ACCT 5943 - Advanced Financial Reporting, Term 3 2023
Group Project – Accounting Data Analytics
I. Project Background
As financial analysts employed by the research department of the investment bank, SydGroup, your team
is leading a research project to investigate the implications of share-based payments for shareholders.
Your team will collect the relevant information concerning U.S. firms, conduct the data analyses with
regard to the relation between CEO Ownership and Corporate Performance, and then provide a written
report to your supervisor in the research department.
II. Preparation for Data Analyses
1. To use the statistical software (Stata) via myAccess, you can take steps as instructed in the following
link: https://www.myaccess.unsw.edu.au/user-guides.
1) Install the Citrix Workspace app from: https://www.citrix.com/downloads/workspace-app.
2) Once installed, close all windows, and note, “do not enter account details in the app.”
3) Open https://myaccessunsw.cloud.com and log in with your zID as the username (for example,
z1234567) and UNSW password.
2. As students enrolled in ACCT5943, you will see the icon of Stata 16. If you click
it, Stata will be opened and ready for use.
3. The raw datasets and the sample codes of Stata will be provided in Moodle.
Download and unzip them to your local directory.
III. Investigation the Question
In Topic 5, Accounting Analytics, a mini workshop will be held in class time. We will use the provided
Stata codes and raw datasets to examine the relation between “CEO Ownership and Corporate Performance.”
IV. Write the Research Report
The research report may be written based on a structure including components as follows (not limited to):
1. What is the motivation for this research project? Why would it be important for investors to understand
the relation between CEO Ownership and Corporate Performance?
2. Which research methods are used in the data analyses?
3. What are the results of the data analyses (e.g., providing 3-4 tables as part of the report)? How to
interpret the findings? Are they consistent with people’s expectations?
4. As financial analysts, what can we learn from this project when making recommendations to investors?
5. Any caveats of this project that we should be aware of when drawing the inferences?
6. Citing and discussing relevant published research papers to support your arguments and methodologies.
V. Format and Presentation
Your report should be written in a manner appropriate for a formal presentation at a meeting with clients.
Please note that there may be mark deductions if these instructions are not followed. The Report should:
➢ Be typed using Times New Roman Font Size 12, single-line spacing, and margins on all sides must
be at least 2 cm wide of the A4 paper. For footnotes (if any), use font size 10 and single-line spacing.
➢ Tables and diagrams (if any) must use Times New Roman Font Size 12 with single-line spacing.
➢ Include a cover page with the information of your group number and student names and IDs.
➢ Include an executive summary page. The executive summary must have its own separate page and
should not be more than 1/2 page. The executive summary is a plan for the report (i.e., what you intend
to write in the report) AND a summary of findings.
➢ Include an introduction and a conclusion.
➢ The group report should not exceed the word limit: 3,000 words.
Any writing beyond this limit will not be marked. Footnotes are included in the word limit. This
word limit does not include the cover page, executive summary page, bibliography and appendix (if
any).
➢ Limit the usage of footnotes for points of clarification. Marks may be deducted for inappropriate uses
of footnotes and appendices.
➢ Use appendices only for the following:
• list of major assumptions, if any; and
• list of calculations and formula, if any.
➢ Include a bibliography and appropriate in-text references.
➢ Consult the lecturer-in-charge if you are unsure about any of the above formatting requirements as
marks could be deducted for not complying with the formatting.
VI. Mark Allocation
VII. Plagiarism
Where it is discovered that a team has plagiarised any part of the assignment, a mark of zero (0) can be
awarded for the assignment to all team members. Please ensure that you are aware of what constitutes
plagiarism: https://student.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism
Data analyses 10 marks
Presentation and writing 10 marks
Total 20 marks