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ACCT 3012: Finding company and industry information for your audit

1. What do you need to do?

For this assignment you need to assess and analyse a company from an auditing perspective. This assignment help will assist you in finding relevant company and industry information needed to do this audit.

Note: Remember to read all the information on your course website related to your assessment to understand exactly what you need to do.

2. Public versus private companies

Before you start searching on your company, establish:

1. Is the company publicly listed or private?
2. Is the company Australian or international?
3. What industry does the company belong to?
4. What information do you need about the company or industry? Annual reports, financial data, industry profiles, market research, or news media?

Public versus private companies:
Public companies are listed and traded on a stock exchange whereas private companies are not listed. Also, public companies must provide annual reports to the public which makes them easier to research.

Not sure if it is public or private? 

  • Do a web search for your company's website. They often provide information about themselves under a section such as 'About us'.
  • Search for the company on the Australian stock exchange, or another stock exchange, to see if it is listed?

3. Where to search?

The Library has a range of databases (search tools) that contain company and industry information.

For company information:

For industry information: 

For more databases, see the Library's guide on searching for company and industry information.

4. How you find company information

DatAnalysis

  1. Type the company name into the quick search box (top right). Select search.Datanalysis menu highlighting financial data and annual reports
  2. The company page should automatically open.
  3. Use the menu on the left to navigate through different information such as Financial Data and Annual Reports. 

Watch the below video (3 min 17 sec) to get a general overview of using DatAnalysis, along with the ASX website, to find a range of financial information:

IBISWorld

  1. Type your company name into the search box. Hit the Enter key.

Type National Australia Bank in the search bar

  1. From the results list, select the company you are after.
  2. Navigate using the menu on the left to see details including Financials and Growth and Ratios.

You can download the data from these reports in Excel format by selecting the download option from the top of the page. 

5. How you find industry information

IBISWorld

  1. Type your chosen industry into the search box. Hit the Enter key.

Sample search in IBISWorld

  1. Use the filters to limit your search to Country: Australia and Report: Industry. (The results list will update automatically).
  2. Select the industry report that is relevant.

Passport

  1. On the Home Page, Select Industries and then select the best industry that matches your company e.g., Industries > Services.

Note: You may also need to look under the Economies tab, depending on your chosen company.

  1. Within the Explore Analysis box, select your chosen industry, analysis type, product category, and geography. Select Go.
  2. From the results list, select the relevant company report.
  3. Using the menu next to the report, you can navigate through different information such as related industries, statistics, and reports.

6. How to find news media

Or start your search with the following news media databases:

How to search NewsBank

  1. From the homepage select Australia (under Quick Links).
  2. Enter the company's name into the search box. Select Search.

Entering company's name into the NewsBank search box
Tip: Use OR to find synonyms.

  1. Use the menu on the left hand side to narrow down your search by date or source name (publication).

7. More help

If you need further assistance searching for information or writing up your assignment, visit the:

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