Accounting
Unit 1-4
(ONLY UNIT 1-2 offered IN 2025)
Rationale
Accounting is the process of collecting, recording, reporting, analysing and interpreting financial and non-financial data and accounting information, and using it to model, forecast and provide advice to stakeholders in a business. This informs decision-making within the business, with a view to improving business performance. Accounting therefore plays an integral role in the successful and management of businesses.
VCE Accounting prepares students for a university or Technical and Further Education (TAFE) vocational study pathway to commerce, management and accounting, leading to careers in areas such as financial accounting; management accounting; forensic (investigative) accounting; taxation; environmental accounting; management; and corporate or personal financial planning.
Aims
This study enables students to:
Acquire knowledge and skills to record financial data and report accounting information in a manner that is appropriate for the needs of the user
Develop an understanding of the role of accounting in the management and operation of a business
Develop skills in the use of ICT in an accounting system
Develop an understanding of ethical considerations in relation to business decision-making
Develop the capacity to identify, analyse and interpret financial data and accounting information
Develop and apply critical-thinking skills to a range of business situations
Use financial and other information to improve the accounting decision-making within a business
Structure
The study is made up of four units.
Unit 2: Accounting and decision-making for a trading business
Unit 3: Financial accounting for a trading business
Unit 4: Recording, reporting, budgeting and decision-making
Each unit deals with specific content contained in areas of study and is designed to enable students to achieve a set of outcomes for that unit. Each outcome is described in terms of key knowledge and key skills.
Entry
There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1, 2 and 3. Students must undertake Unit 3 and Unit 4 as a sequence. Units 1 to 4 are designed to a standard equivalent to the final two years of secondary education. All VCE studies are benchmarked against comparable national and international curriculum.
Recommended to complete before taking Accounting:
Pre VCE Legal, Politics and Money
Unit 1: Role of accounting in business
This unit explores the establishment of a business and the role of accounting in the determination of business success or failure. It considers the importance of accounting information to stakeholders. Students analyse, interpret and evaluate the performance of the business using financial and non-financial information. They use these evaluations to make recommendations regarding the suitability of a business as an investment.
Students record financial data and prepare reports for service businesses owned by sole proprietors.
Where appropriate, the accounting procedures developed in each area of study should incorporate the application of the IASB’s Conceptual Framework and financial indicators to measure business performance. They should also take into account the ethical considerations, including financial, social and environmental considerations, faced by business owners when making business decisions.
Unit 2: Accounting and decision-making for a trading business
In this unit, students develop their knowledge of the accounting process for sole proprietors operating a trading business, with a focus on inventory, accounts receivable, accounts payable and non-current assets. Students use manual processes and ICT, including spreadsheets, to prepare historical and budgeted accounting reports.
Students analyse and evaluate the performance of the business relating to inventory, accounts receivable, accounts payable and non-current assets. They use relevant financial and other information to predict, budget and compare the potential effects of alternative strategies on the performance of the business. Using these evaluations, students develop and suggest to the owner strategies to improve business performance.
Where appropriate, the accounting procedures developed in each area of study should incorporate application of the Conceptual Framework, financial indicators and the ethical considerations faced by business owners, including financial, social and environmental considerations, when making business decisions.
Unit 3: Financial accounting for a trading business
This unit focuses on financial accounting for a trading business owned by a sole proprietor, and highlights the role of accounting as an information system. Students use the double entry system of recording financial data and prepare reports using the accrual basis of accounting and the perpetual method of inventory recording.
Students develop their understanding of the accounting processes for recording and reporting, and consider the effects of decisions made on the performance of the business. They interpret reports and information presented in a variety of formats and suggest strategies to the owner to improve the performance of the business.
Where appropriate, the accounting procedures developed in each area of study should incorporate the application of the Conceptual Framework, financial indicators to measure business performance, as well as the ethical considerations, including financial, social and environmental considerations, faced by business owners when making business decisions.
Unit 4: Recording, reporting, budgeting and decision-making
In this unit, students further develop their understanding of accounting for a trading business owned by a sole proprietor and the role of accounting as an information system. Students use the double entry system of recording financial data and prepare reports using the accrual basis of accounting and the perpetual method of inventory recording. Both manual methods and ICT are used to record and report.
Students extend their understanding of the recording and reporting processes, with the inclusion of balance day adjustments and alternative depreciation methods. They investigate both the role and the importance of budgeting in decision-making for a business. They analyse and interpret accounting reports and graphical representations to evaluate the performance of a business. Using this evaluation, students suggest strategies to business owners to improve business performance.
Where appropriate, the accounting procedures developed in each area of study should incorporate application of the Conceptual Framework and financial indicators to measure business performance, as well as the ethical considerations, including financial, social and environmental considerations, faced by business owners when making business decisions.
Assessment
Satisfactory completion:
The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on a decision that the student has demonstrated achievement of the set of outcomes specified for the unit. This decision will be based on the teacher’s assessment of the student’s performance on assessment tasks designated for the unit.
Students must have a scientific calculator for the exams. Graphics calculators cannot be taken into exams.
Levels of achievement
Units 1 and 2:
Procedures for the assessment of levels of achievement in Units 1 and 2 are a matter for school decision.
Units 3 and 4:
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority will supervise the assessment of all students undertaking Units 3 and 4. In the study of VCE Accounting, students’ level of achievement will be determined in Unit 3 by School-assessed Coursework and an end-of-year examination, and in Unit 4 by School-assessed Coursework and an end-of-year examination.
In both Unit 3 and Unit 4, at least 30 marks out of the 100 available for School-assessed Coursework must be allocated to ICT-based assessment.
Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework: 25 %
Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework: 25 %
End-of-year examination: 50 %