25400 · Financial Literacy
The Complete Study & Assessment Guide · Spring 2026Financial Literacy
25400 Financial Literacy is a University of Technology Sydney Business School subject in the Finance discipline, worth 6 credit points and delivered across a 12-week Spring session entirely through Canvas modules, per-topic formula sheets, Excel templates and practice-question banks rather than a single prescribed textbook. It is a foundational finance subject that builds a full toolkit: the time value of money for single and multiple cash flows, personal financial statements and health ratios, loans and amortisation, bond and share valuation, financial-statement analysis, cost of capital and capital budgeting, then investing, startups and ESG, and fintech and crypto. The subject is equation-driven — discounting, annuities, loan payments, bond pricing, the dividend discount model, CAPM, WACC and NPV are all display formulas you apply with a calculator or spreadsheet — so marks come from setting a formula up correctly, keeping the rate-and-period units consistent, and interpreting the answer. There is no final exam. Your mark is built from two timed in-class quizzes (Quiz 1 in Week 6 covering Weeks 1-5, Quiz 2 in Week 12), for which Generative AI is not permitted, a group Excel financial model (Assessment 2, due Week 9) and an individual analyst presentation (Assessment 3, Week 11). The component weights and any hurdle are not published in the subject outline — confirm the exact weights, due dates and rules on your Canvas Assessments page. Because the two quizzes are closed to GenAI and run under timed in-class conditions, the winning move is drilling the repeatable TVM, loan, valuation and WACC/NPV calculations until they are fast and automatic; a solid result here feeds the Weighted Average Mark (WAM) that later finance subjects build on.
What 25400 covers
25400 runs across 12 Spring-session weeks, building from time-value-of-money foundations through personal finance, loans, bond and share valuation, financial-statement analysis, cost of capital and capital budgeting, then investing, startups/ESG and fintech. There is no final exam: your mark comes from two timed in-class quizzes (Weeks 6 and 12), a group financial model (Week 9) and an individual analyst presentation (Week 11). This guide follows the Canvas teaching order, so each chapter maps to the week you are in.
How 25400 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| In-class Quizzes (Quiz 1 Week 6; Quiz 2 Week 12) | Confirm on Canvas (weight not published) | In-class timed quizzes; Generative AI not permitted |
| Assessment 2: Group Assignment - Financial Model (Week 9) | Confirm on Canvas (weight not published) | Group Excel financial model with data analysis, model building, formulas, charts and scenario analysis; GenAI permitted with declaration |
| Assessment 3: Individual Analyst Presentation (Week 11) | Confirm on Canvas (weight not published) | Individual analyst presentation; GenAI permitted with declaration |
Pricing a coupon bond and splitting its return into current yield and capital-gain yield
- +1Coupon amount. The periodic coupon is C = F × CR = 1,000 × 6% = $60 per year. The bond therefore pays $60 at the end of each of years 1-5 plus the $1,000 face value at year 5.
- +1Set up the price as PV of the coupon annuity plus PV of the face value: PB = C · [1 − (1 + i)^−n] / i + F · (1 + i)^−n, with i = 8% (the market yield, not the coupon rate) and n = 5.
- +1Value the coupon annuity. The annuity factor is [1 − 1.08^−5] / 0.08 = (1 − 0.68058) / 0.08 = 3.9927, so the coupons are worth 60 × 3.9927 = $239.56, and the face value is worth 1,000 × 0.68058 = $680.58.
- +1Add the two pieces: PB = 239.56 + 680.58 = $920.15. The bond trades at a discount to par because its 6% coupon is below the 8% market yield — buyers pay less so the total return matches 8%.
- +1Decompose the return. Current yield CY = C / P0 = 60 / 920.15 = 6.52%. Capital-gain yield CGY = YTM − CY = 8% − 6.52% = 1.48% (positive, because a discount bond pulls up toward par as it approaches maturity). The two add back to the 8% YTM.
Key terms
- Time value of money (TVM)
- The principle that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar in the future, because money can earn a return (opportunity cost) and inflation erodes purchasing power. Future cash flows are discounted to a present value so amounts at different dates can be compared on the same basis.
- APR vs EAR
- The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is the stated nominal annual rate; the Effective Annual Rate (EAR) is the true annual rate once intra-year compounding is counted: EAR = (1 + APR/m)^m − 1, where m is the number of compounding periods per year. Higher m gives a higher EAR for the same APR, and only EAR makes two rates truly comparable.
- Amortisation
- Repaying a loan through equal periodic instalments that each cover interest on the outstanding balance plus some principal. Early payments are mostly interest and later payments mostly principal; a longer term means more total interest. The instalment is PMT = PV · i / [1 − (1 + i)^−n].
- Yield to maturity (YTM)
- The single discount rate that sets a bond's price equal to the present value of its coupons plus face value — the bond's internal rate of return if held to maturity. Bond prices move inversely to the market yield: when yields rise, prices fall.
- Gordon growth (constant-growth DDM)
- A share-valuation model that prices equity as next year's dividend over the required return minus the growth rate: P0 = D1 / (i − g), valid only when i > g. The growth rate can be estimated as g = ROE × (1 − dividend payout ratio).
- WACC
- The Weighted Average Cost of Capital: the market-value-weighted, after-tax cost of a firm's funding, WACC = (E/V)·Re + (D/V)·Rd·(1 − Tc) + (P/V)·Rp. It is the discount rate used to appraise a project's cash flows in an NPV analysis.
25400 FAQ
Is 25400 hard?
It is broad rather than deeply theoretical, and the difficulty is mostly about volume and precision. The subject moves quickly across 12 weeks from time value of money to loans, bond and share valuation, ratios, WACC and NPV, and finishes with more conceptual startup, ESG and fintech material — so the challenge is keeping a lot of formulas and their unit conventions straight rather than mastering one hard idea. The quantitative work uses formula-sheet equations, so marks go to setting them up with the right rate and period and interpreting the result. Students who drill the repeatable TVM, loan, valuation and NPV calculations weekly, rather than cramming, tend to find it manageable, and steady work protects the Weighted Average Mark (WAM) that later finance subjects build on.
Can AI help me with 25400?
Yes, as a step-by-step study aid. Sia is an AI tutor built to mirror how 25400 is actually taught and assessed at the University of Technology Sydney: it can walk you through a present-value calculation, a loan amortisation schedule, a bond price with its current and capital-gain yield, a Gordon-growth share price or a WACC-and-NPV appraisal one line at a time, and it checks your reasoning as you go. Bring your own tutorial or practice-bank question and ask Sia to explain each step. It does not complete graded assessment for you — and remember the two in-class quizzes prohibit Generative AI — and University of Technology Sydney academic-integrity rules apply, so use it to understand the method, not to produce work you submit.
How is 25400 assessed?
There is no final exam. The mark is built from two timed in-class quizzes (Quiz 1 in Week 6 covering Weeks 1-5, and Quiz 2 in Week 12), a group Excel financial model (Assessment 2, due Week 9) and an individual analyst presentation (Assessment 3, Week 11). Generative AI is not permitted during the in-class quizzes, but is permitted with a declaration on the group model and the presentation. The exact component weights are not published in the subject outline, so confirm the weighting and the due dates on your Canvas Assessments page.
What are the 25400 hurdles and assessment rules?
the subject outline names the three assessment tasks but does not publish any percentage weights or hurdle statements, so treat every weight and any pass-hurdle as 'confirm on Canvas' rather than assuming a value. The clear rules that are stated: the two in-class quizzes are timed and closed to Generative AI, while the group financial model and the individual presentation allow GenAI with a declaration. UTS academic-integrity policy applies to all tasks. Confirm the weights, due dates, permitted materials and any minimum-mark hurdle on Canvas and the current subject outline before you plan your effort.
Does 25400 have a final exam?
No. Unlike many finance subjects, 25400 has no formal examination in the subject schedule or the UTS Course Handbook entry. Your whole mark comes from coursework: the two in-class quizzes (Weeks 6 and 12), the group financial model (Week 9) and the individual analyst presentation (Week 11). The highest-stakes closed-conditions tasks are therefore the two quizzes, which are timed and prohibit Generative AI — so treat them the way you would a mini-exam and rehearse the core calculations under time pressure.
How to prepare for the assessments
Treat 25400 as a calculation subject you rehearse weekly, not a reading subject you cram. The two in-class quizzes are timed and closed to Generative AI, so speed and accuracy on the core formulas are what earn marks: drill the present-value and future-value single-sum formulas, the annuity PV/FV and payment forms, loan amortisation and the retrospective/prospective outstanding balance, bond pricing with current and capital-gain yield, the dividend discount model and CAPM, then WACC and NPV. For each, practise until you can identify the periodic rate i = APR/m and the number of periods n instantly, because most lost marks come from a wrong rate-or-period unit rather than a wrong formula. Build a one-page formula map for Weeks 1-5 before Quiz 1 and a second for Weeks 6-11 before Quiz 2. Because the subject is spreadsheet-based, learn the Excel functions the course expects — PV, FV, PMT, RATE, NPER and NPV — since they also power the group financial model (Assessment 2, Week 9); rehearse scenario analysis (optimistic/base/pessimistic NPVs) and sensitivity analysis so the model's what-if section is second nature. Cover breadth first so you can start every topic, then deepen the ones you find hardest. When a step will not click, ask Sia to explain that single step a different way and set you a fresh practice question in the same style — it teaches the method and checks your reasoning, and it never substitutes for your own graded work. Confirm the quiz timing, the assessment weights and the due dates on Canvas and the current UTS subject outline.
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