About this report
The following report gives feedback to assist assessors with general issues and trends that have been identified during external moderation of the internally assessed standards in 2023. It also provides further insights from moderation material viewed throughout the year and outlines the Assessor Support available for Accounting.
On this page
Insights
91407: Prepare a report for an external user that interprets the annual report of a New Zealand reporting entity
To achieve the standard, students need to interpret the annual report of a NZ reporting entity through the lens of an end user with specific needs or interests. The investment needs of the end user should be stated in the introduction and referenced throughout the student’s report.
Over the past two years there has been an increase in submissions that focused on sustainability and multiple bottom-line reporting. For example, Manaia is interested in investing in a business that is a good corporate citizen and adheres to sustainability principles. In this case, where Manaia’s principal motivation is not dividends or capital gain, it is not necessary for the student to interpret market analysis measures. However, profitability, liquidity and cash management of the reporting entity must be interpreted. This enables students to demonstrate their accounting knowledge at curriculum level 8.
Submissions in 2023 that successfully met the Excellence criteria of preparing a comprehensive report included relevant financial and non-financial information from the annual report of the entity, and relevant information from other media. The student is encouraged to research more widely than the entity’s annual report.
Practices that need strengthening:
This is the only Accounting standard that requires students to ‘prepare a report’. They are expected to write a formal structured report with an executive summary/introduction, body (interpretation) and conclusion (recommendation). Sources of quoted material should be acknowledged.
While the report should be characterised by formality, interpretations should be framed in language that end users without a deep knowledge of accounting could understand. Students undertaking this assessment need to be equally proficient in interpreting an annual report and effectively communicating their findings to the end user. In the interests of being fit-for-purpose for the end user, the report should be free of erroneous detail, such as EBITDA, that is not directly relevant to decision-making.
91409: Demonstrate understanding of a job cost subsystem for an entity
It was refreshing to see some student evidence in 2023 that went beyond case studies to focusing on job-costing in businesses local to schools. In one case, students heard from the owner of a vehicle repair business about the system used to cost mechanical jobs. The processing aspect of the standard was based on fictitious case study material provided by the teacher.
Students who achieve this standard apply/explain/justify job costing subsystem elements in the context of an entity’s ability to maintain viability. For Achieved as well as higher grades, rather than simply saying that, for example, ‘a job cost card assists the business to continue operations into the future’, students’ responses should specify the link between the document and future viability.
Student evidence that successfully met the Excellence criteria of justifying elements of the subsystem included ledger accounts, such as the work in progress and/or overhead control account. Alternatively, students discussed transfers between accounts. They described (in context) the treatment of over-application or under-application of overheads. For example, “The $3,560 of overapplied overhead is debited in the overhead account and credited in the cost of goods sold account. This is because cost of goods sold is currently overstated so needs to be reduced.”
This expectation ensures that the processing aspect of this curriculum level 8 standard is in advance of the processing expected for the Accounting standards at curriculum level 7.
Practices that need strengthening:
To ensure students achieve Excellence, assessment activities should require the completion of ledger or journal entries. Alternatively, assessors should inform students that explanations of, for example, the impact of under-applied overhead should reference debit/credit transactions and the effect on COGS
Assessor Support
Online
NZQA’s learning management system (Pūtake) offers 150+ easy to access courses, materials and products. These are designed to support teachers, as assessors, to improve their assessment of NCEA standards.
Online, subject-specific or generic, bite-sized learning modules and short courses are now available to complement the traditional face-to-face workshops that NZQA offers. These online courses can be accessed using your Education Sector Logon.
Subject-specific course/workshops available for Accounting include:
- Bite-Sized Module – 91481: Demonstrate understanding of a contemporary accounting issue for decision-making
Online Making Assessor Judgements workshops are also available throughout the year. These workshops are structured to guide teachers to improve their understanding of each grade level by examining several full samples of student work. The following standards are available for enrolment in 2024:
- 91405: Demonstrate understanding of accounting for partnerships
- 91407: Prepare a report for an external user that interprets the annual report of a New Zealand reporting entity
- 91409: Demonstrate understanding of a job cost subsystem for an entity
Feedback from teachers for these workshops indicates that more than 74% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the content in the module was beneficial:
“Although I was a bit skeptical that this was going to provide me with better understanding of the standard (and marking it), I found I've picked up more certainty about making judgements about the work my students might produce. I'm also more secure about guiding them through the selection of their topic and setting it up so that they are able to complete a successful investigation.”
Exemplars of student evidence for all standards at each level of achievement are available on the NZQA subject page for Accounting.
NZQA will continue to provide generic modules and workshops designed to improve general assessment practice. The following modules and workshops will be available in 2024:
- Assessment Approaches, an online workshop exploring different methods of assessment
- Culturally Responsive Assessment
- Assessment Guidance – Reviewing Your Practice
- Tāku Reo, Tāku Mahi – My voice, My work, a guide to managing authenticity
- Why Less is More, a guide to reducing volumes of student evidence
- Integrated Assessment
- Modes of Assessment
- Alternative Assessment
- Acknowledging Sources
“This was great! I liked that I could choose from different scenarios, see how sources are used and the way the student answered the question.”
“Reassuring and very thorough. Easy to use/follow.”
We will also continue to offer the Transforming Assessment Praxis programme, an online workshop relevant to all subjects which helps assessors learn about re-contextualising assessment resources and collecting evidence in different ways, in order to better meet the needs of students.
Check the NCEA subject pages on the NZQA website regularly, as more online modules, workshops and courses will be added throughout 2024.
Assessor Practice Tool
The Assessor Practice Tool (APT) will be used to support assessors with the new NCEA standards from 2024 onwards. The purpose of the APT is to allow assessors to practice making assessment judgements and immediately receive feedback on their judgements from a moderation panel. The APT will initially have material for some existing Level 3 standards, with moderated samples for the new Level 1 NCEA standard subjects being added as material becomes available. Material for the new Level 2 and Level 3 standards will be added over time, and all material for the old NCEA standards will be archived.
Material is currently available for:
- 91405: Demonstrate understanding of accounting for partnerships
- 91409: Demonstrate understanding of a job cost subsystem for an entity
Workshops and presentations
The Best Practice Workshops offered by Assessment and Moderation continue to be viewed by the sector as significantly contributing to improved assessor practice:
“I thought the workshop was very clear and helpful, there were a lot of varied examples of ākonga work discussed and opportunity for participants to discuss and ask questions.”
We offer several options of online workshops and presentations for events to support assessors with the assessment of internally assessed standards. These can be subject-specific, or general assessment support, and tailored to the audience. Virtual presentation slots, online workshops or webinars can be requested to provide targeted support to local, regional or national audiences.