BHP Billiton and Coca Cola Amatil Limited

Question: Discuss about the BHP Billiton and Coca Cola Amatil Limited. Answer: Introduction Coca Cola has been considered as the largest bottlers of the non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages in the Asia-Pacific region. This company is majorly operations in 6 countries which include Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Samoa. The product range of the company extends from soft drinks, energy drinks to Fruit juices. The Coca Cola Company has 29% holding in Coca Cola Amatil Company. The company is functioning with the vision of creating every day moment of happiness for the customers.(Coca cola Amatil Limited) On the other hand, BHP Billiton is one of the major mining firms working in Australia; its main professional is in metal mining and petroleum segment. This company has been recognized as the worlds largest mining company in terms of the market values computed in the year 2015. Along with that this company is the 4th largest company working in Australia in terms of revenue. The BHP Billiton Company has been formed as result of the merger of the Australian Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited (BHP) and the AngloDutch Billiton plc in the year 2001. As result of the merger, the company came up with the name BHP Billiton. BHP Billiton firm is based out of Australia and England, BHP Billiton was recognized in 2001 by unification of Broken Hill and Billiton Company. The headquarters of the company has been established at Melbourne. (BHP Billiton) Conceptual Framework The Coca Cola Amatil Company limited is a profit making company. The company is incorporated in Australia and its shares are publically traded in the Australian Securities Exchange. The financial statements of the company are prepared in accordance with the Australian Accounting standards provided by the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) and the Corporations Act 2001. The financial statements of the company at the same time comply with the International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. The numbers provide in the financial statements are booked based on the historical numbers except for certain financial assets and liabilities whose numbers are recorded based on its fair value. Accordance with Australian Accounting Standards, other authoritative pronouncements of the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) and the Corporations Act 2001; Snap Shot from Annual report Looking at the annual report and audit report that has been provided by the auditor, the financial statements of the company are prepared in accordance with the AASB accounting standards. There has been no evidence in the annual report which states that the management of the company hasnt complied with the accounting standards. On the other hand, in case of BHP Billiton, the financial statements of the company are prepared considering the concept of going concern and are in line with the requirements that have been provided by the Australian Corporations Act 2001, and the UK Companies Act 2006. The financial statements of the company at the same time are in line with the Australian accounting standards. Being the Australian accounting standards are in line with the international accounting standards, thus the management of the company at the same time complies with the international standards as well. This general purpose financial report for the year ended 30 June 2015, has been prepared on a going concern basis and in accordance with the requirements of the Australian Corporations Act 2001, and the UK Companies Act 2006 and with: Australian Accounting Standards, being Australian equivalents to International Financial Reporting Standards and interpretations as issued by the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) effective for the year ended 30 June 2015; International Financial Reporting Standards and interpretations as adopted by the European Union (EU) effective as of 30 June 2015; International Financial Reporting Standards and interpretations as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board effective as of 30 June 2015. The above accounting standards and interpretations are collectively referred to as IFRS in this report. Snap Shot from Annual report Looking at the annual report and audit report that has been provided by the auditor, the financial statements of the company are prepared in accordance with the AASB accounting standards. There has been no evidence in the annual report which states that the management of the company hasnt complied with the accounting standards. The concept of prudence in accounting states that the liabilities and expense needs to be recorded as soon as the same has been incurred or occurred. On the other hand, the revenue is only recorded in the books on at times when the same has been incurred or realized. While following up with the prudence concept, the management is expected to record the transaction correctly without overstating the revenue and understating the expenses side. Ultimately it is the responsibility of the management to ensure that the financial statements of the company are conservatively stated. The prudence concept has highlighted the concept of certainty and probable. As per the concept, the revenue numbers should be recognized only when the same is certain whereas the liabilities and expenses are required to be recorded when the same is probable. In the annual report of BHP Billiton, the management has highlighted that they have made all the reasonable adjustments and estimates in the books considering the prudence concept. Same is the case that has been replicated in the annual report of Coca Cola Amatil Limited. The management of both the companies have highlighted that they have clearly demarked the concept of prudence at times of preparation of financial statements. The directors report of both the companies have clearly pointed out this concept and has clearly stated to the auditors and stakeholders of the company about the adoptability of prudence concept. The prudence as result of the very nature has been used to address the disparity in the corporate reporting. (ACCA Global) Differences in disclosures Both the companies have prepared their financial statements in accordance with the Australian Accounting standards provided by the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) and the Corporations Act 2001. The financial statements of the company at the same time comply with the International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. Thus as result the disclosures that have been made in by the management for both the companies are more or less similar. However their might be some difference in the disclosures based on the nature of the business. The segment reporting provides information about the revenue and other factors that are working in for the company. There are majorly two major classifications like geographical and product which are being used for determining the segment for the company. In case of BHP Billiton, the company is dealing in different products like Natural gas, Crude oils and condensate and natural gas and liquids. Further the company is functioning in different countries like Australia, USA and some other countries. Thus in case of BHP, for the purpose of getting the stakeholders to better understand the performance of the company, segment reporting information is provided based on geographical as well as the product wise segments. Similar is the case with Coca Cola Amatil limited, whereas the segments are classified based on the products that has been manufactured by the company plus the areas/countries in which the company is functioning into. The inventory in case of Coca Cola Amatil Limited is required to be valued at cost or net realizable value. Cost of the company in this case is determined based on the first in first out method or average cost or standard cost method based on the one which suites the product the best. Further, the cost in this case includes the hedging cost. On the other hand, in case of BHP Billiton, the inventory is valued at cost or net realizable value whichever is less, where the cost is determined based on the average cost. For the purpose determining the cost for the processed inventory, the cost is derived based on the absorption costing basis. In case of BHP Billiton, the inventory based on the nature of the goods manufactured or produced by the company has been classified as current and noncurrent. In this case, some of the inventory is classified cost and some of them are classified at net realizable value. In the financial statements, the breakup of the inventory based on the type of meth od used for valuation has been shown separately. On the other hand, in case of Coca Cola there has been no such classification that has been done in the books. In case of both the companies, the property plant and equipment are depreciated based on the straight line method of depreciation. Under the straight line method of depreciation, the useful life of the asset is determined and based on the same the depreciation amount is calculated. The useful life of the asset is more or less at the same line in case of both the companies. The fixed assets in case of BHP does not includes any separate annexure being it consist of investment in the subsidiaries as the major asset whereas in case of Coca Cola, the fixed asset annexure includes the gross block less the accumulated depreciation and the current depreciation that has been charged to the profit and loss account. Conclusion Thus overall considering the nature of the business in which both the companies are indulged into, they are meeting all the disclosure requirements that are being required by the management of the company to comply with. References Annual Report of Coca Cola Amatil Limited, 2015, Viewed on 9th Apr 2017, Retrieved from https://www.ccamatil.com/-/media/Cca/Corporate/Files/Annual-Reports/2015/CCA166-CCA-Annual-Report-2015-WEB_final.ashx BHP Billiton Ltd, Annual Report 2015_ Viewed on 9th Apr 2017, Retrieved from, https://www.bhpbilliton.com/~/media/bhp/documents/investors/annual-reports/2015/bhpbillitonannualreport2015.pdf BHP Billiton Ltd, About the company, Viewed on 9th Apr 2017, Retrieved from https://www.bhpbilliton.com/ Coca Cola Amatil Limited, About the company, Viewed on 9th Apr 2017, Retrieved from https://www.ccamatil.com/ ACCA Global, Prudence and IFRS, Viewed on 15th April 2017, Retrieved from https://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/acca/global/PDF-technical/financial-reporting/tech-tp-prudence.pdf