BFF2140 CORPORATE FINANCE I

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How long is the BFF2140 final examination?

Your final exam (end of semester assessment) will be held during the official examination
period 22 June to 10 July – please check your student timetable for the start time (this will
be at Australian Eastern Standard time AEST).

The assessment will be delivered through the Moodle Quiz platform (please refer to further
details below). Exams services will provide you with information regarding where to access
the E-exam.

EXAM DURATION: 2 hours and 10 minutes (inclusive of reading time)

Semester 1 exam times

Please refer to your timetable for details about the timing for the BFF2140 final exam. The
University has approved times which students are required to sit exams are between 6am –
8.30pm in the time zone in which they are located.
The following exemption exists - “For the purpose of section 11 of the Assessment in
Coursework Units Examination Procedures, examinations for units of study undertaken in
semester one 2020:
 All exams will be scheduled from Monday to Friday between the hours of 8:00am-9:30pm
Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST);
 A student, who resides in a time zone other than AEST, may apply for an alternative
arrangement to be made for their exam, where an exam is scheduled to:
 Commence before 5.59am or after 8.31pm in the time zone in which the student is
currently residing; or
 Occur at any time on a Saturday or Sunday in the time zone in which the student is
currently residing.
 Please contact Student Services to arrange this.

Is the BFF2140 final examination open book?

Yes, the BFF2140 examination is open book this semester and the exam will be delivered
online using the Moodle Quiz platform. You may be required to provide short answers in
certain questions. We will be specifically monitoring, during our grading process, that such
answers have not been merely cut and pasted from various sources. In addition we will be using
similarity-detection software (e.g. Turnitin or MOSS) to compare work to other student
submissions and/or online or published content; such software may retain a copy of the work
for future similarity detection.
Is there a hurdle requirement for BFF2140?

There is a hurdle requirement in this unit. There is a requirement that the student must attain a
mark of at least 40% in this final summative assessment task.

A student's final mark is normally the sum of the marks obtained in all of the individual
assessment items in the unit. Where a student fails the unit solely because of failure to satisfy
the hurdle requirement, a mark of 48 will be returned for the unit.

Refer to the following regarding student safety net for semester 1, 2020.

Monash University recently established an Academic Safety Net working group – made up of
students and staff members of the Academic Board – to make recommendations to the
Academic Board about grading matters for semester one 2020, and other teaching periods that
intersect with or align with semester one.

Their recommendations were voted on and approved by the Academic Board:

 If students achieve a mark of 40-49, they can choose to complete supplementary

assessment in all the units that meet these criteria. The previous cap of two units for
supplementary assessments is relaxed.
 Any existing threshold hurdles will be applied at 40, not the current mark of 45, including
exams.
 After results are released, students can choose to exclude the results of all passed units
studied in semester one from the calculation of their Grade Point Average and Weighted
Average Mark. This is based on the principle that the disadvantage experienced by the
student is experienced in all units, not just select units. Students who opt to exclude their
results will have each unit which they passed recorded as SFR (Satisfied Faculty
Requirements) on the transcript.

What if I am sick on the day of the final examination?

Students enrolled at an Australian campus must use the online system (refer to link below) only
for end-of-semester exams that appear in your exam timetable in WES. You must not contact
the Chief Examiner to apply for special consideration. Any applications received will be
evaluated centrally and the outcome sent to the CE.

Link: http://www.monash.edu/exams/changes/special-consideration

What is the structure of the BFF2140 final examination?

The BFF2140 exam will consist of 3 sections:

- Section 1 (worth 10 marks) has 10 MCQs with 1 mark each.
- Section 2 (worth 10 marks) has 5 MCQs with 2 marks each.
- Section 3 (worth 30 marks) has 4 short-answer questions.

All topics covered in lectures and tutorials are examinable.

- Section 1 and Section 2 of the exam will have MCQs that span across all topics from
lecture week 1 to lecture week 12 (and from tutorial week 2 to tutorial week 13).
- Section 3 of the exam will also be comprehensive. However, it will focus on topics related
to Lecture Weeks 5-12 (Capital Budgeting, Working Capital, International Finance, Risk
and Return, Cost of Capital, Capital Structure, Market Efficiency, and Payout Policy).

This does NOT indicate that every topic on the list will appear in Section 3.

Will I have to show my workings for calculation questions?

The short-answer questions (Section 3 of the Exam) can be a combination of numerical and
theory questions. You will be able to write your answer in a textbox below each question within
Moodle Quiz. Numerical questions are designed such that you can write your answers in a
linear line using simple notations of linear algebra or standard Excel-type calculations such as
“*” for multiplication, “/” for division, “^” for power, “exp( )” for exponential, etc. In the real
exam, you are NOT required to write the formulas. Rather, you can write your own application
of a formula (i.e., how you plug the numbers into the formula) and the marker will know exactly
which formula you are using.

For example, you do not have to write the following formula in your answer:
Re = Ru + D/E(Ru - Rd)
But you can present the calculation in the following way:
Re = 10%+2/3*(10%-8%) =11.33%

For an idea of the sort of short-answer questions, please find the document entitled “Practice
questions for the final exam” uploaded on Moodle.

Pre-exam consultations:

Timetable of intensive consultation times can be found on Moodle. Please feel free to consult
any tutor, not just your allocated tutor.

How many decimal points should I round my answers to?

Unless a question specifically asks you to round (for example, to two decimal places) then it
does not matter. You are strongly advised however to leave the rounding to your final answer,
and not to round your inputs during the workings of the problem.

What do I need to study?

The final exam Covers lecture materials from week 1 to week 12.
Important:
 Lecture Notes and all illustrations provided throughout the semester
 Lecture Recordings
 Tutorial Workshop Questions/Solutions
 Tutorial Recordings
 Relevant Chapters in the textbook and additional assigned readings
Be prepared to be tested on applying theories using critical skills rather than purely being
required to plug inputs in a given formula to derive an answer. It is essential to understand that
the fundamentals of financial mathematics and valuation apply to diverse situations, and that
your task is to identify how to use these theories and models in each particular case.

What calculator am I permitted to take to BFF2140 final examination?

Only HP 10bII+ or Casio FX82 (any suffix) calculator is permitted. This is to ensure
consistency and avoid any confusion, as the problems and examples used in this unit during
lectures and tutorials have relied on the use of the HP10bII+. Please note that you are not
expected, nor encouraged, to use Excel to solve calculation problems in this unit. If you cannot
access one of the approved models, then you are allowed to use the HP10b11+
emulator https://www.educalc.net/2336211.page

Is a formula sheet available for the BFF2140 final examination?

Yes. The formula sheet is available on Moodle.

Is the formula sheet comprehensive?

No. However, sufficient formulae are provided to enable you to comfortably attempt all
calculation questions in the final examination.

Do I need to know any additional formulae not provided on the formula sheet?

The more you know, the better you will perform. However, all questions can be attempted with
the formulae provided on the formula sheet.

Important-Academic Integrity

Please refer to the BFF2140 Moodle site which has an entire folder devoted to
Academic Integrity.