Introduction to the Business, Technology and Finance exam

The Business, Technology and Finance exam aims to provide you with a sound understanding of how a business operates and how the finance function can help a business achieve its objectives.

The reason a business is created is usually provided in a mission statement. This directs managers on what they are trying to accomplish and could range from being the best in the market, to providing customers with the best value products. Managers achieve this mission by developing appropriate strategies. This exam explores how these strategies are appropriate.

To understand what strategies the business needs, the managers must first analyse the current environment. This could begin with analysis of the attractiveness of the industry using a framework such as Porter’s five forces or by looking at the internal strengths and weaknesses of the business.

Strategies will be developed to achieve the mission statement and will likely need finance.  Therefore, a solid understanding of the types of finance and their impact is required.

Strategies are also likely to be impacted by technology and managers need to understand the advantages these technologies can bring.

Finally understanding the role of the accountant and the regulatory framework is important to be able to make decisions in the best interests of the owners of the business. 

A good understanding of this syllabus should provide a foundation for the operations of a business.

This is not a technically difficult exam, but questions will require knowledge to be applied to a business scenario. Therefore, it is vital to understand why the various models are used and what they mean for a business, rather than just learn the words.

The Business, Technology and Finance exam is 90 minutes long and has 50 questions that are multiple-choice or multiple response which allows approximately 1.8 minutes per question.

However, some questions are short, asking for specific facts or parts of models and other questions will require more reading. So, aiming for ten questions per 18 minutes is a better indication of timing.

Exam questions can use negative wording to make it more difficult to read, for example – ‘Which is NOT an example of the 9M’s.’ To pass this exam it is key to take your time to read the full question before selecting an answer.

In some circumstances there may be more than one option that is a suitable answer, but one option will be better suited to the scenario than the other. Therefore, ensure that you read all the answers fully before selecting an answer.

Here are a few tips to help you prepare for this exam:

• learn specific facts, theorists and models; 
• prepare summary notes and refer to them often, to help retain the knowledge;
• cover all the learning materials and not just the easier sections;
• review the additional exam resources  available; and
• practise the questions in the question bank at least twice.