USA: +1 725-224-8795 
Sign in
This written Comprehensive Professional Portfolio is comprised of individual and group tasks which
are to be completed within tutorials and will require further work and writing up outside of the
classroom. These set of tutorial activities extending till the end of the session, are intended to take you
through a learning journey of exploration and development. They have been specifically designed to
incorporate not only a real-life perspective to your university learning but also to further enhance
graduate capabilities such as your ability to engage in critical, analytical and integrative thinking,
problem solving and research capability, socially and environmentally active and responsible citizens
and the ability to exercise professional and personal judgement and initiative, into your final year
experience. It is with this in mind that we hope you will be equipped with the skills necessary for
higher level study and effective professional performance.
Thought Activity
We would like you to take some time between your ‘regulatory and political influence on accounting
practice’ class and your tutorial the following week to complete the activity outlined below.
Based on the material discussed in your lecture regarding the regulatory and political influence that
can be placed on accounting practice, you are required to search for a newspaper/professional
magazine article that discusses or relates to concepts presented in this lecture. Your article is required
to be dated between February 2015 and August 2015. You will need to either print off the
newspaper/magazine article or cut the article out and hold onto this.
When you have found an article you will need to provide a written summary and analysis of this.
Your summary should contain the following items and can be entered in the box provided below:
- A brief synopsis of the content of the article?
- Why you personally chose to include this article (this could include for example, any
interest or connection that you may have to the contents of the article)?
- A detailed description of how the article relates to the concepts/theories that were discussed
in the ‘regulatory and political influence on accounting practice’ lecture. Here you should be
providing a critical evaluation of the articles contents and the linkages, connections and
relationships you have been able to see and draw from its contents to the contents of the
lecture discussion.
Write a reflective entry on this here (if you need more space please expand further):
Article Synopsis
Reasons for Inclusion
Description discussing the articles relation to the Political and Regulatory influence on
Accounting
You will need to bring your written thought activity with you along with a copy of the newspaper/
professional magazine article to your tutorial.
Tutorial Engagement Activity
During your tutorial in week 3 you are required to engage in peer discussion. You will need to work
with a peer (this could be your neighbour or it may be someone further abroad in your tutorial group
or even someone you have not yet met).
Activity One
With your peer for the first 20 mins, take 10 mins each to present your article to one another. (You
will need to take notes of your discussion to feedback to other tutorial members and also to document
in your portfolio). You should each briefly discuss the content of the article, why you chose it and
how it links to the concepts presented in the lecture.
Your tutor will then facilitate a group discussion for 20 mins where you may be called to present your
peers work (rather than your own) to the rest of the class.
Activity Two
With your peer/neighbour from activity one, join another set of two so that you are now discussing in
a group of four. Start to think (and record notes) about creating responses to the following questions:
- Were you aware of such a political and regulatory context of accounting previously? If so,
can you describe this? If not, can you discuss what this might mean?
- Why might such a political context exist in accounting? What would be the main
causes/reasons for this?
- What do you think the effect of the current business operating environment, Globalisation
and the recent introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has had on
such a political and regulatory climate?
- How does this make you feel, bearing in mind that you will soon be an accounting graduate
commencing your own professional journey within such a context?
Post-Thought Activity
In the next couple of days after your tutorial you will need to begin to formulate a response to the
following:
In undertaking this exercise, talking with your peers and hearing the discussion that ensued in
your tutorial. Outline what you have gained personally as a result of your engagement? How
might you start to prepare yourself to enter such a political and regulatory professional context
in which your ethics and judgement may be called into question? What might be the effect of
such political and regulatory influence for the accounting profession?
What are you required to Submit?
You are required to submit to your tutor during your next tutorial – the following week (week 4) a
collated neatly presented folio of work containing:
- A completed written description to the thought activity.
- A copy of the notes you took on your peer’s newspaper/professional magazine article
presentation during activity one.
- An outline of key aspects of the discussion that took place with your group in activity two
(this can be presented in bullet point form).
- A completed written description of the post-thought activities described above (three
questions). These should be formulated in an appropriately designed and logical structure.
Your tutor will collect this from you and keep a record of each of your submissions.
These are sent through to the Unit Convenor along with a tutorial participation grading each week for
record keeping throughout the session. Please remember a failure to submit this piece of work on time
will result in a forfeiture of 2% of your overall Comprehensive Professional Portfolio mark. It is a
requirement of this unit that you achieve a passing grade in your Comprehensive Professional
Portfolio to receive a passing grade or higher in this unit overall.
