The Project: guide to the SQA Advanced Higher Accounting 60-mark coursework
A study guide to the SQA Advanced Higher Accounting project, the 60-mark coursework in which a learner analyses a FTSE 100 company's annual report, applies the regulatory framework, and evaluates financial performance. Explains what the project is, how it is marked, and how to prepare.
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The project is the coursework half of the SQA Advanced Higher Accounting course assessment, worth 60 marks. It applies the Financial Accounting area to a real company: you analyse a FTSE 100 company's annual report and evaluate its financial performance and position. This guide explains the task and links to the project page.
What the project is
The project is an individually produced report that analyses the published annual report of a FTSE 100 company. You apply the accounting regulatory framework, calculate accounting ratios across the standard categories, and interpret and evaluate what they reveal over time. It is worth 60 of the course's marks, with the question paper carrying the other 140, and it is completed under some supervision and control.
What it requires
- Select and research a company. Choose a FTSE 100 company whose annual report contains the statements, notes and policies you need.
- Apply the regulatory framework. Identify the IAS 1 presentation, the disclosed accounting policies, and the qualitative characteristics of the information.
- Calculate ratios. Compute relevant profitability, liquidity, efficiency, gearing and investment ratios, normally over two years.
- Interpret and evaluate. Explain what the ratios reveal, compare over time and against benchmarks, and reach a reasoned overall judgement.
- Recognise limitations. Acknowledge historical data, differing accounting policies, and non-financial factors the ratios cannot capture.
How it is marked
The marks concentrate on analytical judgement, not data collection. A strong report has a clear aim and method, transparent calculations, interpretation that explains and links the ratios rather than restating them, a reasoned evaluation, and an honest account of the limitations. Length is not rewarded for its own sake; quality of analysis is.
How to prepare
The best preparation is to master the Financial Accounting topic pages, because the project is their application. Be fluent in ratio analysis and interpretation, comfortable reading an IAS 1 set of statements, and aware of the regulatory framework and the headline standards. Practise on a sample company first, organise your sources, and plan the report around the interpretation and evaluation where the marks fall.
Where to go next
Read the project page for the full overview, then revise the Financial Accounting area, especially the interpretation of accounts and the regulatory framework, which supply the techniques the project assesses. Test your grasp of the project's requirements with the short quiz.