from areas such as: 

• Corporate Governance and Ethics (e.g., creative accounting, earnings management)
• Sustainability and ESG Reporting (e.g., carbon accounting, circular economy in finance)
• Technological Disruptions (e.g., blockchain in accounting, AI in auditing), Financial Fraud and Regulation (e.g., tax avoidance, financial scandals)
• Capital Market Trends (e.g., impact of fintech, cryptocurrency accounting) 

Case Study Selection:

• Students must select a real-world business or financial case where the chosen issue has had a significant impact. The case study should be supported by financial data, company reports, and academic sources.

Additional Information is Required to Support Completing the Tasks Above

No Front Sheet is to be submitted, or the student's name or student ID is to appear anywhere in your assignment submission, as it will be anonymously marked. 

Report Structure 

1. Introduction (500 words) 

• Overview of the contemporary issue.
• Justification for its relevance in accounting and finance.
• Outline of the case study and objectives of the report. 

2. Literature Review (1,000 words) 

• Theoretical background and key academic debates.
• Analysis of relevant accounting or financial principles.
• Discussion of previous case studies or industry examples. 

3. Case Study Analysis (1,500 words) 

• Background of the company/industry affected.
• Detailed examination of how the issue impacted financial performance, governance, or compliance.
• Use of financial statements, market data, or regulatory findings to support arguments. 

4. Discussion and Recommendations (800 words) 

• Critical analysis of business responses and industry trends.
• Suggestions for best practices, regulatory improvements, or managerial strategies. 

5. Conclusion (200 words) 

• Summary of key findings.
• Future research directions or anticipated industry developments

U18659 Submission Requirements

Submission Platform

This assignment should be submitted electronically using Moodle to the Module Submission link.

Submission Date & Time

All submission & resubmission dates and times are as stated at the beginning of this Assignment brief. 

You should submit your Assignment for all deadlines earlier than 2:00 pm on the date stated. 

Late submissions can be accepted for Summative Submissions only up to a maximum of 2 working days after the submission deadline. This does not apply to resubmission deadlines. A 10-mark deduction will be made by CCCU for all late submissions. 

Work submitted more than two working days after the deadline will not be accepted and will be recorded as a non-submission. 

Assignments submitted to the resubmission deadlines will be capped at 40 by CCCU. 

If you are affected by events which are unexpected, outside your control and short-term in nature (i.e. lasting one to two weeks), under the exceptional circumstances procedure, you may be eligible for: 

• A seven-day extension to your coursework (via self-certification request).
• A 14-day extension to your coursework (via evidence-based request).
• To defer your exam or time-constrained assessment if you have not yet submitted/attempted it (via self-certification or evidence-based request).
• To re-take an exam/time-constrained assessment, if you feel your performance on your first attempt was negatively impacted (via an impaired performance request). 

Please note that students are only eligible to have a maximum of 2 self-certification requests per academic year. 

You can make a self-certification request up to 14 calendar days before your deadline: 

• For coursework, it must be no later than 2pm on the deadline date
• For exams and time-constrained assessments, the request must be submitted no later than the start time of the assessment.

Student Integrity and Academic Misconduct

The values of student integrity expected by CCCU are: 

• Honesty -being clear about what your work is and where your ideas come from, other sources.
• Trust -others can have faith in you being open about your work and acknowledging others' work.
• Fairness -you do not try to gain an unfair advantage by using others' work. Responsibility -you take an active role in applying the principle of
• Academic Integrity in your work.
• Respect -you show respect for the work of others. 

Peer-support: 

Students might choose to get support from their peers when preparing assessments, such as discussing the subject of the assessment, exchanging ideas, and receiving suggestions for improving the work. This is peer support, and the University accepts this as a reasonable expectation when completing assessments. However, peers must not make any changes to anyone's assessments, as such actions could lead to allegations of academic misconduct. 

Use of English as the medium of assessment: 

Students cannotwrite an assessment in another language and subsequently translate their work into English or have it translated by any form of third-party. Use of translation software or third-party translators is a form of academic misconduct. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI): 

Students must write the entire assessment without using AI software such as ChatGPT. Submitting an assessment that contains any form of AI is a form of academic misconduct. 

Proofreading

Students can make use of Microsoft Word's grammar and spell-checking functions, but the use of Grammarly is not allowed as it uses AI text generation. If student's use third-party proofreaders, these cannot make any changes that alter the assessment in any way, including correcting language or citation format errors. Third-party alterations to the assessment are a form of academic misconduct. 

Plagiarism 

Plagiarism can be defined as incorporating another person's material from books, journals, the internet, another student's work, or any other source into assessment material without acknowledgement. It includes: 

• Using the same words (sentences, phrases or even expressions not in everyday use, invented or created by an author to explain an idea) as used originally
• Rephrasing by making slight adjustments
• Paraphrasing in a way that may deceive the reader as to the source.
• Plagiarism in whatever form it takes is a form of academic misconduct. 

Collusion

If students submit work for assessment that is falsely presented as the student's work but was jointly written with somebody else, this is a form of academic misconduct. 

Duplication/Self-Plagiarism: 

The inclusion in assessments of a significant amount of identical or substantially similar material to that already submitted for assessment by the student and graded for the same course or any other course or module at this University or elsewhere is classed as self-plagiarism. It does not include a resubmission of the same piece of work allowed by the examiners in an improved or revised form for reassessment purposes. Self-plagiarism is a form of academic misconduct.