WACE Accounting and Finance ATAR: Course, Assessment and Exam Guides (SCSA)

WACE Accounting and Finance is an ATAR course, so your Year 12 result combines your school's moderated assessment with one SCSA written examination at the end of the year. The exam samples the examinable content in Units 3 and 4, and it allows a calculator.

The course follows the Accounting and Finance ATAR Year 12 syllabus for teaching from January 2026, which the cohort sitting the WACE final exams in 2027 is taught from.

Because the examinable content is a list of calculations and interpretations, practise the techniques in it: preparing cash budgets and financial statements, working out break-even and net present value, and interpreting ratios. For study habits across courses, see how to prepare for WACE exams.

How is Accounting and Finance assessed?

Two things decide the result. Your school assesses you through its own program, and SCSA moderates that school mark. You also sit the ATAR course examination, which SCSA sets and marks. The how WACE works guide explains moderation and how the two marks combine, and the WACE syllabuses guide covers where each course's syllabus sits.

Your school sets its own assessment program, so check its outline for the tasks you sit and when they are due.

What does the course cover?

Year 12 is Unit 3 and Unit 4. The syllabus assumes you know the Year 11 content and recommends completing Units 1 and 2 first. Each unit sits under the same three headings: financial institutions and systems, recording, using and evaluating financial information, and government and the community.

Unit 3 is internal management for business. It covers the difference between management and financial accounting, cost classification, mark-up and unit price, and the master budget. The calculation work includes job order costing, standard costing and variance analysis, cost-volume-profit analysis (break-even, margin of safety, make or buy and special order decisions), cash budgets, budgeted income statements and performance reports. Capital investment is limited to net present value and payback period. The unit also covers insolvency under the Corporations Act 2001, climate-related risks and opportunities, and ethical issues in financial dealings.

Unit 4 is reporting entities and the Corporations Act 2001. It covers public and large proprietary companies, accounting standards and the Conceptual Framework, and journal and ledger entries for share issues and dividends. You prepare the statement of comprehensive income, statement of financial position, statement of changes in equity and a statement of cash flows (direct method only), then calculate and interpret liquidity, efficiency, profitability, leverage and market ratios. It closes with the regulators (ASIC, the AASB and others), external audit, and sustainability reporting, including greenwashing.

What is the exam like?

The 2026 exam was timetabled for 3 hours of working time plus 10 minutes of reading time. It is set to start at 9:20 am on Friday 13 November 2026. The WACE exam timetable guide lists the dates SCSA has published, so check it for your own year. Reading time is for reading only, so plan your working time around the three hours.

A calculator is permitted. SCSA's rules say it must be silent, hand-held and powered by its own battery or solar cell, and it must not communicate wirelessly. You are responsible for its power and working order, and you cannot borrow one in the room.