Levels 2 and 3 Accounting

Presenter: Sue McVeighCommerce facilitator Auckland/Northlands.mcveigh@auckland.ac.nzPhone 623 8899 x 46420

Learning intentions for session

• To ensure teachers have a clear understanding of the “sources of authority” for the curriculum, such as the Curriculum Guides.

• To create an opportunity for teachers to discuss experiences of internal/external assessments at L2 and L3

• To (re)consider the literacy demands of Accounting and discuss strategies for raising student achievement

• To make links with others in the community of Accounting teachers

RationaleAccounting •gives students the tools to make real life financial decisions in a constantly changing and uncertain world•is the process of preparing and communicating financial information to a wide range of users•enhances financial literacy•helps individuals and organisations to be accountable to stakeholders for their actions

http://seniorsecondary.tki.org.nz/Social-sciences/Accounting

Key concepts

• Integrity: being honest, responsible, and accountable and acting ethically with awareness of social and cultural differences.

• Accountability: justifying and taking responsibility for actions and decisions; adhering to the law and keeping accurate records of property, documents, or funds.

• Confidentiality: being trustworthy and having the ability to keep the financial affairs of others secure and not passing on private information other than to those with a legal right.

• Reliability: being trusted and organised and having the ability to deliver on time.

• Relevance: being able to connect current information and keep up to date on any changes that may affect financial decision-making.

• Citizenship: understanding the importance of contributing to the community and being able to be fiscally responsible.

• Sustainability: the need for an entity to operate profitably taking into consideration ecological issues.

Learning Objectives

• LO.1 Manage the financial affairs of… while acting with integrity (6.1/7.1) or to enable internal and external users to make effective and ethical decisions (8.1).

• LO.2 Make use of appropriate communication tools and skills to process, report and interpret information for entities …

Three main focuses for context

• Individual and family/whanau• Community organisations• BusinessesAs they progress, students deepen their

understanding of Accounting. They move from a focus in their local community that they can identify with personally at level 6 (year 11), to a broader based focus at level 7, and a global focus at level 8.

No longer distinction between types of entity

The Old The New

L1 Individuals, households, sole tradersL2Sole tradersL3Partnerships, companies

Small, medium, large, globalbut all levels include individuals, whanau, businesses and community organisations

The documents/sources of authority• MOE ~ standard writing, Curriculum Guides

(formerly Teaching & Learning Guidelines), TKI exemplars

• NZQA ~ quality assurance, focused solely on interpretation of the standards

Unless TKI standards have been QUAMed, they should not be seen as determining how assessment should precisely look.

Existing exemplars on TKI say “NZQA Approved” in the top right corner but … they do not necessarily match the standard.For L2 now you will see on the TKI site

All TKI exemplars are in the process of being reviewed. Level 1 has been completed. Note the difference:Final publishedassessment resources

Engaging the learner

• Create a supportive learning environment• Encourage reflective thought and action• Enhance the relevance of new learning• Facilitate shared learning• Connections to prior learning and experience• Ensure sufficient opportunities to learn• Develop literacy skills in accounting• Develop numeracy skills in accounting• Enable e-learning

Source: Accounting Curriculum Guide

When year 11 Accounting students come to us

A student world view

StudentStudent BusinessesBusinesses

• They need to be here …

     

Simple ways of making it real

• Use local business examples• Bring in business people, or visit, or skype• Use the students’ co-curricular interests and

their workplaces as contexts• Use the student names as business owners• Use group activities often

What about the language of accounting?

“Learning about accounting for the first time can be scary. Accounting people seem to speak a completely different language. In order to talk to them you have to learn that language too. But where do you begin? Just like learning a foreign language, you begin with vocabulary — the first step of becoming fluent.”

Source: http://wanderatwill.com/portfolio/accounting-game/

A whole lot of language

And once students have navigated their way through Accounting jargon, they then need to deal with the nuances.

Even something as simple as wages has multiple meanings:•When is wages income?•When is wages an expense?•What is the difference between sales wages and office wages?

Literacy/Numeracy Standards

And for UE literacy from 2014

3.1 Concepts ~ 4 cr external ~ will count for reading

3.4 Annual Report ~ 5 cr internal ~ will count for reading and writing

A new focus

Students need to use literacy skills to interpret processed information and make relevant links to the continuing viability/operations of the entity being studied

Report writing skills are now required for most internal assessments at each level.

Report writing will, for most students, need scaffolding

You need to provide students with a clear structure within which they can present their findings.

NCEA internals require a significant degree of competence in literacy.

• Identify the components of the evidence/report the students need to include.

• Use writing frames and other literacy techniques.

• Provide opportunities for feedback and feed-forward.

• Drafts and signposting could avoid the need for resubmissions.

In your packs

• Are some examples of literacy resources and strategies than can be applied to all subjects.

• I am in the process of contextualising some of these strategies for Accounting. This is a December/January task.

• Please think of sharing successful literacy-raising resources and strategies you use.

Level 2 standards

INTERNALS

2.6/2.7 ~ subsystemsSee document in your folders•Strongly consider using an authentic context … •… and the same context for both standards•Students gain no credits for data-dumping textbook theory

2.5 ~ new from 2013 ~ contemporary accounting issue

•This provides students with an opportunity to use a social enquiry approach to their learning.•Teaching and Learning in this unit is likely to be student centred with the teacher facilitating the exploration of the issue or issues students choose to study.

The whole class could focus on one issue or each student could be given the freedom to select their own issue. There is no requirement to write a report ~ digital options can be used.

Who is offering 2.5 next year?

Level 3 standards

Minimal topic change, just a reshuffle.

The current 3.2 and 3.4 have been split into separate partnership and company standards ~ a positive move.

Standard Mode Credits Topic

3.1 External 4 Concepts

3.2 Internal 4 Partnerships

3.3 External 5 Company statements

3.4 Internal 5 Annual Report

3.5 External 4 Decision-making

3.6 Internal 4 Job-costing

EXTERNALS

3.1 ~ conceptsThe focus is on a reporting entity. This means within the context of that entity. Make sure you check the specifications next year as there is a chance the entity for 3.1 will be named.

3.3 ~ company financial statementsSupported by Accounting appendix for layout and clarification of statements.

For Merit students need to explain entries in statements; for Excellence they need to justify entries. This means “integrating knowledge of financial elements and/or cash flows which may include justifying and/or preparing supporting accounting entries for the financial statements and notes in the general journal and/or general ledger”.

Appendix 1 has some examples of what is meant by this.The two questions in the TKI sample exam are similar in nature to the short theory type questions students currently get in 3.2.

3.5 ~ decision-making•Shame this didn’t become an internal.•This could be a good ~ different and engaging! ~ standard to start the course with.

INTERNALS

3.2 ~ partnershipsThe future focus aspect is new ~ explanation of elements of partnership accounting and why they ensure that the partnership is able to continue operations.

What approaches will be used ~ teacher/cluster written case study? Or based on an authentic business?

3.4 ~ interpret annual reportMaybe optional for Scholarship students only??•Could teach the A and I then give students the choice.•Can identify any end user ~ does not have to be a shareholder therefore does not have to include market analysis. For example, end user could be a potential employee or a concerned environmental group. One of the TKI tasks is for a union trying to negotiate wage increases.

• Note ~ while TKI activities for 3.4 suggest students need to include an executive summary, this is not required by the standard for any grade, including Excellence. [In your teaching and learning you might want to encourage an executive summary as good practice.]

3.6 ~ job costing•A change is the inclusion of the future-focus

– Implications of over/under applying overhead for profitability/viability of the firm

– Understanding the importance of accurately costing and pricing jobs to ensure the continuing operation and viability of the business

This seems to be the standard causing most anxiety among even very experienced teachers of Level 3.

There is a need for a bank of case study resources. Information could be gathered by:•The teacher visiting the business and conducting a conversation/interview which is recorded (on phone*) and typed up afterwards, or videoed•Business owner/manager or cost accountant visiting the classroom•Conducting an interview via skype

* A free recording app can be downloaded: Easyvoice Recorder

Structuring your course

• How many credits? Is there a school limit? 26 credits are available in L3 Accounting.

• University entrance requirements ~ 14 for most universities; higher entry for University of Auckland.

• Will you have Scholarship students?• Combined course of Accounting/Economics or

Accounting/Business Studies?• Will the programme meet Subject Endorsement

requirement?• Workload for students and teachers?

UE requirementsStatus quo exists for L3 students in 2013 (for university entry in 2014)

L3 students in 2014 will need to meet the following for entry to university in 2015•Achieve 14 (minimum) credits in L3 in each of three subjects from the list of approved subjects•Achieve UE numeracy ~ 10 credits in Mathematics at L1 or higher from specific achievement standards•Achieve UE literacy ~ 10 credits (five in reading; five in writing) at L2 or above from specific achievement standards

Look for this in your school

Taking Part in Economic Communities

This is a new financial literacy resource, part of the Building Conceptual Understandings in the Social Sciences (BCUSS)series. It may have been sent tothe HOD Social Sciences.

Making links

If you haven’t already done so, join the online Accounting teachers’ forum:

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!forum/nzaccteach

Cluster groups

Two that I know of:•North Shore Commerce Cluster, co-ordinated by Jessica Shackleton of Orewa College•Central, co-ordinated by Mei Ng of Diocesan

I am happy to facilitate the establishment of otherclusters.