Business, Accounting and Economics
What the paper tests
Business Studies examines Operations, Marketing, Finance and Human Resources through the syllabus pattern of influences, processes and strategies, with extended responses requiring a real case-study business. Economics covers the global economy, Australia's place in it, economic issues - growth, inflation, unemployment, distribution - and economic policies and management, tested with stimulus data. Accounting content tests the accounting equation, double entry, the trial balance and preparation of the income statement and balance sheet under accrual accounting.
Core rules
- Use the command verb: 'outline' needs a feature, 'analyse' needs cause and effect, 'evaluate' needs a judgement.
- Anchor theory in the case-study firm with specific figures or events.
- In Economics, work the stimulus data and state the direction of shifts in equilibrium price and quantity.
- Keep influences distinct from strategies; both are examinable categories.
Worked example
Nominal wages rise 4.0% while the CPI rises 3.0%. Real wage change = (1.04 ÷ 1.03) − 1 ≈ 0.97%, so real wages rose roughly 1%. Writing the answer without the calculation loses the method mark, and subtracting percentages (4 − 3 = 1) is only an approximation valid for small changes.
Traps
Describing what happens without explaining why; confusing cash flow with profit; recording stock purchases as an expense rather than an asset; strategies not linked back to the business's stated objective; ignoring the direction of a supply or demand shift.