ACCT3004- Consolidations and Corporate Governance

Task

Getswift Ltd is an Australian newly listed company which provides a software distribution solution. This isthe same company that was used in the Individual assignment. It is expected that students research this company beyond just the financial statements (especially for Part B)

Pursuit Pty Ltd has been a target customer of GetSwfit’s for many years. It is a large distribution company which services supermarkets. The acquisition of Pursuit would allow GetSwift to increase its scale and penetration into the market. The actual trading business of Pursuit is much larger than Getswift but it has been operating as a family run private business. The directors are John and Ellen Pursuit who are selling their business to retire. For the last few years, their son Steven (an ex-partner of PWC) has been running the business and he will continue to do so after the sale. He has primarily been responsible for the growth and success of the business in the last few years. The shareholder of Pursuit is currently the Pursuit’s family trust which will also acquire the shares in Getswift in the transaction.

PART A

The focus of this assignment is on incorporating a consolidated entity into the 2016/2017 completed financial statements of GetSwift Limited using Excel as your tool.

Details of the acquisition of Pursuit Pty Ltd

Getswift has acquired 100% of the shares of Pursuit Pty Ltd for $10.5m on the 30th June 2017 which is to be paid as $4,000,000 in cash and $4,000,000 in newly issued shares on 30th June 2017 and the balance in cash on the 30th September 2017. As at the 30th June, the equity and assets of Pursuit Pty Ltd is as follows

Share Capital $ 500,000

General reserve $ 250,000

Retained earnings $6,000,000

Cash $4,250,000

Plant (Cost $3m) $2,500,000 Carrying value (Fair value of $4,500,000)

In addition, Pursuit Pty Ltd had an unrecorded trademark with a fair value of $1,000,000. Assume a 30% tax rate. 

Suggested Steps in completing Part A

It is suggested that you complete this using the following steps;

1) Obtain the 2016/2017 Annual report for your allocated company

2) Extract the 2016/2017 trial balance from the annual report and input this into Excel into your consolidation worksheet. (Hint: you will also need to look at the notes to the accounts and you will need to ensure that this balances before proceeding any further. Also, ensure you expand out any rounding in the financial statements)

3) Prepare the adjusting entry to record the initial acquisition of Pursuit Ltd by your company and revise your company’s trial balance.

4) Complete the consolidation journal entries and incorporate these into the consolidation worksheet.

5) Based on the consolidation worksheet, prepare the new revised consolidated Statement of Financial Position, Profit and Loss and Other Comprehensive Income and Statement of Changes in Equity. (Note disclosures are not required)

You may want to use the following consolidation worksheet as a basis for your consolidation workings

In the business world, consolidated are rarely prepared manually but are generally completed using Excel.

You are expected to incorporate formulae and other functions, demonstrating your knowledge of excel as part of this assignment.

Marks will be allocated not only for the technical accuracy of your consolidation and updated financial statements, but also for the presentation as well as usability and functionality of your excel file/template. You are expected to demonstrate an adequate knowledge of Excel.

Students are to obtain and use their own hardware and software to complete this assessment. Microsoft Excel is provided free of charge to Curtin University students. For assistance on how to use Excel, please refer to - Online help tutorials within Excel - Youtube

- “Excel for Dummies” textbook which is available at the Curtin Library

Initial parent

trial balance

Adjusting entry

for parent

Amended

parent trial

balance

Pursuit Pty

Ltd trial

balance

Combined pre

consolidation

trial balance

Consolidation

entries

Final Trial

Balance

Dr Cr Dr Cr Dr Cr Dr Cr Dr Cr Dr Cr Dr Cr

REQUIRED

Getswift Ltd will acquire Pursuit Pty Ltd as part of a growth strategy. This will require a new consolidated set of accounts to be prepared incorporating this acquisition and consolidation as at 30/6/17. At a minimum, your consolidation incorporating Pursuit Ltd should include

a) Consolidation journals

b) Consolidated worksheet

c) Statement of Financial Position

d) Statement of Profit and Loss and Other Comprehensive Income

e) Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

Students are required to complete these using Excel which is to be presented to a professional level. The final result is expected to be a well formatted and professional looking template and set of final financial statements that are ready to be published to the market. 

PART B 

In order to do well in this report, students are expected to

? Take into consideration and apply your knowledge of the current corporate governance structure of Getswift and Pursuit. Your report should also take into account the current compliance of

Getswift with the ASX corporate governance principles.

? Consider the sophistication of the audience and adapt your writing style accordingly.

? The report needs to be well referenced with a minimum of six (6) quality references. A quality reference includes academic articles and excludes references such as Investopedia. You are expected to reference any annual report and accounting standards used.

? Chicago referencing style is for in-text and end-text referencing. More information can be found on this style from the Library web site: 

Structure of the report

? The report should be a maximum of three (3) pages in length which excludes any references and appendices ie 3 pages plus references and appendices.

? Please refer to the Business Communications Textbook for assistance in structuring your report.

? At a minimum, your report should include

a) Executive Summary

b) Introduction

c) Discussion/Analysis

d) Recommendations and Conclusion