Topic 1: Ethics and budgeting

Budgeting is generally regarded as an essential technique
for planning and controlling an

organisation’s activities. However, budgeting systems can
also create incentives for unethical

behaviour.

Using examples to illustrate your discussion, explain:

• How the use of budgets in planning and controlling an
organisation’s activities may create

incentives for unethical behaviour; and,

• What strategies organisations can adopt to minimise the
risk of their budgeting system

leading to unethical behaviours.

Topic 2: Accounting for overhead

Modern manufacturing processes are typically characterised
by large-scale automation, with

machines replacing people. Consequently, manufacturing
overhead has often become a much

more significant component of total manufacturing costs and
this presents a particular challenge for

cost and management accountants. Competitive pressures make
it essential that firms have

accurate and up-to-date cost data, but overhead is an
indirect cost and allocating it to individual

products and product lines will always involve subjectivity
and estimation.

Discuss the difficulties associated with allocating overhead
costs in the contemporary manufacturing

environment and identify strategies that firms can adopt to
help make their overhead allocations

more accurate and reliable.

Presentation

The assignment is to comply with the University’s General
Guide for the Presentation of Academic

Work. Students are required to use the APA style of
referencing. See comments below regarding

word length. Each group is to submit a single copy of their
assignment.

Assessment criteria

In assessing submitted assignments consideration will be
given to:

• Overall neatness, completeness and quality of
presentation. Graduate students are

expected to achieve a satisfactory standard with respect to
this criterion as a matter of course

and for this reason, no credit will be granted for achieving
it. However, assignments that fail to

achieve the minimum standard in connection with this criterion
will be penalised. The expected

standard concerning this criterion is as specified by the
University’s General Guide for the

Presentation of Academic Work.

• Timeliness of submission. Graduate students are expected
to be able to meet reasonable

deadlines for the submission of assessable work as a matter
of course. For this reason, no credit

will be given for submitting the assignment by the due date.
However, assignments that are

submitted late will be penalised at the rate of three marks
out of 30 per day that the assignment

is late.

• Demonstrated application of appropriate cost and
management accounting knowledge,

skills, values and attitudes. This criterion pertains to the
overall quality of the content of

responses to the assignment requirements. Specific factors
to be taken into account include:

accuracy, comprehensiveness, demonstrated understanding of
the topics, and the location and

effective use of relevant research materials.

Each essay is expected to be between 1,200 to 1,500 words
(1,500 words being the maximum

length). These guidelines exclude the cover sheet, abstract
and list of references.