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ACCT 3013: Contemporary Issues in Accounting

1. Contemporary issues in accounting: Case study

For this assessment, you are required to create an audiovisual presentation and written client brief, in response to one of the proposed scenarios.

Note: See your course website for full assessment details.

2. Planning your search

Researching the topic of your scenario will help you find articles and resources to support your argument.

Think about some keywords that relate to your scenario. Here are just a few examples:

  • accounting standards, accounting regulation
  • regulation, regulation costs, regulatory increase
  • historical cost accounting, current cost accounting, fair value accounting
  • IASB, International Accounting Standards Boards, GAAP, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

Then think about how you can string together various keywords to form a search term, remember to:

  • use quotation marks around phrases
    • e.g. "current cost"
  • connect terms using AND, OR, or NOT
    • e.g. "accounting regulation" OR "accounting standards"

More help

3. Finding references

Screenshot of search in the Library Collection for "fair value accounting"

Once you are happy with your search term (it might involve some trial and error), you can then refine the results to make them more relevant by using the 'Refine my results' menu on the right.

One of the options is to choose to Show Only Peer-Reviewed Journals:
peer reviewed journals filter

You can also refine by date to show more recent articles. Once you've finished your selections, remember to apply filters.

Databases contain additional resources that may not be available via the catalogue. The Library has many accounting databases. For finding journal articles, we recommend trying Business Source Ultimate, which contains a variety of high quality business content. Here is an demonstration on how to use this database:

1. Open Business Source Ultimate from the Library Collection.

2. Enter in your search terms. Note that in this database, the connectors AND, OR, and NOT are built into the search boxes, and you can add more fields to build a longer search terms. 

Advanced search in Business Source Ultimate via EBSCOhost database. Search string: "client relationship" AND accounting

Note: You will need to log in to your account to follow the link to the Business Source Ultimate search above.

3. Like the Library Collection, there will be a menu on the left where you can filter by date and source type. 

4. Presentations

The video below, Presentation basics (3 min 18 sec), is one of the videos in the said LinkedIn Learning course. 

 

More help

5. Writing a brief

You may get some good tips from reading about accountant/client relationships:

6. Referencing support

Managing your references

What do you do with all those references you have found? You can use a bibliographic management software to store, organise, and cite your references.

There are many free systems available. The Library supports the bibliographic management tool EndNote. EndNote automates citing your references and allows you to create and organise a library of references. For more information and to download the software, check out the EndNote Guide: