Environmental Impact of Business Operations in Australia

This assignment requires a comprehensive analysis of the impact that Australian business operations have on the environment. Students are expected to investigate the extent to which industrial activities, particularly in sectors like manufacturing and mining, contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. The task involves evaluating existing data on environmental degradation linked to these businesses, such as changes in land use, deforestation rates, and water pollution levels. Additionally, students must reflect on current government policies aimed at mitigating these impacts, including regulations and incentives for reducing carbon footprints. Critical thinking is encouraged to propose innovative solutions or improvements to existing strategies that could enhance environmental sustainability within the Australian business context.

Running head: ACCOUNTING STATEMENT ANALYSIS
Accounting Statement Analysis
Student’s Name:
University Name:
Author Note

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ACCOUNTING STATEMENT ANALYSIS
Table of Contents
Activity 1....................................................................................................................................4
Activity 2....................................................................................................................................5
Activity 3....................................................................................................................................5
Answer to part a.....................................................................................................................5
Answer to part b.....................................................................................................................6
Answer to part c.....................................................................................................................6
Answer to part d.....................................................................................................................6
Answer to part e.....................................................................................................................6
Activity 4....................................................................................................................................7
Answer to part a.....................................................................................................................7
Answer to part b.....................................................................................................................7
Answer to part c.....................................................................................................................8
Activity 5....................................................................................................................................8
Activity 6..................................................................................................................................12
Answer to Part a...................................................................................................................12
Answer to Part b...................................................................................................................12
Answer to Part c...................................................................................................................12
Activity 7..................................................................................................................................13
Answer to part i....................................................................................................................13
Answer to part ii...................................................................................................................14

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ACCOUNTING STATEMENT ANALYSIS
Answer to part iii..................................................................................................................14
Answer to part iv..................................................................................................................15
Answer to part v...................................................................................................................15
Answer to part b...................................................................................................................15
Activity 8..................................................................................................................................16
Activity 9..................................................................................................................................17
Activity 10................................................................................................................................18
Activity 11................................................................................................................................19
Activity 12................................................................................................................................20
Answer to part a...................................................................................................................20
Answer to part b...................................................................................................................20
Answer to part c...................................................................................................................21
Answer to part d...................................................................................................................21
Answer to part e...................................................................................................................21
Activity 13................................................................................................................................21
Answer to part a...................................................................................................................21
Answer to part b...................................................................................................................22
Answer to part c...................................................................................................................22
Activity 14................................................................................................................................22
Activity 16................................................................................................................................24
Activity 17................................................................................................................................24

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ACCOUNTING STATEMENT ANALYSIS
Answer to part a...................................................................................................................24
Answer to part b...................................................................................................................24
Answer to part c...................................................................................................................24
Answer to part d...................................................................................................................25
References................................................................................................................................26

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ACCOUNTING STATEMENT ANALYSIS
Activity 1
Australia is slowly rising as a global market player in today’s world economy.
Though it is a relatively small open economy but the recent trends have shown much
improvement in the growth curve of Australia’s economy. But still there are certain factors
that have impacted the economy of Australia in the long run.
More specifically the rise in the global market price of the commodities led by the
Chinese market has affected the Australian economy. This is because the sudden price rise
has hit the two major exportable commodities of Australia that is coal and iron ore. This has
hugely boosted the export prices of Australia. This though apparently looks like a good start
for the Australian economy but as it is known these expansionary effects may result in an
inflationary boom which is totally not healthy for a rising economy.
But thankfully this has not been the case with the Australian economy as the domestic
demand has slowed down eventually and resorted to a sustainable pace. However there have
been certain indications that the inflationary pressures are not bringing about the results as
quickly as expected. This is majorly because of the housing sector in Australia. The rapid
increase in the house prices and mortgage lending has led to an increase in house building
activity. This effectively has slowed down the pace of the inflationary pressures.
Secondly another issue that affects the Australian economy is the labor markets.
Flexibility of the labor markets can help in the growth of a healthy economy. Highly
regulated labor markets often hamper the flow of work of the organizations thus affecting the
economy in a negative way (Butlin 2013).

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ACCOUNTING STATEMENT ANALYSIS
Activity 2
The three financial sectors that will be discussed below are commercial banks,
investment banks and insurance companies.
Commercial banks play a major role in the financial sector. They accept deposits from
the customers and in return provide financial security to them. They also serve their
customers by providing them loans. Business holders can borrow loans from banks in order
to expand or support their business. Commercial banks play an important role of channelizing
the economic finance and controlling the flow of money in an economy.
Investment banks on the other hand though are called banks, act as a financial
intermediary and perform a number of services for business and the government. These
services namely are making markets, performing the role of an intermediary between the
institution issuing securities and the investors and underwriting debt. They also provide
advisory services to companies. Investment banks generally are less subjected to regulation in
comparison to commercial banks.
Lastly insurance companies largely deal with the general public. This is because they
provide services to individuals by collecting regular premiums from them for the purpose of
protecting the individual himself or the near and dear ones against illness, death, or any other
kind of issue. Insurance companies thus also play a major role in channelizing the inflow and
outflow of cash in an economy (Joshi et al., 2013).
Activity 3
Answer to part a
Banks or authorized deposit taking institutions play an important role as a financial
intermediary in the financial system of the economy. The major services provided by banks

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ACCOUNTING STATEMENT ANALYSIS
are that they act as a transferor of funds from savers to borrowers; they also provide financial
security to its customers by safeguarding their money and paying an interest on them as well
(Lodhia 2015).
Answer to part b
The role of insurance companies lies in the fact that they generate financial resources
and provide them to the government and invest them in government securities and stock. The
service provided by the particular sector is that they create funds by collecting funds from
individuals or entities against protecting them from specified risks.
Answer to part c
A mortgage broker essentially plays the role of an intermediary by the process of
brokering loans against mortgage on behalf of his clients. The services provided by a
mortgage broker may be retail banking, corporate banking, land mortgage banking and
investment banking.
Answer to part d
A person having enough knowledge about stocks or other securities may be hired by a
company or an individual to buy or sell securities, such a person is known as a share broker.
He may also be associated with a brokerage firm. He receives a fee or commission from his
client and provides advisory and brokering services to his client (Lodhia 2015).
Answer to part e
Credit unions are essentially non-profit institutions that are especially created for the
purpose of supporting the financially challenged group. They provide loans at a meager
interest rate and even provide a competitively high rate of interest on the savings accounts of
their customers. The services provided by a credit union revolve around providing loans and
taking in deposits from its customers (Lodhia 2015).

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ACCOUNTING STATEMENT ANALYSIS
Activity 4
Answer to part a
For the purpose of discussion the financial service provider that has been chosen is the
public sector bank.
Answer to part b
The major responsibility of a public sector bank primarily revolves around the welfare
of the public. Public sector banks are generally controlled by the Government as it holds the
majority of shares of the entity. The rights and responsibilities of a public sector bank ranges
from public welfare to providing the Government with an effective tool to control the cash
flow in the economy.
The financial reporting in a public sector bank is done accurately in order to fulfill the
gap between the bank and its external stakeholders. In other words the financial reporting is
done in such a way that the external stakeholders get a clear view of the financial conditions
of the entity so as to enable the stakeholders in taking decisions. For this purpose, the banks
in Australia strictly follow the International Financial Reporting Standards as well as the
standards set by the Australian accounting board. The consumer credit policies of the banks
are also monitored and controlled by the regulations set by Australian Securities and
Investments Commission (ASIC). In case of any consumer credit related issues or issues in
relation to customer complaints, the matter is handled by the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission (ACCC). The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism
Financing Act 2006 also regulates the operations of a bank accordingly.
The banks maintain the privacy policy by adhering to certain acts and principles laid
down for this purpose. These are the privacy act, 1988 and the Australian privacy principles

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ACCOUNTING STATEMENT ANALYSIS
(APPs). The banks also have an established code of conduct which is referred by each and
every employee and constitutes of ethical principles strictly followed by the bank.
The public banks as mentioned by Government play a crucial role in performing their
corporate social responsibility. The management of the banking body also take an initiative in
picking up major environmental issues like global warming and invest a part of the collected
funds in order to research and minimize the effect of such global calamities (Bronitt 2013).
Answer to part c
Yes the policies and practices followed by the banks are appropriate and seem very
relevant. This is because the primary focus of a public sector bank is welfare of the common
mass and all the laid down principles and guidelines seem to lead the bank towards that same
goal.
They are sufficient but the only area where improvements can be made is that there
should be a clear set of guidelines regarding the sustainability policies that has to be adopted
by every bank so that this particular matter is handled by the management with utmost care
and sincerity (Bronitt 2013).
Activity 5
Financial
Regulator
Role Financial
information
provided
This particular
regulator
addresses:
Recent decision
taken
The Reserve
Bank
It is the central
bank of Australia.
It structures the
financial policies
in order to build a
The information
that it provides
that would be
useful for an
accountant is that
Financial Services The recent
decision that has
been taken by the
Reserve bank is
that it along with

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ACCOUNTING STATEMENT ANALYSIS
strong financial
system and issues
currency.
the Reserve Bank
regulates the
financial policies
of an economy
thus sets a revised
guideline of
accounting
according to the
need of the nation
(Stevens 2016).
ASIC have
welcomed the
publication of
ASX BBSW
Trade and Trade
Reporting
Guideline.
Australian
Securities and
Investment
Commission
It plays the role of
regulating and
establishing
corporate policies
and regulations in
order to safeguard
the consumers,
creditors or
investors of
Australia.
The information
that it provides
that would be
useful for an
accountant is that
it lays well
researched
methods in order
to minimize errors
in the financial
statements
(Schwartz 2013).
Consumer Credit The recent
decision that has
been taken by
ASIC is to
cooperate with
Swiss Financial
Markets Authority
in order to
innovate the
financial sector.
Australian
Prudential
Regulation
Authority
It monitors a huge
number of
financial
institutions like
credit unions,
banks, insurance
The information
that it provides
that would be
useful for an
accountant is that
APRA acts a
Financial
Transaction
Reporting
The recent action
that has been
undertaken by
APRA is that it
has discussed
further on the role

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ACCOUNTING STATEMENT ANALYSIS
companies and
most members of
the
superannuation
industry.
national statistical
agency for the
financial sector
thus providing
relevant data to an
accountant
(Schwartz 2013).
of Appointed
Actuary and
actuarial advice to
the insurers.
Australian
Taxation Office
The ATO is an
agency of the
Australian
government
responsible for
monitoring the
taxation system
and collecting
taxes.
The information
that it provides
that would be
useful for an
accountant is that
it lays down the
standards for
levying taxes on
individuals or
entities (Schwartz
2013).
Corporation
(Accounting
Standard)
Australian
Competition and
Consumer
Commission
The ACCC
focuses primarily
upon setting
regulations in
relation to
business houses
or companies in
the Australian
market in order to
safeguard the
The information
that it provides
that would be
useful for an
accountant is that
it lays down clear
and simple rules
for businesses that
have to be
followed while
Financial
Transaction
Reporting
The recent action
undertaken by
ACCC is that it
has issued a draft
in order to
provide fee free
ATM services in
remote indigenous
communities.

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ACCOUNTING STATEMENT ANALYSIS
investors,
consumers and
creditors.
preparing the
accounting
statements in
order to favor the
stakeholders of
business.
Australian
Transaction
Reports and
Analysis Centre
The role of
AUSTRAC lies in
regulating anti-
money laundering
and counter
terrorism
financing.
The information
that it provides
that would be
useful for an
accountant is that
it lays down the
principles for
mitigating
fraudulent
activities in the
financial
statements
(Schwartz 2013).
Financial
Transaction
Reporting
The recent action
undertaken by
AUSTRAC is
multimillion
dollar plan in
order to stop
terror funding in
South East Asia.
Activity 6
Answer to Part a
For the purpose of discussion the customer service policy of a gymnastics centre has
been chosen. The key areas covered in it are identifying the needs of the customers; greeting
them cheerfully and promptly; listening to the complaints, grievances or suggestions by