CQUniversity Unit Profile
FINC19011 Business Finance
Business Finance
All details in this unit profile for FINC19011 have been officially approved by CQUniversity and represent a learning partnership between the University and you (our student).
The information will not be changed unless absolutely necessary and any change will be clearly indicated by an approved correction included in the profile.
Corrections

Unit Profile Correction added on 04-03-25

Due to the coverage of learning outcomes, and graduate attributes, and the weighting of the assessments there is an inherent requirement for students to successfully complete both assessment tasks. As such both assessment tasks are hurdle tasks with students requiring 50% or greater in both assessments to successfully complete the unit.

General Information

Overview

This unit covers the basic concepts, tools and techniques that financial managers use in the contemporary business context. You will learn about the principle functions of financial managers, the different business structures, and capital markets and financial securities. You will also examine the valuation of investments and portfolio, project evaluation, the cost of capital, market efficiency, risk management, basics of foreign exchange and international financial market, and dividend policy. Completion of the unit will raise your awareness on how businesses and corporate organisations decide on short and long term investment decisions, and the global and domestic economic and contextual factors which influence these decisions.

Details

Career Level: Undergraduate
Unit Level: Level 2
Credit Points: 6
Student Contribution Band: 10
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load: 0.125

Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

ECON11026 or ECON11030 or STAT11048 or MGMT11169  

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Offerings For Term 1 - 2025

Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Class and Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Class Timetable

Bundaberg, Cairns, Emerald, Gladstone, Mackay, Rockhampton, Townsville
Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney

Assessment Overview

1. Practical and Written Assessment
Weighting: 40%
2. Practical and Written Assessment
Weighting: 60%

Assessment Grading

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.

Previous Student Feedback

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Feedback from Student & Self

Feedback

Can add more examples with difficulties similar to the final test.

Recommendation

Introduce more final test-like questions in study materials.

Feedback from Student & Self

Feedback

Can reduce content amount in some weeks.

Recommendation

Reduction of some content or more streamlining of the content is to be explored while maintaining the same quality and standards.

Unit Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
  1. Identify and explain the critical problems corporate financial managers encounter and solve
  2. Apply finance theories and synthesise related information for corporate valuations, capital structure analysis, financial decision making, and dividend policy formulation
  3. Analyse and form investment decisions using sound capital budgeting techniques
  4. Analyse risk and return for financial decision making
  5. Explain the valuation of financial securities (bonds, shares etc.) and the role of efficient markets.
Alignment of Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Graduate Attributes
N/A Level
Introductory Level
Intermediate Level
Graduate Level
Professional Level
Advanced Level

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes

Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Practical and Written Assessment - 40%
2 - Practical and Written Assessment - 60%

Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes

Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Communication
2 - Problem Solving
3 - Critical Thinking
4 - Information Literacy
5 - Team Work
6 - Information Technology Competence
7 - Cross Cultural Competence
8 - Ethical practice
9 - Social Innovation
10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures
Textbooks and Resources

Textbooks

Prescribed

Fundamentals of Corporate Finance

4th edition (2020)
Authors: Parrino, Kidwell, Au Yong, Dempsey, Morkel-Kingsbury, Ekanayake, James & Murray
John Wiley and Sons
Milton Milton , QLD , Australia
ISBN: 9780730382577
Binding: Other

IT Resources

You will need access to the following IT resources:
  • CQUniversity Student Email
  • Internet
  • Unit Website (Moodle)
  • Different online resources indicated on Moodle.
  • MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) or compatible software
  • Microsoft CoPilot, ChatGPT, or similar Generative Artificial Intelligence tool.
Referencing Style

All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)

For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.

Teaching Contacts
Tasadduq Imam Unit Coordinator
t.imam@cqu.edu.au
Schedule
Week 1: Welcome Begin Date: 10 Mar 2025

Module/Topic

Chapter

Welcome message and resources

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 2: Introduction to Finance and Time Value of Money [TVM] Begin Date: 17 Mar 2025

Module/Topic

  • Legal forms of business
  • Role of financial managers
  • Business ethics
  • Other introductory issues
  • Time value of money

Chapter

Ch 1 & part of Ch 5 

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 3: Cash Flow and Valuation Begin Date: 24 Mar 2025

Module/Topic

  • Time value of money (contd.)
  • Multiple cash flows
  • Annuity and perpetuity 

Chapter

part of Ch 5 & part of Ch 6

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 4: Risk and Return Begin Date: 31 Mar 2025

Module/Topic

  • Concepts of risk and return for an asset
  • Concepts of risk and return for a portfolio
  • Diversification
  • Systematic & unsystemtic risks

Chapter

part of Ch 7

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 5: Bond Valuation and Loans Begin Date: 07 Apr 2025

Module/Topic

  • Concepts of debt securities
  • Term loans and loan amortisation
  • Bonds and different types of bonds
  • Yield to maturity, realised yield, and effective annual yield
  • Bond theorems

Chapter

part of Ch 6 & Ch 8 

Events and Submissions/Topic

Vacation Week Begin Date: 14 Apr 2025

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 6: Share and Portfolio Valuation, and Risk Begin Date: 21 Apr 2025

Module/Topic

  • Concepts of equity securities
  • Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) for asset and portfolio evaluation
  • Share valuation issues and models
  • Secondary market
  • Ordinary shares and preference shares

Chapter

part of Ch 7 & Ch 9 & Extra resources on Moodle

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 7: Capital Budgeting Basics & Capital Budgeting for Foreign Investment Begin Date: 28 Apr 2025

Module/Topic

  • Project valuation and capital budgeting concepts
  • Various capital budgeting measures and their relative strengths and weaknesses
  • Capital rationing
  • Capital budgeting for a foreign investment and relevant foreign currency concepts  

Chapter

Ch 10 & Extra resources on Moodle

Events and Submissions/Topic

Knowledge and Valuation Assessment Due: Week 7 Friday (2 May 2025) 11:59 pm AEST
Week 8: Advanced Issues in Capital Budgeting Begin Date: 05 May 2025

Module/Topic

  • Estimation of cash flows for capital budgeting and relevant issues
  • Capital budgeting for projects with different lives
  • Risk estimations in capital budgeting
  • Various approaches for risk analysis
  • Advanced details on capital rationing 

Chapter

Ch 11 & Ch 12

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 9: Cost of Capital Begin Date: 12 May 2025

Module/Topic

  • Concepts of cost of capital
  • Weighted average cost of capital (WACC): its use and limitations

Chapter

Ch 13

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 10: Raising Capital Begin Date: 19 May 2025

Module/Topic

  • Funding sources for businesses and startups 
  • Concepts concerning Initial Public Offering 

Chapter

Ch 15

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 11: Capital Structure and Dividend Policy & Contemporary Issues Begin Date: 26 May 2025

Module/Topic

  • Implications of capital structure decisions
  • M&M propositions
  • Trade-off theory and pecking order theory 
  • Dividends and relevant concepts
  • Share buyback, bonus shares, split shares, and other relevant concepts
  • Contemporary finance issues

Chapter

Ch 16 & Ch 17 & Extra resources

Events and Submissions/Topic

Knowledge, Reflection, and Integration Assessment Due: Week 11 Friday (30 May 2025) 11:59 pm AEST
Week 12 Begin Date: 02 Jun 2025

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Review/Exam Week Begin Date: 09 Jun 2025

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Exam Week Begin Date: 16 Jun 2025

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Term Specific Information

There may be different resources introduced during the semester, requiring different IT system or software use. This will be clarified in due course.

 

Assessment Tasks

1 Practical and Written Assessment

Assessment Title
Knowledge and Valuation Assessment

Task Description

The assessment can be submitted individually or in a group of a maximum of two students. The assessment constitutes a set of mathematical problems and associated theory and discussion questions and case studies (real-world scenario, or hypothetical or virtual world scenario). The contents involve topics covered in weeks 2-6 (inclusive). The assessment aims at both judging your competence regarding the topics encountered and making you familiar with the applications of these concepts in real-world information processing. Further details, including the specific questions to be answered and any additional requirements, will be provided within the Assessment block in Moodle by the end of Week 2. You will then have five teaching weeks to respond. 

Some points to note:

The explanations in discussion questions should aim at one brief paragraph or multiple paragraphs depending upon the question and marks allocated. If you use sources to support your decisions, please use in-text referencing to acknowledge the source. However, you are not expected to reference the formulae. You should submit as a doc/docx/rtf format through the submission link on Moodle. Some questions may involve Excel or spreadsheet-based modelling and for which you should also upload the respective .xls/.xlsx or a compatible format file. There may also be some guided other resource uses. 


More information will be provided on Moodle.


Assessment Due Date

Week 7 Friday (2 May 2025) 11:59 pm AEST

Online submission through Moodle


Return Date to Students

Week 10 Monday (19 May 2025)

Further information on specific return dates will be advised on Moodle.


Weighting
40%

Assessment Criteria

The assessment judges your ability to solve the set problems and discuss the relevant issues, further to your capability to use online resources. Marks allocated for this assignment consider the following aspects:

  • Completeness
  • Accuracy of the calculations
  • Quality of explanations
  • Presentation
  • Proper use of references
  • Model construction (if any) using Microsoft Excel
  • Ability to use other resources as advised on Moodle

More details are on Moodle.


Referencing Style

Submission
Online Group

Submission Instructions
Further submission instruction will be advised on Moodle.

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Identify and explain the critical problems corporate financial managers encounter and solve
  • Analyse risk and return for financial decision making
  • Explain the valuation of financial securities (bonds, shares etc.) and the role of efficient markets.

2 Practical and Written Assessment

Assessment Title
Knowledge, Reflection, and Integration Assessment

Task Description

This is the major assessment for this unit and it examines the whole unit. It will involve questions (in the form of case studies, discussion questions, and different problems) that will test your ability to reflect on and integrate multiple aspects covered in the unit. Further specific details concerning this assessment will be advised on Moodle by the end of Week 9. You will then have two teaching weeks to respond. More details on the shorter deadline rationale and the expectations will be clarified in the details on Moodle.

This assessment has to be submitted individually. Maintaining academic integrity is highly important.      

 


Assessment Due Date

Week 11 Friday (30 May 2025) 11:59 pm AEST

Online submission through Moodle’


Return Date to Students

Specific return information will be advised on Moodle. Since this is a final assessment, specific feedback may not be provided until the grade certification date.


Weighting
60%

Assessment Criteria

Grading for this assignment will consider different aspects, including:

  • Completeness
  • Accuracy of the calculations
  • Quality of explanations
  • Proper use of references
  • Model construction (if any) using Microsoft Excel
  • Ability to use other resources as advised on Moodle
  • Ability in integrating different concepts
  • Ability in critical reflection 

More details are on Moodle.


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Submission Instructions
Submit via Moodle individually.

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Identify and explain the critical problems corporate financial managers encounter and solve
  • Apply finance theories and synthesise related information for corporate valuations, capital structure analysis, financial decision making, and dividend policy formulation
  • Analyse and form investment decisions using sound capital budgeting techniques
  • Analyse risk and return for financial decision making
  • Explain the valuation of financial securities (bonds, shares etc.) and the role of efficient markets.

Academic Integrity Statement

As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.

Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.

When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.

Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.

As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.

What is a breach of academic integrity?

A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.

Why is academic integrity important?

A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.

Where can I get assistance?

For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.

What can you do to act with integrity?