Skip to main content

Maths in Business

Maths in Business is a free program available to all students at the University of Sydney Business School. The program includes workshops in intermediate-level maths and Excel; both fundamental skills for any aspiring business student.

Maths in Business

Online and on-campus programs

We offer on campus and online workshops with an experienced math tutor for a select number of topic areas.

Registrations for Semester 1 will open 9 am, Monday 19 February 2024. Maths in Business sessions will begin in Week 2 of semester, Monday 26 February 2024.

As a business school student you will have automatic access to our Maths in Business Canvas site, where you can find our Powerpoints, demonstrations, help sheets and worksheets for the program.

The Maths in Business program helps you to gain high achievement throughout your business degree. Most foundational units of study require a firm understanding of maths, and this is essential to senior units in accounting, business analytics and finance.

What’s involved

Materials are structured to strengthen your basic knowledge of algebra before progressing to calculus and probability, after which you can refine your Excel skills.

We offer all subjects at beginner and intermediate levels. Find out what workshops are available, what will be covered in each workshop and if there is any assumed knowledge.

Benefits of Maths in Business

Maths workshops are offered in a variety of areas, giving you the opportunity to:

  • master basic and intermediate maths skills
  • get ahead in subjects such as accounting, finance and statistics
  • work with practice materials and resources that will enable you to build autonomously on your learning and understanding.
  • meet new people in your course; great way to break the ice when starting university
  • meet with a high-achieving math tutor who completely understands the first-year experience

Workshops

Maths in Business provides the following workshops and materials in 2024:

Workshop duration - 2 hours

Assumed knowledge – None

Relevant undergraduate units of study – BUSS1020, BUSS1030, BUSS1040

Relevant postgraduate units of study – ACCT5001, QBUS5001, FINC2011, FINC5001, ECON5040, QBUS6320

This beginner’s level workshop will introduce students to basic algebraic functions with particular emphasis on linear and quadratic functions, which often form the basis of various quantitative concepts that Business School students may encounter during their studies. This workshop will also cover different methods of solving simultaneous equations and inequalities, which will be treated as assumed knowledge for more advanced Maths in Business workshops.

The learning outcomes for this workshop include:

  • Factorising, solving and graphing both linear and quadratic functions.
  • Learning how to solve simultaneous equations using the substitution, elimination and graphical methods.
  • Solving harder simultaneous equations involving a mixture of quadratic and linear functions.
  • Learning how to solve linear and quadratic inequalities.

Workshop duration - 2 hours

Assumed knowledge - Algebra, Equations and Inequalities

Relevant undergraduate units of study- BUSS1020, BUSS1030, BUSS1040, FINC2011

Relevant postgraduate units of study- ACCT5001, QBUS5001, FINC5001, ECON5040

This major focus of this intermediate-level workshop is the application of algebraic, exponential and logarithmic functions to various business contexts, which students will encounter throughout the course of their Business degree. This workshop will introduce exponential and logarithmic rules as well as sigma notation while further developing student abilities to use simultaneous equations and inequalities to solve business problems.

The learning outcomes for this workshop include:

  • Reviewing and applying logarithmic rules.
  • Reviewing and applying exponential rules.
  • Understanding sigma notation.
  • Applying simultaneous equations in a business context through analysing supply and demand functions.
  • Applying linear and quadratic inequalities to business problems.

Workshop duration - 2 hours

Assumed knowledge – Algebra, Equations and Inequalities and Business Applications of Algebra, Exponentials and Logarithms

Relevant undergraduate units of study - BUSS1020, BUSS1040

Relevant postgraduate units of study - FINC2011, FINC5001, QBUS5001, ECON5040

This beginner’s level workshop is an introductory course in differentiation, which is a skill necessary for various quantitative majors such as Economics, Econometrics, Finance and Business Analytics. As a fundamental concept in calculus, the theory of differentiation will be explored. Students will learn the meaning behind differentiation, first principles and several basic rules of differentiation. Students will also be given the opportunity to apply these basic rules of differentiation to various business problems.

The learning outcomes for this workshop include:

  • Learning the theory behind differentiation, and differentiation by first principles.
  • Understanding how to differentiate constants, polynomial, logarithmic and exponential functions.

Workshop duration - 1.5 hours

Assumed knowledge – Algebra, Equations and Inequalities, Business Applications of Algebra, Exponentials and Logarithms and Differentiation 1

Relevant undergraduate units of study – BUSS1020, BUSS1040

Relevant postgraduate units of study – QBUS5001, FINC2011, FINC5001, ECON5040

This is an intermediate level differentiation workshop and is intended for students who already have a grasp of basic differential calculus. Harder concepts such as the product, quotient and chain rules, as well as finding the minimum and maximum values of polynomial functions will be explored. Students will also learn about more challenging applications of calculus in business.

The learning outcomes for this workshop include:

  • Learning and applying the product, quotient and chain rules in differentiation.
  • Understanding the process of finding maxima and minima using differentiation.
  • Applying differentiation principles in a business context to maximise or minimise values.

Workshop duration - 2 hours

Assumed knowledge – Algebra, Equations and Inequalities and Business Applications of Algebra

Relevant units of study – More advanced (2nd and 3rd year) Finance, Business Analytics, Economics and Econometrics units.

Matrix algebra is a useful mathematical concept for students undertaking more advanced units of study in the disciplines of Finance, Business Analytics, Economics and Econometrics, especially units that require programming skills. This beginner-intermediate level workshop will introduce students to a variety of concepts in matrix algebra, including the use of fundamental operations and different types of matrices. This workshop will familiarise students with the use of matrices in solving simple algebraic problems in a business context.

The learning outcomes for this workshop include:

  • Understanding terminology and notation related to matrix algebra.
  • Understanding and applying matrix addition, subtraction, multiplication and transposition.
  • Understanding different types of matrices and how they are used.
  • Applying matrices to solve business problems.
  • Being able to apply matrices calculations in Excel.

Workshop duration - 2 hours

Assumed knowledge – Algebra, Equations and Inequalities

Relevant undergraduate units of study – BUSS1020, BUSS1040, FINC2011

Relevant postgraduate units of study – QBUS5001, QBUS5002, FINC5001

This beginner’s level workshop will cover fundamental probability concepts that Business School students will encounter during their studies. The workshop will cover basic probability principles, as well as rules related to mutually exclusive events, non-mutually exclusive events, independent events and conditional probability. Students will be given the opportunity to apply these concepts in solving questions in a business context.

The learning outcomes for this workshop include:

  • Understanding terminology related to probability.
  • Learning to calculate the probability of mutually exclusive and independent events.
  • Understanding and calculating conditional probabilities.

Workshop duration - 1 hour

Assumed knowledge – None

Relevant undergraduate units of study – BUSS1020

Relevant postgraduate units of study – QBUS5001, QBUS5002

This beginner-intermediate level workshop will introduce you to permutations and combinations. They are useful mathematical concepts to know if you are undertaking various quantitative majors such as Business Analytics. You will learn the different formulas used for permutations with and without replacement and combination and have the opportunity to apply these formulas to various business problems.

The learning outcomes for this workshop include:

  • Understanding the difference between permutations and combinations.
  • Applying permutations and combinations to solve various problems.

Workshop duration - 1.5 hour

Assumed knowledge – Algebra, Equations and Inequalities, and Probability

Relevant undergraduate units of study – BUSS1020, BUSS1040, FINC2011, FIN2012, more advanced (second and third year) finance units

Relevant postgraduate units of study – QBUS5001, QBUS5002, FINC5001

This is an intermediate level workshop intended for students who already have a grasp of basic probability concepts. You will learn how mathematical probability concepts are used in a business context, such as the calculation of expected returns, as well as special techniques such as probability trees and joint probability tables, to solve business problems. This workshop will also introduce you to Bayes' Theorem in the context of conditional probability and give you the opportunity to apply this to real-world problems.

The learning outcomes for this workshop include:

  • Using probability trees to assist managerial decision making.
  • Understanding the use of probability in business through the calculation of expected returns and forecasts.
  • Applying probability concepts to interpret joint probability tables.
  • Applying the conditional probability formula and Bayes Theorem formula to recalculate probabilities based upon conditions.

Prior to your attendance at this workshop, please update your excel software to the latest version to maximise your learning.

Workshop duration – 1.5 hour

Assumed knowledge – None

Relevant undergraduate units of study – BUSS1020, BUSS1030, BUSS1040, FINC2011

Relevant postgraduate units of study – QBUS5001, QBUS5002, ACCT5001, FINC5001

This beginner-level workshop is designed for students who have little to no prior experience using Excel. You will learn the fundamentals of Excel, including how to calculate and tabulate data, create formulas using functions, and perform simple data analysis. The workshop will also introduce the importance of relative and absolute cell references and how to use them to create dynamic formulas.

The learning outcomes for this workshop include:

  • Understanding what is Excel.
  • Learning to use Excel to calculate and tabulate data.
  • Learning how to create formula using functions.
  • Learning the difference between relative and absolute cell references.
  • Learning how to perform simple data analysis in Excel.

Prior to your attendance at this workshop, please update your excel software to the latest version to maximise your learning.

Workshop duration - 2 hours

Assumed knowledge – Basic Excel knowledge

Relevant undergraduate units of study – BUSS1020, BUSS1030, BUSS1040, FINC2011

Relevant postgraduate units of study – QBUS5001, QBUS5002, ACCT5001, FINC5001

This intermediate-advanced level workshop covers various excel concepts that are relevant to your studies in the Business School as well as, within industry. You will learn an array of advanced excel functions including RANK, XLOOKUP, VLOOKUP, INDEX, MATCH, descriptive statistics, simple linear regression and sensitivity analysis. The workshop will also cover graphing, with a focus on how to create professional bivariate graphs. The workshop starts by briefly reviewing important basic Excel functions and using the $ sign to fixate specific cells before progressing to the more advanced concepts.

The learning outcomes for this workshop include:

  • Understanding how to apply the XLOOKUP, VLOOKUP, INDEX and MATCH functions in searching for data.
  • Learning to graph two data sets on a single plot.
  • Learning how to generate descriptive statistics through Excel’s Data Analysis Tool pack.
  • Learning how to run a simple linear regression in Excel.
  • Learning how to perform one-dimensional and two-dimensional sensitivity analyses.

Maths in Business Office

Address
  • Rm 3043, Abercrombie Building (H70), The University of Sydney, NSW 2006
Maths in Business Staff
  • Jessica Morr (Project Manager - Maths in Business and PASS)
  • Ada Choi (Tutor)
  • Yuning Zhang (Tutor)
Last updated: 17 January 2024

Website feedback

Tell us if you’ve spotted a typo or something else wrong with this page.

Thank you

Your feedback has been sent.

Sorry there was a problem sending your feedback. Please try again

You should only use this form to send feedback about the content on this webpage – we will not respond to other enquiries made through this form. If you have an enquiry or need help with something else such as your enrolment, course etc you can contact the Student Centre.

Cancel