Financial Services 2025 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• read the question carefully to ensure important components of the question are not missed
• answer with more than one example where the question asks for more than one
• have a clear understanding of key words in the question and recognise the intent of the question and its requirements
• engage with what the question is asking, rather than presenting a pre-prepared response
• relate to the question throughout the response, rather than just at the beginning
• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of HSC content from the syllabus
• communicate ideas and information using relevant workplace examples and industry terms
• be prepared to address a range of industry issues
• demonstrate knowledge of employability skills relevant to various situations
• review their response to ensure that it addresses question requirements
• present a logical and cohesive response that answers the question.

Question 16 (a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify that legal obligations are lawful requirements, and ethical obligations relate to a moral judgement
• integrate syllabus vocabulary, for example, compliance, legislation and conventions.

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding the differences between legal and ethical obligations.

Question 16 (b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• communicate the purpose of reporting unsafe work practices and hazards in the workplace.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using work, health and safety terminology, for example, mandatory reporting, risk matrices, hazards, incidents, duty of care and near misses
• understanding that the response requires an explanation to be given.

Question 16 (c)

In better responses, students were able to:

• focus on the consequences of an employee failing to meet the responsibilities of their role, rather than the consequences for the business
• refer to the impact on the employee of failing to meet the responsibilities of their role in the financial services
• provide more than one consequence linked to the role, for example, receiving training to support direct feedback and receiving training to support an improvement plan.

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating knowledge of the processes involved in improving employee performance that follow correct conventions, for example, appraisals, direct feedback, further training to improve industry currency
• demonstrating knowledge of the consequences of poor performance of an employee, for example, termination, suspension, loss of licence.

Question 17 (a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• refer to cash handling using industry specific terminology, for example, ensuring cash is only processed where there are security cameras to record the process, ensuring segregation of duties or surveillances/cameras are in place
• integrate the need for written documents as evidence of cash transactions, for example, cash receipts and cash register printouts.

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding the difference between handling physical cash, online transactions and scams.

Question 17 (b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• calculate the net profit to be included as an owner’s equity account on the balance sheet
• classify accounts in the trial balance and only use the accounts found on the balance sheet, excluding the income statement accounts.

Areas for students to improve include:

• classifying of accounts into assets, liabilities and owner’s equity
• formatting a balance sheet and an income statement correctly
• understanding the balancing requirement in the accounting equation.

Question 18 (a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• refer to correct terminology such as debit and credit
• demonstrate knowledge of credit and debit amounts balancing.

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding the definition of key accounting terms when referring to double entry bookkeeping and that each transaction has two entries, one debit entry and one credit entry.

Question 18 (b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify accounts that are impacted by the transaction
• apply accounting principles of debit and credit
• apply the GST.

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding the chart of accounts
• understanding the difference between accounts receivable and accounts payable.

Question 19 (a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide an environmentally sustainable work practice, for example, reducing energy use in office buildings through renewable power sources.

Areas for students to improve include:

• providing a relevant example of environmentally sustainable work practices.

Question 19 (b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of the features of a diverse workplace, for example, cultural backgrounds, gender identity, age and disability
• provide an appropriate communication strategy to overcome communication barriers caused by diversity.

Areas for students to improve include:

• providing examples of a diverse workplace and how the strategy is effective in reducing the communication barrier, for example, employing a translator is not feasible due to various languages spoken in workplaces.

Question 20 (a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• calculate compound and simple interest
• understand the minimum monthly interest.

Areas for students to improve include:

• showing workings of calculations to minimise the chance of errors
• understanding the meaning behind the solution when using formulas, for example, the compound interest formula requiring the subtraction of the principal.

Question 20 (b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• understand the process of correcting transaction errors, for example, credit the electricity account to reverse the error.

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding that GST is removed from the expense account amount when recording the transaction.

Question 21 (a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• use the correct terminology, for example, convert to cash, rather than changed assets
• understand the key definitions for accounts, for example, a current asset can be converted to cash within 12 months.

Areas for students to improve include:

• providing examples of subaccounts on the balance sheet, for example, cash is a current asset, and machinery is a non-current asset.

Question 21 (b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• use the stimulus material effectively
• use correct terminology, for example, credit policy, payment plan and recover bad debts.

Areas for students to improve include:

• decoding the aged debtor report to determine which customers had not paid within the credit period, for example, both customer A and B had outstanding debts for longer than 90 days
• providing definitive strategies that will prevent future bad debts, for example, stop credit, contact customer and set up payment plan.

Question 21 (c)

In better responses, students were able to:

• format and calculate an income statement correctly with gross profit, total income and net profit amounts
• include the balance day adjustments to the income statement
• understand the reason for processing balance day adjustments before publishing financial reports.

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding the chart of accounts
• understanding the difference between an income statement and balance sheet accounts
• understanding the concept of the accounting period and matching principal at the end of the financial periods, for example, publishing reports and reopening once they have been finalised, allowing for more accurate reporting.

Question 22 (a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• communicate an understanding of key words, such as, ‘agency’ referring to an independent business representing a range of businesses, allowing for a customer interface
• understand the features of an agency, for example, it acts on behalf of a financial services organisation.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using appropriate examples relating to the financial services industry, such as a Post Office as an agency where a bank transaction can be completed and insurance can be purchased. 

Question 22 (b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide specific credit arrangement procedures, for example, when taking out a loan customers need to present an identity document for verification and proof of earnings
• use relevant legislation relating to credit arrangements, for example, the Privacy Act and Corporation Act.

Areas for students to improve include:

• providing relevant examples of legislation, for example, the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (National Credit Act) responsible for making inquiries about consumer financial situations, requirements, objectives or assessments about the credit contract
• explaining how specific legislation impacts credit arrangements for customers, for example, the Privacy Act ensures that borrowers personal and financial details are kept confidential.

Question 22 (c)

In better responses, students were able to:

• differentiate between policies and procedures including examples of each
• explain reasons for the policies and procedures, for example, minimising errors, fraud and following regulations
• provide examples of proofing cash transactions, for example, cash register procedures that extended into matching total receipts with cash-counts, banking cash procedures and accounting entries
• provide examples of proofing non-cash transactions, for example, credit card/EFTPOS and direct transfer cash register procedures that extended into matching merchant copy receipt totals with money received from the bank.

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding the difference between proofing and processing of transactions
• understanding the process of a transaction beyond the customer swiping their debit/credit card or presenting a cheque for payment and receiving a receipt
• understanding the documents and monies totalled and balanced to prevent fraud/theft.

Question 23

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide both positive and negative effects of emerging technologies on employers, employees, clients and industry regulators
• provide an appropriate example of emerging technologies, for example, computerised accounting software, AI, chat-bots and online banking applications
• distinguish between daily processing and regulatory requirements.

Areas for students to improve include:

• increasing knowledge of daily processing in the financial services industry, for example, data entry of source documents and the creation of journals, ledgers and financial reports
• increasing knowledge of regulatory requirements, for example, the Privacy Act, Corporations Act and E-Payments Code
• referring to current and new technology, rather than referring to obsolete technology, such as shredders, photocopiers, fax machines or cash counting machines.