Skills for Work: Business Finance
Business finance is a Skills for Work unit about how businesses get money, spend it, invest it and save costs, applied in a real enterprise activity such as a tuck shop, cake sale or fundraising stall. It is one 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Skills for Work, or Skills for Life and Work, Award, Certificate or Diploma, from Entry 1 to Level 2. Numeracy is central: counting and adding money at Entry Level, then budgets, records of income and expenditure, profit and loss, percentages, cash flow and break-even at Levels 1 and 2. Literacy sits in explaining and evaluating reasons and justifying money decisions.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 20
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- Medium
- Amount of numeracy work
- High
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Four learning outcomes with assessment criteria at Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3 (unit codes S653E1, S653E2, S653E3). Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours. Learners must take part in an enterprise activity.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Four learning outcomes with assessment criteria at Level 1 and Level 2 (unit codes S653L1, S653L2). Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours. Learners must take part in an enterprise activity.
Skills that use Interpreting data
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Cash flow forecasting and break-even
The Level 1 and Level 2 amplification covers cash flow forecasting and break-even analysis, and a cash flow table or break-even calculation is listed as evidence where applicable. Level 2 criterion 1.3 asks learners to explain how income and expenditure affect cash flow, but no criterion requires a forecast or break-even calculation.
Numeracy: Calculation, Interpreting data, Strategic competence
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils work out how many 50p drinks a stall must sell to cover a £6 table fee.
- Year 8
- Pupils complete a four week cash flow table for a car wash with money in, money out and closing balance, and say when the cash runs low.
- Year 9
- Pupils calculate break-even for a stall from fixed costs, cost per item and price, draw the cost and revenue lines on a graph, and check the answer matches.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Amplification of LO3, page 11; Sources of evidence, page 13; Level 1 and Level 2, assessment criterion L2 1.3, page 7
“break-even analysis: understanding when a business covers its costs”
Progression step 3
I can divide 3-digit numbers by a 2-digit number.
I can extract and interpret information from an increasing range of diagrams, timetables and graphs (including pie charts).
Progression step 4
I can recognise, model and apply the underlying mathematical structures and ideas within problems, in order to formulate and solve them.
I can interpret mathematical information; drawing inferences from graphs, diagrams and data, including discussion on limitations of data.
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Using financial information to decide and review
Level 1 learners use financial information to decide how to spend money, Level 2 learners make and justify spending decisions and review the impact of financial decisions on the success of the activity, and Level 2 learners analyse the benefits and risks of investment options. The amplification adds comparing planned and actual outcomes and funding conditions such as repayment terms and interest rates.
Numeracy: Interpreting data, Logical reasoning, Financial literacy
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils use last term's tuck shop sales table to decide which two snacks to restock and give one reason using the numbers.
- Year 8
- Pupils compare buying or renting a gazebo for three school events using the costs, and justify their choice with a calculation.
- Year 9
- Pupils compare a £200 loan with interest against sponsorship for a school enterprise, then after the event compare planned with actual figures and judge which decisions helped most.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcome 4, assessment criteria L1 4.2, L2 4.2 and L2 4.3, page 8; learning outcome 2, assessment criterion L2 2.3, page 7; Amplification of LO1 and LO4, pages 10 and 11
“Use financial information to make and justify decisions about expenditure in a project or enterprise activity”
Progression step 3
I can draw conclusions from data and recognise that some conclusions may be misleading or uncertain.
I can justify my procedures and predictions.
Progression step 4
I can justify my procedures, predictions and conjectures.
I can understand the risks involved in different ways of saving and investing.
I can carry out calculations relating to VAT, saving and borrowing.
Progression step 5
I can justify my procedures, predictions and conjectures.
I can draw conclusions from data and recognise that some conclusions may be misleading or uncertain.
Good to know
- Unit codes are S653E1, S653E2, S653E3, S653L1 and S653L2, and the unit is 20 GLH in the Skills for Work suite (Unit overview, page 3).
- An enterprise activity is compulsory: "To achieve this unit, learners must take part in an enterprise activity." (Unit overview, page 3).
- The numeracy is set out level by level: Entry Level learners practise "recognising, counting and comparing amounts of money", and Level 1 and 2 learners "calculate income, costs, profit, loss, and break-even points" (Unit overview, page 4).
- Evidence may be "verbal, written, practical or visual", and judgements should not focus on "spelling or presentation unless specifically assessed" (Sources of evidence, page 13).
- The portfolio "is not limited to paper-based materials" and can include "photographic evidence" and "video/audio recordings" (Section 4.1, page 18).
- Suggested assessment tasks "are not mandatory"; teachers may use, adapt or replace them (Section 4.1, page 18).
- AI misuse is malpractice, including "Using AI to complete parts of the assessment so that the work does not reflect the learner's own work, analysis, evaluation or calculations." Use of AI tools must be acknowledged (Section 4.6, page 21).
- "Assessment of this unit should not require any specific resources" (Resources required for assessment, page 15).
Links with other qualifications
The pack names Enterprise venture, Financial literacy, Teamwork and Using IT in the workplace as closely related Skills Suite units, with Ethical choices for responsible business decisions, and points to the VCSE and Foundation qualifications in Retail and Customer Service and to GCSE Business. GCSE Business shares sources of finance, costs, profit, cash flow and break-even, and GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy covers the same money calculations, percentages and reading graphs. Explaining and evaluating business decisions in writing and speech supports GCSE English Language and Literature.
Source: WJEC Business finance unit delivery and assessment pack, read with the WJEC Entry 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life and Skills for Work specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).