Unit 5: Finance and accounting · AS Level Business

DW operates a franchise as a franchisor. Driving instructors can become a franchisee and
sell driving lessons under the DW brand. DW has grown very quickly, gaining a 25% share
of the market in three years.
Driving instructors must prepare a business plan when applying to become a DW
franchisee. To prepare the business plan, the driving instructor must carry out primary 5
market research to assess potential customer demand for driving lessons in their area.
DW sets budgets each year. The budget for advertising was $25 500 in 2025. However, DW
actually spent $31 800 on advertising in 2025.
The prices for DW driving lessons are set by DW’s finance manager, who uses break‑even
analysis to make pricing decisions. 10
In addition to driving lessons, DW sells a ‘learn to drive’ book which customers can buy
from its website with next day delivery. The book is very popular, and the business uses JIC
(Just in Case) inventory management.
DW’s website generates over $28 000 of revenue each year from sales of the ‘learn to
drive’ book. The website is updated by the website manager and an IT assistant. The 15
website manager designs the website and resolves any technical problems. The IT
assistant helps the manager with simple programming and administrative tasks.
The website manager will retire in two months’ time. A new website manager will need
to be recruited. The human resource manager needs to decide whether the new website
manager should be recruited internally or externally. 20

Zorba had always had a passion for flower arranging. When he was made redundant from his job as an engineer last year, he decided to use all of his savings to set up a flower shop called ZF. Although Zorba did not require any additional finance, he decided to write a business plan before setting up ZF. Table 2.1 shows an extract from his business plan, showing the 5 planned expenditure for ZF.

Zorba opened ZF at the start of January 2026. However, Zorba encountered a number of problems with Supply Chain Management during the first three months of ZF’s trading. 15 These included:

• Changeable weather conditions meant that Zorba could not always guarantee which types of flowers would be available.
• ZF was often forced to work over-capacity at times of high demand.
• The inventory is perishable and can be easily damaged when transported. 20 At the end of the first three months of trading, Zorba realised that he had no working capital left. The problem was that he had not been effectively managing his trade payables.

JT is owned by Jo as a sole trader business that provides school bus services to local public sector schools in city K. JT’s main customer is the local government. Established in 2015, JT is building a brand reputation as a safe and reliable transportation method for school children in city K. JT offers a range of services: 5

• Daily school bus transportation
• Field trip transportation
• After‑school activity transportation JT receives payments for the services from the local government in city K but there is a three‑month time lag between providing the service and receiving payment. JT has to use 10 its overdraft to cover payments during the three‑month period. Table 1.1 shows some of JT’s financial information for 2025.

JT has 50 buses and 100 employees. Jo encourages employee participation at all levels of the business operation. Jo would like to implement customer relationship marketing (CRM) at JT, to improve 20 its relationship with the local government. To set up a CRM system will require $3m investment in computer systems, software and staff training. Jo believes that CRM could help JT become the leader in a very competitive school transport market.

LC is a private limited company based in country J, specialising in the manufacture of
high‑quality, eco‑friendly candles. Founded in 2018, LC has grown quickly by using a highly
effective approach to place (distribution channels).
LC sources raw materials from local and international suppliers. LC’s customers are mainly
specialist retail shops (B2B) and online shoppers (B2C). LC operates in a dynamic market 5
but is committed to supporting communities through job creation and sustainability. LC is
seen by the local community as a valuable contributor to the local economy.
LC has the production capacity to manufacture 500 000 candles per year and has 50
employees. LC has two products: ‘Plain Candles’, at a price of $7 each, and ‘Luxury
Candles’, at a price of $8 each. LC sells twice as many Plain Candles compared to 10
Luxury Candles.
When allocating costs to each product, LC uses a full costing approach. Table 2.1 shows
some key data for LC in 2025.

The owners have decided to convert LC to a public limited company. This will likely increase the value of their shares. However, the directors are concerned about this decision.

Yvette is the managing partner of YV, a veterinary (vet) practice in city P. There are four partners of YV, each of whom is a fully qualified and experienced veterinary surgeon. Each partner specialises in the care of different types of animals. Yvette specialises in the care of small animals, including dogs, cats and rodents. Table 2.1 shows a cash flow forecast that Yvette has created for the next three months. 5

Yvette is proposing a merger between YV and AV, which is YV’s main competitor in city P.
Figure 2.1 shows sales revenue data for the vet services market in city P.
sales revenue ($000s)
JH, 160
YV, 230
SD, 200
AV, 210

CB is a public limited company that operates a chain of coffee shops in several countries.
The company was founded in 2010 by two friends, Shopra and Ben. They share a passion
for coffee and want to offer high-quality products to customers.
CB started with one coffee shop in country Q and gradually expanded, always locating in
high-income areas of major cities. CB operates in a dynamic business environment. There 5
is a high level of competition from other well-known coffee shop chains.
The company sources its coffee beans from fair trade suppliers who grow their coffee in
an environmentally friendly way. CB offers a wide range of coffee products to the mass
market. CB also offers other drinks and a variety of food items, such as sandwiches and
cakes. Recent research shows that customers are now looking for healthy food options. 10
CB’s customers are mainly young professionals, students and tourists. Customers enjoy
CB’s inviting atmosphere, comfortable seating areas, free Wi-Fi access and music. Its staff
are trained to be friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.
Table 1.1 shows some financial data for CB for 2023 and 2024.

Shopra believes that CB should continue to focus on the mass market. However, Ben 20 thinks that greater use of market segmentation will be more successful.

NN is a small business owned by Natalia. NN produces and sells a range of natural skincare products. In 2020, Natalia started making her own skincare products at home using natural ingredients. She realised that there was a demand for her products among her friends and family. Natalia then decided to turn her hobby into a business and launched NN in 2021. 5 Natalia operates her business from a rented workshop with limited space, where she makes her products by hand. She buys her ingredients from local suppliers who share her values of environmentally friendly production. NN has been growing steadily and has gained a loyal customer base. NN has received positive reviews from beauty magazines. Natalia’s skincare products are sold through her 10 own website, social media platforms and local retailers who specialise in selling natural products. Natalia is developing a new face cream. Table 2.1 shows price and cost estimates for the new face cream.

The skincare market is very competitive. There are many established brands that offer similar products to NN, but with wider distribution channels. Natalia needs to balance her time between production, managing orders, delivery, marketing 20 and other administrative tasks. She works long hours and is stressed and exhausted. Natalia is considering outsourcing to increase NN’s production capacity.

Drake has a law degree and works for a partnership of lawyers during the day. Drake owns a website that gives free legal advice. He works on the website in the evenings and at the weekend. He started the website as a hobby, but the website has grown to over 20 000 users and he now sells advertising on his videos and on the website. 5 Drake uses outsourcing for some areas of his website. He has recently been sent a report showing variances in the budget from the previous month (see Table 2.1).

Drake has now left his job and is focusing full time on the website. He rebranded the website as Law Advice Forum (LAF). Drake’s business plan for LAF included:

• Operating as a sole trader. 15
• Continuing to develop and expand the website to provide legal advice and paid legal services.
• Renting an office in city G where all employees would work.
• Hiring five fully qualified lawyers.
• Hiring three administrators. 20
• Leasing IT equipment. However, Drake is concerned about the limitations LAF will face as a labour intensive operation.

SF is a private limited company that develops and maintains large-scale solar farms in
country X. SF operates as a capital intensive business.
Bob is an entrepreneur and the majority shareholder of SF. He invested into SF’s first solar
farm. SF took out high-interest bank loans to cover initial cash flow problems and provide
working capital. SF used internal (organic) growth over the next 10 years. 5
SF rents fields from farmers. Its main capital expenditure is solar panels, which are installed
on the rented fields. The solar panels generate electricity, which SF sells to energy providers.
Solar panel technology is constantly improving.
SF operates five solar farms in country X. A team of seven engineers maintain all of SF’s
solar farms. 10
Table 1.1 shows SF’s budgeted and actual data for 2024.

Bob has identified that SF can increase its revenue by using batteries to store electricity
generated by the solar panels. This electricity can then be sold at peak times for premium
prices. This will require significant investment into battery technology. 20
Bob wants to retain control of SF but is concerned about the investment required for further
growth. In 2024 the cost of renting new farmland and purchasing solar panels increased
significantly.
ZB is a multinational battery manufacturer that is keen to start a joint venture with SF. If the
joint venture goes ahead, ZB will insist that SF uses ZB batteries in all future solar farms. 25

PD is a mass market fizzy drinks manufacturer in country Z. The fizzy drinks market in
country Z is dominated by a few well-known brands. The total market value is $5.3bn and
the PD brand has a 17% share of this market.
Pablo was recruited to be the Marketing Director of PD in 2022. He launched a new
promotional campaign based on trending music on social media. He decided to use social 5
media influencers to focus on this market.
Online feedback of the campaign was poor. Many of PD’s customers did not want to be
associated with trending music. National news highlighted the negative feedback and PD’s
sales volume decreased by 20% within a week and continued falling. This led to excess
inventory in PD’s warehouses. The bad publicity also caused a drop in PD’s share price and 10
a negative impact on cash flow.
Fig. 2.1 shows feedback from a recent questionnaire where previous PD customers were
asked what they thought about the promotional campaign.
quite positive
very positive
no opinion
very negative 120
quite negative

Pablo has called an emergency meeting of PD’s marketing managers to repair the damage 15 done to the PD brand from this recent promotional campaign.

PH owns student rental accommodation in all the major cities in country Y. PH used demographic segmentation in its market research. This research identified that university students would pay a premium for high specification rental accommodation. PH has specialist teams focused on sales, maintenance, customer service and finance. There is little opportunity for internal promotion. PH pays low salaries, however, it offers 5 profit sharing to motivate its 150 employees. This has been effective as PH has had low labour turnover. In the last two years, profit levels have fallen by 75%. In 2024, 45 employees left PH. Complaints about maintenance and customer service have increased due to the lack of experienced employees in PH. 10 The Finance Director is reviewing PH’s existing sources of finance, shown in Fig 2.1. Bank loans 8% Owner’s Mortgage investment 42% 28% Overdrafts 22%

Frank, the Operations Director, wants to improve the sustainability of PH’s operations. He plans to:

• stop renting out accommodation in some lower-income cities, and sell these buildings 15
• upgrade accommodation in high-income cities
• reduce the size of the workforce.

TT is a private limited company in country J. TT has contracts to deliver products to secondary, tertiary and quaternary sector businesses. QZ is one of the largest manufacturers in country J and plans to outsource its supply chain management. A contract has been agreed between TT and QZ based on the following cost and revenue data (see Table 1.1). TT’s Sales Manager has forecast that TT will make 5 5 000 deliveries with the new contract.

TT employs 120 drivers. The majority of these drivers are white men aged between 40 and 60. A national newspaper has recently criticised the truck industry in country J for not having diversity and equality in the workplace. Klide, the Marketing Manager, has been set an objective to increase TT’s revenue. He has 15 decided to target small online retailers. TT will pick up individual products from the small online retailers and deliver them to households. This would require a new fleet of smaller trucks but has the potential to increase TT’s revenue. Klide plans to use digital promotion to target these small online retailers.

Kaia left university with a degree in textile design. Using her entrepreneurial qualities, Kaia set up PB as a sole trader. Her current objective is to break even. Kaia uses job production to make blankets which are personalised with a picture. Each customer logs into the PB website and chooses the size of blanket. The customer then uploads a picture that they want printed onto the blanket. 5 Many of Kaia’s customers buy the blankets as gifts for special occasions. Kaia has employed a social media influencer to promote her blankets. The influencer will be paid a salary of $250 a week and a 5% commission on revenue that comes directly from the influencer. Fig 2.1 shows the revenue that came directly from the social media influencer in February. 10 Revenue ($) Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

Kaia would like to relocate PB to larger premises. She is applying for external sources of finance, and she has written a five-year business plan to support her applications.

FF is a partnership in country Q that grows a range of fruits and vegetables, such as apples,
carrots and potatoes. FF also provides an advisory service to other farmers. The partnership
was established in 2018 by three friends, Amrit, Harry and Sally, who provided the working
capital. Their aim was to produce healthy and tasty food for themselves and others.
FF grows crops using natural methods and practices. The produce is free from chemicals 5
and pesticides. It only uses renewable energy sources, such as solar panels and wind
turbines. It harvests the crops by hand or using simple machines that minimise damage or
waste, but this is labour intensive.
FF sells its products directly to consumers through its own farm shop and online delivery
service. It also sells to local restaurants. Table 2.1 shows information on FF’s revenue and 10
costs in 2024.

FF has gained a loyal customer base who appreciate the quality, flavour and nutrition of its products. However, FF also faces some challenges and risks in the competitive and uncertain food market. FF has limited capacity in producing crops. Weather conditions affect its yield and quality. It also must deal with pests, diseases and natural disasters that could 20 damage or destroy its crops. Another challenge that FF faces is the high level of demand for its products in the market. The partnership must meet the expectations and requirements of its customers who want fresh, varied and consistent products throughout the year.

Frank grows fruit, including oranges, on his farm in country J. He sells his fruit at a market in a local city one day a week. Frank is a sole trader and operates in the primary and tertiary sectors. He set up FF using all of his redundancy money from a previous job with a large company. Frank’s business objective is to increase profit by 10% by the end of 2026. He also has a 5 target profitability of 25% by the same date. He uses the data from break-even analysis to make business decisions. Table 1.1 shows forecast data for the sale of oranges in July 2025.

Frank has two main competitors:

• a national supermarket with stores locally 15
• a shop in the local city selling fruit. Frank’s business is very successful as the fruit he sells is fresher than products sold by his competitors. This is Frank’s USP. His fruit is sold only a few hours after it is picked. However, the fruit sold by Frank’s competitors is grown hundreds of kilometres away. Customers also enjoy the range of fruit sold by Frank as it varies throughout the year. 20 Frank currently uses competitive pricing but is thinking of introducing price skimming in the future.