Business and Economics

Unit 1: The Role of Accounting in Business

Areas of Study:

•  The role of accounting

•  Recording financial data and reporting accounting information for a service business.

Topics Studied:

• Explore the establishment of a business and the role of accounting in the determination of business success or failure

• Consider the importance of accounting information to stakeholders

• Analyse, interpret and evaluate the performance of the business using financial and non-financial information

• Use these evaluations to make recommendations regarding the suitability of a business as an investment

• Record financial data and prepare reports for service businesses owned by sole proprietors

• The accounting procedures will incorporate the application of the IASB’s Conceptual Framework and financial indicators to measure business performance

• Consider the ethical considerations, including financial, social and environmental considerations, faced by business owners when making business decisions.

Unit 2: Accounting and Decision-Making for a Trading Business

Areas of Study:

• Accounting for and managing inventory

• Accounting for and managing accounts receivable and accounts payable

• Accounting for and managing non-current assets.

Topics Studied:

• Develop knowledge of the accounting process for sole proprietors operating a trading business, with a focus on inventory, accounts receivable, accounts payable and non-current assets

• Use manual processes and ICT, including spreadsheets, to prepare historical and budgeted accounting reports

• Analyse and evaluate the performance of the business relating to inventory, accounts receivable, accounts payable and non-current assets

• Use relevant financial and other information to predict, budget and compare the potential effects of alternative strategies on the performance of the business

• Using these evaluations, develop and suggest to the owner strategies to improve business performance

• The accounting procedures will incorporate the application of the IASB’s Conceptual Framework and financial indicators to measure business performance

• Consider the ethical considerations, including financial, social and environmental considerations, faced by business owners when making business decisions.

Assessment (Covers both Units 1 & 2):

• A folio of exercises using manual methods and ICT

• Structured questions using manual methods and ICT

• An assignment including use of ICT

• A case study including use of ICT

• A classroom presentation including use of ICT

• A feasibility investigation of a business venture including use of ICT.

Cost: $ (resources and materials)

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Unit 3: Financial Accounting for a Trading Business

Areas of Study:

• Recording and analysing financial data

• Preparing and interpreting accounting reports.

Topics Studied:

• Focus on financial accounting for a trading business owned by a sole proprietor, and the role of accounting as an information system

• Use the double entry system of recording financial data and prepare reports using the accrual basis of accounting and the perpetual method of inventory recording

• Develop understanding of the accounting processes for recording and reporting, and consider the effects of decisions made on the performance of the business

• Interpret reports and information presented in a variety of formats and suggest strategies to the owner to improve the performance of the business

• The accounting procedures will incorporate the application of the IASB’s Conceptual Framework and financial indicators to measure business performance

• Consider the ethical considerations, including financial, social and environmental considerations, faced by business owners when making business decisions.

Unit 4: Recording, Reporting, Budgeting and Decision-Making

Areas of Study:

• Extension of recording and reporting

• Budgeting and decision-making

Topics Studied:

• Further develop an understanding of accounting for a trading business owned by a sole proprietor and the role of accounting as an information system

• Use the double entry system of recording financial data and prepare reports using the accrual basis of accounting and the perpetual method of inventory recording. Both manual methods and ICT are used to record and report

• Extend an understanding of the recording and reporting processes, with the inclusion of balance day adjustments and alternative depreciation methods

• Investigate both the role and the importance of budgeting in decision-making for a business

• Analyse and interpret accounting reports and graphical representations to evaluate the performance of a business

• Using this evaluation, suggest strategies to business owners to improve business performance

• The accounting procedures will incorporate the application of the IASB’s Conceptual Framework and financial indicators to measure business performance

• Consider the ethical considerations, including financial, social and environmental considerations, faced by business owners when making business decisions.

Assessment (Covers both Units 3 & 4):

• Structured questions (manual and ICT-based)

• A folio of exercises (manual and ICT-based)

• A case study (manual and ICT-based).

• A report (written, oral or ICT-based).

Cost: $ (resources and materials)

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Contact Teacher: Ms Katrina Antoniou

Unit 1: The Behaviour of Consumers and Businesses

Areas of Study:

• Thinking like an economist

• Decision-making in markets

Topics Studied:

• Economics is a dynamic and constantly evolving field of social science, which looks at the way humans behave and the decisions made to meet the needs and wants of society

• Students explore their role in the economy, how they interact with businesses, and the role of the government in the economy

• Introduction to and exploration of fundamental economic concepts

• Examine basic economic models where consumers and businesses engage in mutually beneficial transactions, and investigate the motivations behind both consumer and business behaviour

• Examine how individuals might respond to incentives

• Use demand and supply models to explain changes in prices and quantities traded

• Gain insight into the factors that may affect the way resources are allocated in an economy and how market power can affect efficiency and living standards

• Investigate at least one behavioural economics experiment, and analyse how the theories and observations of behavioural economics have been used by government in planning and implementing policy, and by businesses in managing their relationships with consumers.

Unit 2: Contemporary Economic Issues

Areas of Study:

• Economic activity

• Applied economic analysis of local, national and international economic issues

Topics Studied:

• A core principle of economics is maximising the living standards of society, through economic decisions that optimise the use of resources to produce goods and services that satisfy human needs and wants

• Consider the link between economic activity and economic growth and investigate the importance of economic growth in raising living standards

• Evaluate the benefits and costs of continued economic growth and consider the extent to which our current measurements of living standards are adequate

• Use the tools of data collection, analysis, synthesis and evaluation to examine the issue through an economics lens. Students do this through investigation of the economic factors influencing the issue and via examination of its economic importance at a local, national and international level

• Consider the perspectives of relevant economic agents and evaluate the validity and effectiveness of individual and collective responses to the issue.

Assessment (Covers Units 1 & 2):

Suitable tasks for assessment in Units 1 & 2 may be selected from the following:

• Analysis of written, visual and statistical evidence

• Problem-solving tasks

• Report of an investigation or an inquiry

• Essay

• Structured report

• Structured questions

• Media analysis

• Case study

Cost: $ (resources and materials)

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Unit 3: Australia’s Economic Prosperity

Areas of Study:

• An introduction to microeconomics: the market system, resource allocation and government intervention

• Domestic macroeconomic goals

• Australia and the international economy.

Topics Studied:

• Investigate the role of the market in allocating resources and examine the factors that affect the price and quantity traded for a range of goods and services and develop an understanding of the key measures of efficiency and how market systems might result in efficient outcomes

• Consider contemporary issues to explain the need for government intervention in markets and why markets might fail to maximise society’s living standards and also consider unintended consequences of government intervention in the market

• Investigate factors that affect the level of aggregate demand and aggregate supply and apply them to explain how changes in these variables might affect achievement of domestic macroeconomic goals and living standards

• Assess the extent to which the Australian economy has achieved these macroeconomic goals during the past two years, Australia’s living standards depend, in part, on strong economic relationships with its major trading partners

• Investigate the importance of international economic relationships and the effect of these on Australian living standards

• Analyse how international transactions are recorded, how changes in the value of the exchange rate, the terms of trade and international competitiveness affect the Australia’s domestic macroeconomic and international competitiveness.

Unit 4: Managing the Economy

Areas of Study:

• Aggregate demand policies and domestic economic stability

• Aggregate supply policies.

Topics Studied:

• The ability of the Australian economy to achieve its domestic macroeconomic goals has a significant effect on living standards in Australia. Policymakers, including the Australian Government and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), can utilise a wide range of policy instruments to affect these goals and to affect living standards

• The role of aggregate demand policies in stabilising the business cycle to achieve the domestic macroeconomic goals

• How the Australian Government can alter the composition of budgetary outlays and receipts to directly and indirectly affect the level of aggregate demand, the achievement of domestic macroeconomic goals and living standards

• The role of the RBA with a focus on its responsibility to conduct monetary policy

• How the tools of monetary policy can affect interest rates, the transmission mechanism of monetary policy to the economy and how this contributes towards the achievement of the domestic macroeconomic goals and living standards

• Consider and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the aggregate demand policies in achieving the domestic macroeconomic goals and living standards

• Expanding the productive capacity of the economy and improving Australia’s international competitiveness is critical to ensuring that economic growth, low inflation and employment opportunities can be maintained both now and into the future

• How the Australian Government utilises selected aggregate supply policies to pursue the achievement of the domestic macroeconomic goals and living standards over the long term.

Assessment (Covers Units 3 & 4):

Assessment for Units 3 & 4 Economics is selected from the following:

• A folio of applied economics exercises

• An extended response

• An essay

• A report

• A data analysis

• A media analysis

• A case study

• Structured questions.

Cost: $ (resources and materials)

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Contact Teacher: Ms Katrina Antoniou