AC100 /AC102 /AC104

Essay Writing Workshop

12/12/2013
Ana Simpson, Department of Accounting
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop I 1
Ana Simpson, Department of Accounting
Neil McLean, Teaching and Learning Centre
Purpose of this workshop
Not to advise you on the content of the essay
To provide you with tips on how to approach the essay
Suggested references not an exclusive list!
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Suggested references not an exclusive list!
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay writing in practice
Guidance on:
Essay topic
Essay structure
Essay style / presentation
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AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay writing in practice
Christmas Vacation Essay 2013/14
Discuss and evaluate the following statement:
Uniform accounting standards produce uniform financial
reporting.
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reporting.
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay topic
Suggestions
o Understand the question
o Develop your argument
o Back up your arguments with evidence from the literature
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o Back up your arguments with evidence from the literature
o Treat evidence from the literature in a critical way
o Providing recommendations
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay topic
Understand the question: key elements
1. Uniform accounting standards
across companies?
across industries?
across groups of countries?
worldwide?
2. produce uniform financial reporting
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distinction between uniformity in standards and uniformity in reporting
Uniformity of standards driven by globalisation
Implementation issues
Incentives of preparers (managers) and enforcers (auditors,
regulators, analysts, shareholders, etc.) remain local shaped by
political and economic factors
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay topic
Understand the question choose your focus:
- The European Union IFRS as adopted by the EU
- The countries that have adopted IFRS (81 countries*)
- The whole world potential IFRS adoption by the US and the rest of
the non-IFRS countries
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* You can find the list of IFRS adopters on the IASB website
(www.ifrs.org)
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay topic
Develop your arguments in balanced way
Arguments for:
1. The idea of uniform accounting standards
- advantages, disadvantages, obstacles, need.
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- advantages, disadvantages, obstacles, need.
2. The achievement of uniform financial reporting conditional on
the existence of uniform accounting standards
Back up your arguments with evidence from the literature
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay topic
Treat evidence from the literature in a critical manner
Ball (2006) argues: it is costly to develop a fully detailed set of accounting
standards to cover every feasible contingency, so standards are not the only way
of solving accounting method choices. Some type of "functional completion' is
required. For example, under "principles based' accounting, general principles
rather than detailed standards are developed in advance and then adapted to
specific situations with the approval of independent auditors. It is therefore not
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
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specific situations with the approval of independent auditors. It is therefore not
optimal for all accounting choices to be made according to uniform standards.
So what is the main idea put forward by Ball (2006) above?
It is not clear that uniformity in financial reporting requires uniform
accounting standards
Avoid rehearsing phrases, say things with your own words
Essay topic
When providing recommendations be as precise as possible.
Avoid vague and unclear recommendations
Accounting regulations need to be reshaped .
In what way?
Rather than looking for alternatives, an improvement in the current
accounting settings will help getting to the end of the crisis and help
stepping up the recovery
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stepping up the recovery
How?
Changes to the rules and a revision of the way things are done seems to be
the way forward.
What changes?
If regulation is to be reshaped, should there be more measurement bases
in the financial reporting framework?; Should we amend financial
reporting or bank regulation? Is it voluntary or mandatory disclosure
that could be amended?
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay structure
Suggestions
o Introduction
o Main text
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o Conclusion
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay structure
Introduction
Put the topic in context
Why is the topic important?
What is the topic about?
Guide the reader
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Guide the reader
Provide a brief roadmap for the essay content
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay structure
Introduction Avoid definitions and unnecessary details
A definition of accounting will help highlight its connection to the
economy in essence its concerned with collecting, analysing and
communicating financial information (Atrill and McLaney 4
th
ed), its
this decision making process that financial documents are produced
to make more educated decisions.
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to make more educated decisions.
This is a basic point, no reference required just convey the main idea:
Accounting provides information for economic decision making and
is therefore inextricably tied to economic stability.
Be critical and straight to the point.
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay structure
Main text many ways to structure it
One possible way:
Start with your view/thesis
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Then provide arguments for and arguments against
State why the arguments for are stronger
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay structure
Conclusion Summarize and conclude
Add an insightful concluding remark
Provide paths for future research/thoughts
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AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay style/presentation
Use proper citations/references
Plagiarism!
All work for classes and seminars as well as scripts (which include,
for example, essays, dissertations and any other work, including
computer programs) must be the student's own work. Quotations
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computer programs) must be the student's own work. Quotations
must be placed properly within quotation marks or indented and
must be cited fully. All paraphrased material must be
acknowledged. Infringing this requirement or passing off the work
of others as the work of the student, whether deliberately or not, is
plagiarism.
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay style/presentation
Proper citations
Research results have also shown that IFRS adoption has a positive
impact on lowering cost of capital for MPLCs. For example, Daske
and Gnther (2006) examine the quality of the financial statements
of Austrian, German and Swiss firms reporting quality improved
considerably under IFRS in the three European countries and firms
which voluntarily or mandatorily adopted IFRS experienced a
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which voluntarily or mandatorily adopted IFRS experienced a
reduction in cost of capital.
References
Daske, H. and G. Gnther (2006). International Financial Reporting
Standards and Experts Perceptions of Disclosure Quality. Abacus
42( 3-4), 461-498.
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay style/presentation
Adapt to a proper style of citations
Ref: Ball R. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): pros and
cons for investors.
Ball R.
Ball
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Ball
http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/12964698
Ball (2006)
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Essay style/presentation
Literature recommended sources:
Papers published in academic journals (LSE online library)
Academic textbooks
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Working papers uploaded in SSRN (www.ssrn.com)
Articles in other journals / newspapers (especially for
examples)
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Useful links (Only suggested and not-exclusive list) :
Ball R. (2006) International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): pros and cons for
investors Accounting and Business Research Vol. 36 (Special Issue), 5-27.
Jeanjean, T. and H. Stolowy (2008) Do accounting standards matter? An exploratory
analysis of earnings management before and after IFRS adoption Journal of Accounting
and Public Policy Vol. 27 (6), 480-494.
Bradshaw, M. and G. Miller (2008) Will Harmonizing Accounting Standards Really
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Bradshaw, M. and G. Miller (2008) Will Harmonizing Accounting Standards Really
Harmonize Accounting? Evidence from Non-U.S. Firms Adopting U.S. GAAP Journal of
Accounting, Auditing and Finance Vol. 23 (2), 233-264.
Hail, L., C. Leuz and P. Wysocki (2010) Global Accounting Convergence and the Potential
Adoption of IFRS by the U.S. (Part I): Conceptual Underpinnings and Economic Analysis,
Accounting Horizons Vol. 24 (3), pp. 355-394.
FT: www.ft.com
IASB website: http://www.ifrs.org
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop
Planning an answer
Analysing a question -
Uniform accounting standards produce
uniform financial reporting. uniform financial reporting.
Initial observation this is an absolute statement, in which
one thing always leads to another sounds unlikely
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop I
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Planning an answer
Analysing a question -
Uniform accounting standards produce
uniform financial reporting.
Asking questions of the question -
Which standards are you going to write about?
How / why are they not uniform?
Could they be uniform?
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop I
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Planning an answer
Analysing a question -
Uniform accounting standards produce
uniform financial reporting.
Asking questions of the question
Which financial reporting are you going to write
about?
How / why is this not uniform?
Could this be uniform?
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop I
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Planning an answer
Analysing a question -
Uniform accounting standards produce
uniform financial reporting.
Asking questions of the question
What is the relationship between standards and
reporting?
How / why might uniform standards produce
uniform reporting?
How / why might this not work?
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop I
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Planning an answer
Essay structure
Intro
Why is the question important?
What is your answer? What is your answer?
Yes uniform standards would produce uniform
reporting
No uniformity of standards wouldnt achieve uniformity
of financial reporting
What is your argument?
Why yes? / why no?
AC100 Essay Writing Workshop I
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