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 Strategic competence
-
Planning a budget and keeping within it
Entry 3 learners show how to keep spending within a set budget, Level 1 learners produce a budget or plan for spending and income, and Level 2 learners plan and monitor income and spending in their enterprise activity. The amplification sets out the budget plan: items, estimated costs, total planned expenditure, expected income and remaining balance or projected profit.
Numeracy: Financial literacy, Strategic competence
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils are given £15 and a price list and choose stationery for a class box, adding up as they go so they do not overspend.
- Year 8
- Pupils plan a cake sale budget listing ingredients, quantities and prices, total the planned spending and work out the remaining balance from a £30 float.
- Year 9
- Pupils write a full budget for a school stall with estimated costs, expected income from a sales target and projected profit, then update it when one supplier's price rises.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Entry Level, learning outcome 4, assessment criterion E3 4.4, page 6; Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcome 4, assessment criteria L1 4.1 and L2 4.1, page 8; Amplification of LO4, page 11
“Produce a budget or plan for spending and income for a project or enterprise activity”
Progression step 3
I can manage money, compare costs from different retailers and determine what can be bought within a given budget.
I can realise that budgeting is important.
Progression step 4
I can appreciate the basic principles of budgeting, saving (including understanding compound interest) and borrowing.
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
-
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.
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).