ACCT-422 10-K Project Instructions
UMGC’s accounting department curriculum requires an SEC 10-K Report Project in multiple courses from introductory to advanced-level courses, including:
ACCT 220: Principles of Accounting I / ACCT 221: Principles of Accounting II
ACCT 310: Intermediate Accounting I / ACCT 311: Intermediate Accounting II
ACCT 321: Cost Accounting
ACCT 422: Auditing
ACCT 424: Advanced Accounting / ACCT 425: International Accounting
The UMGC Principles of Accounting, I & II courses introduced you to specific components of an SEC 10-K Report as bases for fundamental financial ratio analyses and interpretation of results for a selected corporation. In the more advanced accounting courses, including Intermediate Accounting I & II, Cost and Data Analytics, Auditing, and Advanced Accounting, you analyze financial statements, schedules, and notes to gain a more in-depth understanding of a corporation through its SEC 10-K filing.
ACCT-422 10-K Project Instructions
ACCT 422 SEC 10-K Audit Plan
In Auditing, the SEC 10-K project focuses on US-Based corporations and developing an Audit plan. These will be based on information found in the financial statements, annual reports, and disclosures of the SEC 10-K filing of a corporation. Using knowledge learned in introductory accounting courses, you will: (1) review the SEC 10-K Report of a U.S. Corporation with subsidiaries; (2) review their annual reports for the prior two years and the current year; (3) develop an audit plan using the SEC 10-K Reports.
ACCT 422: Auditing SEC 10-K Project Requirements
Summary: This SEC 10-K project challenges you to review, analyze, and interpret financial statements and disclosures of a U.S. corporation headquartered in the U.S. To simulate processes used by practicing accountants, you present analyses and findings to the class and participate in a peer-review process in the Discussions area. The deliverables are in response to information and analysis requests by your supervisor.
Outcomes: Prepare discussion postings and reports on the U.S. publicly traded corporation with subsidiaries using its most current SEC 10-K report.
Competencies: Demonstrate ability to develop a comprehensive audit plan and present the plan and associated Points to the Audit Manager.
Project Explanation: You are the new auditor for the SEC 10K company you selected and approved by the professor. Another auditor performed the audit last year.
As the new auditor, you are to develop a comprehensive audit plan. The auditing standards describe the components of what is to be included in an audit plan.
You are to describe accounting and auditing issues in the audit you will face as the new auditor. You are to identify the company’s risks, how these risks will affect the audit, and how you will mitigate the risks. For example, if you select a company with overseas manufacturing plants that produce inventory, what approach will you take to observe the inventory in the U.S. and overseas? What will you include in your audit plan? The purpose of the report is to write an audit plan. Note that this report is to be written from an auditor’s perspective and not from an analyst’s perspective performing an analysis of a company’s financial statements. The perspectives are quite different.
The deliverable should be five to seven pages, single-spaced, with APA format for citations and references. Data visualization, small charts, and your commentary are included in the page count. Financial statements are not included in the page count. The APA citations can be single-spaced.
You must have a reference list, including the course’s link to the SEC-10K and learning resources. You must include and discuss graphics or charts in your report.
Write in your own words. A report with excessive quotations is not in your own words. Consider the academic honesty assignment for our course. Write to show your mastery of concepts and topics for our course.
You must provide a brief background of the company and the industry. The report must be appropriately organized with an introduction, body, and conclusion.
Address issues associated with the specific industry and operations of your U.S. Corporation.
Assessments: Assessments will include a Word document report and a PowerPoint presentation based on the Word document.
Discussions Week 1-6:
IMPORTANT NOTE: You must include the name of your corporation in the SUBJECT line EVERY TIME you post information about your Corporation in ANY Discussion. You must also post the DIRECT LINK and page number(s) at the end of your input to enable quick access to verify the information about your corporation.
Week 1 Discussion: Choosing a corporation
You will select a publicly traded U.S. corporation with a subsidiary corporation and ask for approval from the Professor during Week 1.
The corporation must:
1) produce and sell goods
2) have an SEC 10-K Report for the current or most recent prior year
The corporation may NOT:
1) be the same corporation you studied for SEC projects in previous classes
2) be the same corporation a classmate selected for this course
Accessing the SEC 10-K filings:
Visit the company website, look for Investor Relations (or about us, corporate information, etc.), and select Financial SEC Annual filing for the most recent year. Drop-down menus usually appear. Often you will find the PDF version here plus the Excel version.
Step 1) Find your corporation’s ticker symbol using a search engine like Google. Type the following into the search window: “Company name Ticker Symbol.” For example, “Ford Ticker Symbol.”
Step 2) Go to Company and Person Lookup. On the right side, use Fast Search by typing the Corporation’s Ticker symbol and clicking Search.
Step 3) On the “Edgar Search Results” page, scroll down the list of “Filings” to locate the “10-K” and click “Documents.”
Step 4) On the “Filing Detail” page, locate 10-K in the Description column and click the hyperlink (red font) under the column labeled “Document.” This website is the DIRECT LINK to the Corporation’s SEC 10-K report. Bookmark this SEC 10-K Website address for future reference.
Printing the SEC 10-K document is not recommended as it may be over 100 pages. You will need to download the two prior and current year annual reports. Annual reports usually are shorter.
Reading an SEC 10-K Report:
The following link will access the SEC’s document: How to Read an SEC 10-K Report.
Weeks 2 through 5 Discussions:
Each week, a discussion topic related to the SEC 10-K project will be posted. Use the Weeks 1-6 Discussions postings strategically to prepare your Word document report, Excel spreadsheet, and PowerPoint presentation drafts.
Use the Excel spreadsheet for supporting computations and schedules for vertical and horizontal analysis of consolidation impacts. It would be best to always show changes from the base year as percentages, so the spreadsheet can be a beneficial tool to support your Discussion postings over Weeks 2-5. Focus exclusively on cost accounting-related information and ratios in your spreadsheet. Your goal, however, focuses on Auditing Issues: Audit Readiness and areas to consider in the Audit Plan. You benefit from the Critical Audits Matters presented in the Auditors’ Report for the most recent SEC 10-K.
Week 7: Guidance for submission of the Word 10-K report and PowerPoint files in the Assignments folder
The grading rubric in the syllabus will be used to grade the deliverables for the project. Create, read, and edit your work. Explain the analyses in your reports using your own words. If you use direct quotes or paraphrased content, provide links and parenthetical references for your sources. Reports, spreadsheets, presentations, and discussion postings must comply with UMGC’s academic honesty policies.
1. Microsoft Word 10K report:
Estimated length: five to seven (5-7) pages
Use bullet lists, create data visualization and charts to accompany your commentary
1-inch margins top & bottom; 1 to 1.25 inches on left & right sides
Line spacing: single spacing with double spacing between paragraphs
Font size: 12 CPI
Font style: Times New Roman
Save the file with YOUR NAME in the file name.
Example: YourNameSECreport.docx
2. Microsoft PowerPoint presentation:
Prepare your slides to make a formal presentation to the senior management team of your corporation, focusing on audit readiness and issues. Be creative and present an overview and meaningful consolidation information to support decision-making by corporate executives and other key personnel internally at your corporation. Use your judgment to select the consolidation accounting-related highlights for your presentation.
Save the file with YOUR NAME in the file name.
Example: YourNameSECreport.ppt
