School of Accounting, Economics and Finance
ACCT 2002 Cost Analysis for Decision Making
Case Study Requirements
The Case Study is an individual assessment task. The case for the Case Study can be found under the
Assessments tab in Blackboard. This assessment requires you to submit a written report.
The submitted report is to be no longer than 10 pages (excluding table of contents, reference list
and appendixes). The word processed submission should meet the following requirements: font
type of Calibri, font size 12, double spaced. The assignment is to be written in lay language but
must indicate a sound conceptual understanding of the key issues. For work submitted that is more
than 10 pages and do not meet the above requirements, marks will only be awarded up until the
equivalent of 10 pages, double spaced, Calibri, font size 12. Word count is not necessary.
The report submission is to contain:
 A word processed document that is spell- and grammar- checked;
 Student name and Student ID to be included in either the header or footer of the document;
 The structure of a report is available on the unit’s Blackboard site in the Case Study Folder under the
Assessments tab.
 DO NOT submit a cover-page, marking guide, an executive summary or a covering letter;
 Students should use the Chicago referencing style when preparing the assignments. More
information can be found on this style from the Library web site:
http://library.curtin.edu.au/research_and_information_skills/referencing
 The work you submit must be your own. Any plagiarism from other students’ work, from
‘solutions’ circulating from prior years, from ‘solutions manuals’ or published material will
result in an automatic zero score for the submission. Significant penalties are imposed where
assignments are found to be plagiarised. The University policy on plagiarism and academic
misconduct can be found on this webpage:
http://students.curtin.edu.au/rights/plagiarism.cfm
 All assignments must be submitted through Turnitin. No other forms of submission will be
accepted.
 Extensions to the written submission due date will only be considered by the Unit Coordinator
and will be granted only in extreme circumstance. Applications for extensions
must be received in writing prior to the due date and be accompanied by supporting evidence.
 Prior to submitting your written submission, please refer to the questions in the document:
“Is my report ready?” which is available on Blackboard.

CASE STUDY
ACCT2002 Cost Analysis for Decision Making Page 1
You have just been approached by a friend for a position in his start-up company, Tri-Hull
Marine Inc. Your friend, Xavier McCelland, is a marine engineer and his company produces
boats that utilises a patented technology that was developed by him to help stabilise the roll
of the boat. As the company is a start-up, there are only a handful of people working in TriHull Marine and all of them are friends or highly recommended friend-of-friends. This is
primarily due to Xavier trying to ensure that the technology that he uses on his boats not
being leaked to his competitors. The market for boats has been growing, especially for boats
that are more stable, especially in choppy conditions.
Xavier has asked you to come onboard as an accountant. In your conversation with him, he
has asked that you prepare a report for him first, to determine whether you would be a “fit”
for his company.
“Look, I know you have accounting skills”, he said when he met you. “However, I need to
know exactly what it is that you can offer me as a management accountant. I have read
quite a bit and it seems that at this point, I need a management accountant, rather than just
an accountant who does debits and credits. So what exactly would you be doing here? I
don’t mean to put you in a spot right now, so you can include that in the report that you will
be sending me on a few other issues as well.”
“An issue we have is with our cash flow. We are really tight on cash as it stands, because a
lot of it is tied up in the stock of boats. Frankie Lee, our production manager, is suggesting to
us that we could potentially cut back on our maintenance schedules. We normally conduct
quarterly maintenance on the equipment that we have, however, Frankie is recommending
that we do it once a year as the machines are working fine and operating way below
capacity anyway. I know that this is not in compliance with our maintenance schedule, but it
will improve our cash position. Can you also work out whether there is anything wrong with
us doing it as Frankie suggested?”

“Finally, we have major issue that needs to be addressed. Mia Sucahya, our software
manager, is requesting to attend a users’ conference in Bali in July. Normally she attends
quite a few of these a year as she is responsible for identifying the right software for us. “
“We are currently in process of replacing our CAD-CAM* software and we have received
bids from six different software firms. Mia is reviewing these bids and will ultimately make a
decision on which bid to proceed with.”
“Vectric CNC is an aggressive software developer. Every six months, Vectric has a five-day
users’ conference in South East Asia. Each conference has substantial time allowed for ‘rest
and recreation’. Vectric has offered Mia an all-expenses-paid visit to the upcoming
conference in Bali. Mia believes it will be very useful to talk to other users of Vectric’s
software, to determine its user friendliness and capabilities. She is especially looking
forward to the visit because she has close relatives in the Bali area.”
“Now normally, I would just let her go on the conference. However, I have received an
anonymous letter arguing that Vectric is receiving unfair, favourable treatment in our
software decision-making process. The letter specifically mentions Mia’s upcoming “allexpenses-paid package to Bali during Australia’s cold winter”.”
“I have spoken to Mia about this and she feels deeply offended. She says she has made no
decision yet, and she believes that she is very capable of making a software choice on the
merits of each product. And I do believe her. However, this letter is very troubling. Can you
shed some light on this issue? Should I still allow Mia to go to this conference? What are the
pros and cons of allowing Mia to go?”

“And one last thing. I have heard companies having their own so-called code of conduct,”
Xavier continued. “Do you think we should have one as well? What are the advantages
and/or disadvantages of having one? Would it be bad if we did not have one? Do we really
need one?”
“Can you get me all of these in a report by 30 March 2022? I really do not want to read a
thesis, so keep it succinct and concise, no more than 10-pages, double spaced. Thanks
mate.”