🔍 Advanced Accounting Library Research Assignment
Title: Research and Analysis of Advanced Accounting Topics in Practice
Length: 3–5 pages (excluding title and reference pages)
Format: APA 7th Edition
Due Date: 8/10/2025 by 10:59pm central time
📘 Objective:
This assignment will allow students to explore advanced accounting topics in depth by conducting scholarly research using academic databases (e.g., LIRN, ProQuest, JSTOR, Google Scholar). Students will critically analyze and apply concepts covered in the course to real-world scenarios and current practices in financial reporting.
📚 Assignment Instructions:
Choose one (1) of the following research topics. Use at least three (3) academic or peer-reviewed sources, including at least one from your university’s library database (LIRN or equivalent):
🧾 Research Topics (Choose One):
- Goodwill Impairment and Valuation Challenges
- Explore how public companies recognize and measure goodwill impairment.
- What events or indicators lead to testing for impairment?
- Analyze a real company’s goodwill write-down and its impact on financial statements and market reaction.
- Accounting for Variable Interest Entities (VIEs)
- Define VIEs and explain how they are used in corporate structuring.
- Investigate a case where improper consolidation of a VIE led to financial reporting concerns (e.g., Enron).
- Evaluate the ethical and regulatory responses that followed.
- Governmental vs. Commercial Accounting Principles
- Compare GASB and FASB standards on revenue recognition and fund accounting.
- Evaluate the challenges faced by municipalities in reporting pension liabilities or infrastructure costs.
- Provide examples from recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs).
- Foreign Currency Translation and Economic Impact
- Review ASC 830 and IFRS requirements for currency translation.
- Analyze the financial impact of currency fluctuations on multinational corporations.
- Use a current company’s 10-K (such as Coca-Cola, Nestlé, etc.) for illustration.
- Partnership Dissolution and Liquidation
- Discuss the legal and accounting implications of a partnership breakup.
- Describe the process of loss absorption and capital deficiency allocation.
- Include a case study of a real partnership or law/accounting firm that dissolved.
- Not-for-Profit Financial Reporting and Transparency
- Examine how FASB ASC 958 affects NPO financial disclosures.
- Evaluate transparency and donor trust in not-for-profit financial statements.
- Select a large nonprofit (e.g., Red Cross, United Way, etc.) and analyze its most recent annual report.
✅ Requirements:
- 3–5 pages of written content (not including title/reference pages)
- APA 7th Edition formatting (double-spaced, 12 pt. font, 1" margins)
- Minimum of three (3) scholarly sources, one of which must be from the library (LIRN)
- Include in-text citations and a reference page
- Include critical thinking and synthesis of accounting theory with real-world application
📊 Grading Rubric (100 points total):
Category | Points |
|---|---|
Research Depth & Accuracy | 30 |
Application to Real-World Cases | 20 |
Use of Scholarly Sources | 15 |
Organization & Clarity | 15 |
APA Formatting | 10 |
Grammar & Writing Quality | 10 |
💡 Helpful Resources:
- FNU LIRN Portal
- FASB Codification (via LIRN or accounting library access)
- SEC EDGAR Database (10-K filings)
- Google Scholar
- APA Style Guide: https://apastyle.apa.org/