CORPORATE FINANCE

Photocopiable worksheets:
Contents and Teacher’s notes
By Helena Gomm

Worksheet Timing Aim Task

01 Forecasting 30 minutes To identify words to do with Pairs of students take turns to give
making financial forecasts. definitions for expressions connected to
making financial forecasts. They write their
answers in a grid. Letters in shaded boxes
in the grid then reveal a hidden message.

02 Budgeting 35 minutes To describe business Pairs or groups of students discuss business

activities in terms of sports. activities that could form part of the
‘Business Games’.

03 Managing 20–30 To review words connected to Groups of students write definitions of

payments minutes managing payments. words related to managing payments, and
then use these definitions to play a
bingo-style game.

04 Reporting 25 minutes To work as a team to review Working in two teams, the students
financial language from Unit 4 of the compete to win cards by answering three
information Student’s Book. questions correctly. A referee in each
team has the answers to the other team’s
questions. They have to get all three
questions right to keep a card.

05 Interim 25 minutes To review the language of Groups of students join the two parts of
results interim results, conditionals sentences (in a dominoes-style activity),
and cause and effect. and then correct mistakes in the sentences.

06 Business 20–30 To read and talk about Read and answer questions on a text about
development minutes crowdfunding. crowdfunding. In pairs, they match a list
of crowdfunded projects with the amounts
they think they received.

07 Financial 25 minutes To read and talk about bank Read and complete a story about an
services and transactions that go wrong. acquisition which almost went wrong.
advice In pairs, they discuss whether anything
like this has ever happened to them and
what they would have done in these
circumstances.

08 Auditing 35 minutes To discuss the action to take Read a text about a company which has
when a serious accounting discovered financial irregularities in the
error has been made. accounts of a company it has just acquired.
In groups, they take the roles of members
of the company’s finance team and roleplay
a meeting.

In Company 3.0 ESP Corporate Finance © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2017 TEACHER’S NOTES 1
 CORPORATE FINANCE

01 Forecasting
Timing
30 minutes

Aim
To identify words related to making financial forecasts from definitions.

Task
Pairs of students take turns to give definitions for expressions connected to making financial forecasts. They write their
answers in a grid. Letters in shaded boxes in the grid then reveal a hidden message.

Preparation
Make one copy of the worksheets for each pair of students in the class.

Procedure
1 Put the students in pairs and give each student in a pair either the Student A grid or the Student B grid. Tell them
not to show their grids to each other. Explain that they each have a grid and a list of the words which complete their
partner’s grid. They mustn’t tell each other these words. They have to give their partner definitions as clues.

2 Student B starts by giving Student A definitions for the words in the Student A grid, without using the words
themselves. Student A then gives definitions for the words in the Student B grid – again, without using the words
themselves. Alternatively, Student A and Student B could take turns to give definitions. When they have finished,
they transfer the letters from the shaded boxes into the grid below. When they combine their answers, they should
find a hidden message (PREDICT THE FUTURE).

3 As a follow-up, ask the students to think of two more words each, explain them to a partner without using the words
themselves, and see if their partner can identify the words.

Variations
With weaker classes, you could put all the Student As and all the Student Bs together first so that they can work on their
definitions as a group. Then split them into A and B pairs.

Answers
Student A:
1 gross profit 5 invoice
2 revenue 6 sales forecast
3 opening balance 7 volatility
4 commodity market 8 direct costs

Student B:
1 overheads 5 operating profit
2 salary increases 6 costs incurred
3 seasonal fluctuation 7 profit margin
4 projected revenue 8 expenses

Hidden message: Predict the future

In Company 3.0 ESP Corporate Finance © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2017 TEACHER’S NOTES 2
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02 Budgeting
The Business Games

Timing
35 minutes

Aim
To describe business activities in terms of sports.

Task
Pairs or groups of students discuss business activities that could form part of the ‘Business Games’.

Preparation
Make one copy of the worksheet for each pair or small group of students.

Procedure
1 Divide the class into pairs or small groups, and give each pair or group a copy of the worksheet.

2 Tell them to imagine that an international business organization is thinking of holding a Business Games every
four years. They are looking for ‘sports’ that could be played at the Business Games, and the students are going to
choose one that they think should be included. Ask them to read the example in the box.

3 Working in pairs or groups, the students first decide how budgeting could be turned into a business game and use
the framework given to help them prepare a description. (For example, it could be a team game in which the first
team delivers a budget and the opposing team have to try to get more money for marketing, training, production,
etc. These arguments are rejected by the first team who have to try to maintain their budget – or even (for extra
points) achieve some budget cuts.) Go round monitoring and giving help where needed.

4 Have a class feedback session in which each pair or group presents its ideas for how budgeting could be an
international sport.

5 In their pairs or groups, the students then choose and write a brief description of another business activity that
they would like included in the Business Games. This could be sensible or silly, but they should give their sport a
name, describe how it is to be played and how the scoring would work. Allow them five or ten minutes for this.

6 The pairs or groups then take turns to describe their suggested sport to the rest of the class, who write down the
name in the table on the worksheet.

7 When all the sports have been described, the pairs or groups award points based on which of the sports described
they would like to have included in the new Business Games. They should give three points to the best sport, two
points to the second best and one point to the third best. They cannot award themselves any points at all.

8 The winning sport is the one which is awarded the most points. This then becomes a new ‘official’ Business Games
sport.

Follow-on
As an optional follow-on (perhaps as a homework task), the students could write a report describing the sport that
won the most points and urging the organizers to adopt it for the new Business Games.

In Company 3.0 ESP Corporate Finance © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2017 TEACHER’S NOTES 3
 CORPORATE FINANCE

03 Managing payments
Timing
20–30 minutes

Aim
To review words connected to managing payments.

Task
Groups of students write definitions of words related to managing payments, and then use these definitions to play a
bingo-style game.

Preparation
Make six copies of the worksheet. Cut each into two sections: Part 1 and Part 2.

Procedure
1 Divide the class into six groups of roughly equal size, and give each group a copy of Part 1 of the worksheet.

2 Divide the following words and expressions amongst the groups. You could dictate them, put them on slips of
paper, or go around and write them in the left hand column of the table on Part 1 of each groups’ worksheet. Either
distribute them randomly or give easier items to weaker groups and more difficult items to stronger groups.

advance payment authorize balance charge interest compromise

credit facility creditor debt delay payment demand payment extension in arrears
in default invoice overdue partial payment reinstate someone’s credit terms
renegotiate payment terms suspend someone’s credit facilities track record vendor

3 Each group writes the words/expressions you give them in their table and works together to write definitions for
them. They may not use a dictionary, and the word or phrase itself should not appear in the definition. Monitor the
groups carefully to make sure that they are giving correct definitions. Set a time limit of about ten minutes for this.

4 Ask the groups to give their Part 1 papers back to you; then give each group a copy of Part 2. Tell them to choose eight
words/expressions from the box (these are the same words as in Part 1) and write them into the grid. They cannot
choose any of the words/expressions they defined in Part 1.

5 Explain that they are going to play a game of bingo with the definitions they wrote in Part 1 and the words they chose
in Part 2. You are going to read out the definitions that they wrote. If they identify any of the words/expressions in
their grid from the definitions they hear, they should tick that word in their grid. As soon as they tick all eight words
in their grid, they shout Bingo! and win the game.

6 Choose the definitions from the Part 1 papers at random, and read each one out twice (do not read out the word you
are defining!). Tick the definitions you have read out. Leave a short gap between each definition to allow the students
some thinking time. When a team calls Bingo! check their answers against the definitions you have ticked. If they
match correctly, that group wins. If they have made a mistake, point out which of the answers should not have been
ticked off, and the game continues until another group has a correct match.

Variation
For a shorter game, you could have the students call out Bingo! when they have ticked four words/expressions in a row or
four in a square.

In Company 3.0 ESP Corporate Finance © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2017 TEACHER’S NOTES 4
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04 Reporting financial information

Timing
25 minutes

Aim
To work as a team to review language from Unit 4 of the Student’s Book.

Task
Working in two teams, the students compete to win cards by answering three questions correctly. A referee in each team
has the answers to the other team’s questions. They have to get all three questions right to keep a card.

Preparation
Make one copy each of the Team A and Team B cards. Keep the sets separate but jumble the cards within each set. Make
sure each team has a stopwatch or a watch with a second hand.

Procedure
1 Divide the class into two teams, and ask each team to choose a referee. Alternatively, act as the referee yourself. Give
Team A a jumbled set of the Team A cards, and Team B a jumbled set of the Team B cards. They should place these face
down on the table between them. Give the referee in each team a copy of the answer sheet for the other team.

2 Explain that each card contains a task with three questions. The tasks practise language they have studied in Unit 4 of
the Student’s Book. The aim of the activity is to collect as many cards as possible by correctly answering the questions
on them.

3 One student from Team A begins by taking a card from the top of the set, telling Team B the number of the chosen
card and reading it out to the others in their team. Team A then has one minute to work together to try to answer all
the questions. When Team B tells them that the time is up, Team A gives their answers and the Team B referee tells
them if they are all correct. If all the answers are correct, Team A keeps the card. If one or more answer is wrong, the
referee should say how many are wrong, but should not say which ones or give the correct answers. The card is then
placed at the bottom of the set. It is then Team B’s turn.

4 The activity is repeated with the teams taking turns to take a card and answer the questions. Let them do the activity
for about 20 minutes, then ask them to stop. The winner is the team which has collected the most cards. Be prepared
to adjudicate if the students come up with correct answers which are different from those on the answer sheet.

Answers for the Team A referee

(These are the answers for Team B. Remember that Team B must answer all parts of the question correctly in order to
keep the card. If they make a mistake, tell them how many answers they got wrong, but don’t tell them the answers.)
1 a fixed assets b stabilized c significant fall
2 a increased b rapidly c declined
3 a depreciation b shareholders’ equity c overproducing/overproduction
4 a receivable b correct c massively
5 a Long-term b maintenance c gross
6 a Despite b However c though
7 a in b on c As
8 a false (retained profit is not paid to shareholders but used to invest in the business)
b false (all forms of debt are included)
c true

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Answers for the Team B referee

(These are the answers for Team A. Remember that Team A must answer all parts of the question correctly in
order to keep the card. If they make a mistake, tell them how many answers they got wrong, but don’t tell them
the answers.)
1 a gross profit b salary increases c cash flow
2 a decreased b marginal c gradual
3 a fixed assets b liabilities c retained profit
4 a gradually b liabilities c correct
5 a overhead b trend c debt
6 a Although b Despite c Even
7 a as b in c out
8 a true
b false (it is a measure of the time needed to sell the entire inventory)
c false (it stands for ‘earnings before interest and taxation’)

In Company 3.0 ESP Corporate Finance © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2017 TEACHER’S NOTES 6
 CORPORATE FINANCE

05 Interim results
Timing
25 minutes

Aim
To review the language of interim results, conditionals and cause and effect.

Task
Groups of students join the two parts of sentences (in a dominoes-style activity), and then correct mistakes in the
sentences.

Preparation
Copy and cut out one set of dominoes for each group of three or four students, and make sure that each set of dominoes
is well shuffled. Keep one intact copy of the worksheet for yourself as a reference.

Procedure
1 Divide the class into groups of three or four, and give each group a set of domino cards.

2 Explain that the students should match the right- and left-hand sides of the domino cards to make sentences. For
some of the matches, the first half of the sentence is on the right-hand side of one domino and the second half of
the sentence is on the left-hand side of another domino. For some of the matches, there are two sentences that go
together. The students first put down the Start domino and should end up with a single line, running to the Finish
domino.

3 While they are doing this, or after they have done it, they should look carefully at each completed sentence, as some of
them contain one or more mistakes. These mistakes include incorrect spelling, extra unnecessary words, wrong word
forms and poor collocations. Working in their groups, they should try to correct these mistakes.

4 Let your class do the activity for about 20 minutes, then ask them to stop. Check their answers. The winners are the
group who linked most of the sentences, and corrected them properly.

Answers
The domino cards are in the correct order on the worksheet. The correct pairings and corrections are as follows:
We haven’t passed the costs on to our customers because we don’t want to reduce our competitiveness. (or We haven’t
passed on the costs to our customers because we don’t want to reduce our competitiveness.)
Sales of ice cream rose significantly due to exceptionally hot weather in August.
Our marketing expenses are lower than forecasted because of reductions in the advertising budget.
If we raise our prices, our customers might switch to our competitors.
Because of continuing rises in the cost of raw materials, they think it is unlikely that they will meet their profit forecasts.
As a result of the company’s poor results, the directors have agreed to take a pay cut.
If we don’t do anything about the variance, it may widen and the company will be in trouble.
If our manufacturing costs keep going up, we will need to economize in other areas.
The company’s manufacturing costs were considerably higher than anticipated. As a result, they had to raise their prices.
We should try to identify cost savings in other areas of the business to improve our profitability.
Many of our suppliers have passed rising energy costs on to us. As a result, our production costs are higher than we
anticipated.
If this budget variance continues, we may need to take corrective action.
The rise in manufacturing costs is largely due to a rise in fuel prices.
The weather has been unusually hot for May. As a result, we are experiencing a dramatic increase in the sales of ice cream.
If we made more flavours of ice cream, we would sell more (or If we make more flavours of ice cream, we will sell more).

In Company 3.0 ESP Corporate Finance © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2017 TEACHER’S NOTES 7
 CORPORATE FINANCE

06 Business development
Timing
20–30 minutes

Aim
To read and talk about crowdfunding.

Task
The students answer warm-up questions on sources of funding and investment. They then read and answer questions
on a text about crowdfunding. In pairs, they match a list of crowdfunded projects with the amounts they think they
received.

Preparation
Make one copy of the worksheet for each student in the class.

Procedure
1 Distribute the worksheets.

2 The students discuss the questions in exercise 1 in pairs and then report back to the class.

3 Ask the students to read the text and answer the questions below it. Monitor and give help where needed.

4 Check the answers to exercise 2 before putting the students in pairs to discuss exercise 3. Encourage them to
share their ideas with the class before giving them the answers. Have a class discussion on whether any of the
information surprised them.

5 As an extra activity, suggest that students find out more about these crowdfunding projects. Direct them to the
following example website if they are unable to find anything themselves. You could also ask them to research
some more crowdfunding projects to present to their class in the next lesson.
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7925-weirdest-kickstarter-projects.html (kitchen equipment)

Answers
2
A b
B
1 f 2 d 3 e 4 b 5 g 6 c 7 a
C c
D c
3
a $46,261 b $1.5 million c $55,492 d $750,000 e $137,000 f $17,542

In Company 3.0 ESP Corporate Finance © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2017 TEACHER’S NOTES 8
 CORPORATE FINANCE

07 Financial services and advice

Timing
25 minutes

Aim
To read and talk about bank transactions that go wrong.

Task
The students discuss what can go wrong with bank transactions. They then read and complete a story about an
acquisition which almost went wrong because of a banking error. In pairs, they discuss whether anything like this has
ever happened to them and what they would have done in these circumstances.

Preparation
Make one copy of the worksheet for each student in the class.

Procedure
1 Distribute the worksheets.

2 The students discuss the question in exercise 1 in pairs, make a list and then report back to the class.

3 Ask the students to read the story and complete the gaps with the words in the box. Monitor and give help where
needed. Check answers with the class before moving on to the next exercise, and answer any questions about
vocabulary. You may need to explain that a bridging loan is a sum of money lent by a financial institution to cover the
interval between two transactions (often the buying of one property and the selling of another); a payment gateway
is a system that allows the electronic transfer of money from one account to another.

4 Ask the students to read the text and answer the questions below it. Monitor and give help where needed.

5 Check the answers to exercise 3 before putting the students in pairs to discuss exercise 4. Encourage them to share
their ideas with the class.

Answers
1
Students’ own answers. Ideas they may come up with include late payments, mistakes in filling in account numbers
leading to money going to the wrong account, wrong amounts being paid because of missing figures or the decimal
point in the wrong place.
2
a requirement b finance c capital d loan e transaction f funds g complete h deadline
3
a Meon Capital
b The bank they accidentally sent the money to.
c The CEO of the writer’s company – he went skiing.
d The CEO who was selling the company.
e The writer’s family (because he was too busy to spend time with them at Christmas).

In Company 3.0 ESP Corporate Finance © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2017 TEACHER’S NOTES 9
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08 Auditing
Timing
35 minutes

Aim
To discuss the action to take when a serious accounting error has been made.

Task
The students read a text about a company which has discovered financial irregularities in the accounts of a
company it has just acquired. In groups of three, they take the roles of members of the company’s finance team
who have been given the task of deciding what to do next. They then roleplay a meeting in which they discuss
the best option.

Preparation
Make one copy of the worksheet for each student. Cut off the bottom part.

Procedure
1 Give each student the first part of the worksheet with the text and exercises 1 and 2.

2 The students read the text and answer the questions in exercise 1 in pairs.

3 Encourage them to share their ideas with the class.

4 Put the students into groups of three and ask them to do exercise 2. Go round monitoring and giving help
where needed. Encourage each group to discuss the possible consequences of each of the options they come
up with, and to decide on the action that they think will be best.

5 Hold a meeting in which each group puts forward its idea for what the company should do now. Encourage
them to discuss the relative merits of each idea and then have a vote on what action to take.

6 Hand out the second part of the worksheet with exercise 3 and the text from Geoff Stansfield.

7 The students read what Geoff Stansfield says and see if it matches what they decided.

In Company 3.0 ESP Corporate Finance © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2017 TEACHER’S NOTES 10