BISM7202 Excel Assessment Specification Semester 1, 2019

BISM7202 Excel Assessment

WEIGHT 40%
DATE 20 May 2019 at 13:00 / 1pm
DELIVERABLES One electronic file must be submitted via
the Blackboard Assignment Submission
Tool consisting of a single Excel file.

1 Overview
This assignment requires you to create a professional business application using Microsoft
Excel 2016/ Microsoft Excel 365 (or later compatible releases). The purpose of this assessment
is to test the student’s ability to operate and manage business data in spreadsheets. The
assessment requires no prior technical background. Moreover, it is designed for business
students in general to appreciate basic IS applications. Prior familiarity with the software tool
could be beneficial but will not guarantee a significate advantage or higher marks. Through
tutorials, students are exposed to practical exercises like those in the assessment and develop
the skills to manage data in Excel and use these skills to complete this assessment. It is essential
that students carry out the required readings and preparation for each tutorial before
attending/attempting each tutorial and this assessment.

The assessment is worth 40% of your grade in this course. This is an individual assessment –
group work or any collaboration on the assessment is not permitted. This assessment consists
of several tasks to be completed in Excel.

2 Template
The Excel template of the expected worksheets is available on the BISM7202 Blackboard site.
The Excel template provided must be used as the basis for the assignment. You may change
the visual formatting (colour, fonts, data format presentation, etc) to provide a professional
finished project, but nothing else (e.g. its structure except when you are asked to do so).

3 Your Task
This assessment requires you to complete an Excel workbook file using Microsoft Excel 2016/
Microsoft Excel 365 (or later compatible releases) based on the specification in this document.
The Excel workbook consists of several sheets you should develop.

4 Background and Scenario

The Brisbane Arts Theatre is a theatre located in Brisbane. It develops and puts on a number
of different performances throughout the year in its three different performance seasons. The
board of directors have asked you to improve their information systems for managing their
performances, cast and crew salaries and systems for advertising and season allocations. They
have provided you with a sample of the business files. They would like you to complete the
workbook so that a clear understanding of the finances from 2018 can be evaluated and the
following season can be planned.

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BISM7202 Excel Assessment Specification Semester 1, 2019

5 Sheets
5.1 Student Information
First enter your details: name and student ID (8 digits only without an ‘s’).

In addition, list any assumptions that you have made when you developed your assignment.
The assumptions allow examiners to understand your work in contexts. If you do not make any
assumption, please leave the section empty. Assumptions to be considered when marking must
be logical. It is a good idea to discuss assumptions you have with your tutor.

5.2 Constants Sheet

This sheet contains all the lookup tables that you will need to use in the assessment. When
using lookup tables in your formulas and functions, please make sure they are accessed using
appropriate named ranges. The tables have been completed for you.

5.2.1 Performances
This table shows the different performances, and which type each performance is. A
performance can be a mainhouse, early week, or childrens performance. The table also shows
the number of shows there were for each performance.

5.2.2 Mainhouse / Early Week / Childrens Performance Rates

These tables show the rate that is paid to cast members based on their roles in the specific
performance they are in. This rate is paid for each show.

5.2.3 Annual Rate/Stipend

This table shows what the annual wage rate is for each of the employees of the theatre based
on their position in the company.

5.2.4 Employer Superannuation Contributions

Employees of the theatre are paid a different level of employer superannuation contribution
depending on their positions within the company. The superannuation is on top of their
standard salaries (and any applicable bonuses). The employer superannuation contributions
table has been completed for you.

5.2.5 Longevity Bonus

Employees of the theatre are paid a longevity bonus based on the length of their employment
at the theatre. This longevity bonus is a percentage increase on their standard salaries and
performance rates and it is taxable. The longevity bonus has been set up to ensure the company
does not lose talents. If the employees have reached the year threshold by 1st January 2018,
then they are eligible for the bonus. The employees receive the bonus continuously until the
next year threshold when the bonus rate increases as shown on this table.

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BISM7202 Excel Assessment Specification Semester 1, 2019

5.2.6 Annual Tax Rates Table

Tax is withheld using the following tax rates for 2018-2019. This information has been entered
for you already.

Table 1: Australian Taxable Income Table for 2018-19

Taxable Income Tax on this Income

$0 – $18,200
$18,201 – $37,000
$37,001 – $90,000
$90,001 – $180,000
$180,001 and over
Nil
19c for each $1 over $18,200
$3,572 plus 32.5c for each $1 over $37,000
$20,797 plus 37c for each $1 over $90,000
$54,097 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000

5.2.7 HELP Repayment Table

Employees with HELP debts have income withheld based on the following repayment rates for
2018-19. The income withheld is calculated based on their total taxable incomes. This
information has been entered for you already.

Table 2: HELP Repayment Rates for 2018-19

Taxable Income Repayment Rate

Below $51,957 Nil
$51,957 – $57,729 2.0%
$57,730 – $64,306 4.0%
$64,307 – $70,881 4.5%
$70,882 – $74,607 5.0%
$74,608 – $80,197 5.5%
$80,198 – $86,855 6.0%
$86,856 – $91,425 6.5%
$91,426 – $100,613 7.0%
$100,614 – $107,213 7.5%
$107,214 and above 8.0%

5.2.8 Flyer Printing Costs Table

The printing information for different quantities of flyers has been recorded for you. The table
shows the unit (individual) cost of printing a single flyer for different total numbers of flyers.

5.3 Cast Allocations Sheet

The Cast Allocations Sheet is currently empty. However, it is intended to record the individual
performance casting and employee’s income for that performance.

Your first task is to download the PerformanceData.csv file from Blackboard. This contains
the performance data for 2018. You are required to import the data into the Cast Allocations
Sheet in columns A:D.

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BISM7202 Excel Assessment Specification Semester 1, 2019

After you have imported the data, you need to complete the table by using lookups to record
the type of performance. You need to calculate the payment without longevity bonus for the
performance. Using the payment value, calculate the income percentage breakdown for the
employee from the performance (what the percentage a performance’s payment is compared
to all the performances they were in). Lastly in this table, you need to calculate the longevity
bonus applied to the performance payment.

In the same table, add conditional formatting so that the entire rows of the table (columns A:H)
is highlighted in (a default colour setting) pale green background with green text if the cast
member performed in more than 3 performances in 2018, and (a default colour setting) pale
red background with red text if they only performed in a single performance.

Using the data in the table in columns A:H, complete the table in J3:M7 using formulas. The
table needs to total the value of payments and longevity bonus for different performance types.

Using this new table, produce two pie charts. The first pie chart should show the total value
and percentage of the payment for each performance type, while the second pie chart will show
the same however for the longevity bonus. These charts should be placed in J9:O21 and
J22:O35, respectively.

The last step for this sheet is to produce a PivotTable and PivotChart which will be each placed
on their own sheets. The PivotChart should be a clustered column and placed on a Chart Sheet.
The PivotTable and PivotChart should be based on the table in A:H. These need to display the
combined payment and longevity for the performance types and performances compared to the
different cast positions.

5.4 Payroll Sheet

The Payroll Sheet keeps track of the employees and cast who currently work at the theatre.

The sheet is set up to do search, filtering and totalling at the top and from row 12 the employee
payroll information is calculated.

Your first task on this sheet is to insert a lookup and calculation-based formula to determine
the total annual income of each employee. The income should include the annual rate/stipend
and performance income. You need to calculate the longevity bonus and employer
superannuation contribution using lookup-based formulas. Many employees have a HELP
debt; for these employees, calculate the HELP amount that is withheld from the employee
salary using lookup-base formulas. Finally calculate the annual tax and net income for each
employee.

To easily identify the employees with a HELP debt who have had money withheld, apply
conditional formatting to the table to show the entire row of data (columns A:L) for the
employee as (a default colour setting) pale yellow background with yellow text.

Using two named ranges (Database and Criteria), set up an advanced filtering section which
uses AND-based filter for the filtering criteria entered in the Criteria named range. Using the
same named ranges, use database functions to calculate the total, minimum, average and
maximum values for the listed headings. The formulas should be robust and not display errors.
When you submit your assignment, have the criteria set to show anyone with a HELP debt.
Have advanced filtering turned on based on these criteria.

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BISM7202 Excel Assessment Specification Semester 1, 2019

5.5 Mail Advertising Sheet

In the lead up to the new season, the theatre plans to run a mail campaign that will encourage
new people to sign up to an annual ticket to the theatre. To advertise this, they plan to target
several Brisbane areas in the campaign. You are required to calculate the number of potential
new customers in each month, and collectively. You also need to calculate the associated
advertising costs so that you can determine the cost per customer to determine how long the
campaign should run for to be the most cost effective.

For this you will create three two-variable data tables. The data tables are comparing the
different suburbs in Brisbane, the number of properties in the suburb, with the month of the
campaign, ranging from one to ten months. Use the following information to calculate costs
and customer numbers.

o Each flyer costs $0.183 to be delivered by Australia Post.

o The discount offered to new customers on the flyers is $35.
o Based on Brisbane City data, each property has on average 2.6 people living there. Each
of these is considered a potential customer.
o In each month of the campaign, flyers will be sent to all households in the region.
o The cost of printing flyers is defined on the Constant Sheet.
o It costs $1000 for each new flyer to be produced. A new flyer is needed each month for
each suburb.
o The predicted effectiveness of the advertising campaign in a particular month is
calculated using the formula:
o effectiveness = 0.01 (1 + (0.1(1 − month)))
o The total predicted effectiveness of the advertising campaign by a month is calculated
using the formula:
o effectiveness = −0.0005month2 + 0.0105month

Calculate the total cost for each month, total predicted customer increase for each month and
the cost per customer for each month. In the cost per customer section, use red-yellow-green
colour scale conditional formatting to highlight the best option with green being the best.

5.6 Advertising Campaign Sheet

This sheet is currently empty. On this sheet you will need to set up scenario manager to run a
number of scenarios that will predict the costs and the number of new customers for running a
radio advertising campaign. Use the following information in calculating the costs and new
customers:

o The Brisbane radio audience on the selected station is 56,250 people.

o Each month a new radio advert needs to be produced at a value of $5,000.
o The discount offered to new customers remains at $35.
o Radio advertising can be purchased in blocks of 20 or 50 per month. These each cost
$500 and $400 for each play of the advert, respectively.
o The total predicted effectiveness of the radio advertising campaign based on the total
number of adverts played is calculated using the formula:
o effectiveness = −0.0000007adverts 2 + 0.0008adverts

Set up the sheet to run the following scenarios. The scenarios need to calculate the total costs
of the advertising campaign, the total predicted increase and the cost of gaining each new
customer. There are twelve scenarios to consider. Save the results of the scenario analysis on

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BISM7202 Excel Assessment Specification Semester 1, 2019

a new sheet. It should contain meaningful labels for each of the values altered (not cell
references).

The twelve scenarios are all combinations for the following situations:

5.6.1 Number of Months (2)

The advertising campaign can run for 3 or 6 months.

5.6.2 Amount of Radio Advertising (2)

The amount of radio advertising can be low or high. Low is 20 adverts each month and high is
50 adverts each month.

5.6.3 Uptake Scale (3)

To account for errors in the predicted customer uptake, there are three scaling factors that will
affect the effectiveness of the campaign. These scaling factors are low – 75%, expected –
100%, and high – 125%.

5.7 Future Mainhouse Season

The theatre has eleven different periods for running performances during the Mainhouse
season. To best match the performance with a period, the cast listed their preferences from 1
(the most desirable) to 11 (the least desirable). Your job is to allocate the periods so the sum
of the preferences scores is minimised but also ensure that each performance receives no worse
than their 5th choice. Two performances have special needs and have requested a particular
session - Terry Pratchett's Maskerade needs to occur in the “April to May” period and Picnic
at Hanging Rock needs to occur in the “September to October” period. To complete this task,
you should use Solver.

The sheet you have for this contains two tables. The first table indicates each performance’s
preferences for different periods. The second table indicates the assignments of the periods to
different performances. A value of 1 in the table indicates that the period has been assigned to
the performance. A value of 0 indicates that the period has not been assigned. Only one period
can be assigned to each performance and each performance can only reserve one period; each
row and column of the table will have only one cell containing the value 1 and the rest of the
cells will contain the value 0.

The values in the preference value column should be no greater than 5 indicating each
performance will receive no worse than the 5th best choice. The preference total cell contains
the sum value of these scores.

You are required to save the result of the Solver to an Answer Report and return the sheet to
just before you ran Solver.

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BISM7202 Excel Assessment Specification Semester 1, 2019

6 Implementation Guidance, Formatting and

Professionalism
You must use Microsoft Excel 2016 (or Microsoft Excel 365) for this assignment. Any of the
previous Microsoft Excel versions (e.g. Microsoft Excel 2007) might cause some problems. It
is highly recommended that, prior to assignment submission, you check that your solution
works on the university machines if you have developed it on your own machine. Please
develop your solution based on the provided files.

In general, you are not allowed to use any non-English characters or insert any other columns
or tables. If you modify any existing features (unless explicitly instructed), please specify and
explain them in the assumption section on the student details sheet. When you develop your
solution, you should use (but are not limited to) the functions and features you were taught in
the tutorials. If you need functions or techniques that are not addressed explicitly in tutorial
exercises, you should explore your pre-tutorial reading materials and preparation exercises or
refer to the help component of Excel. Aspects of the assignment have purposefully been
designed to train and test a student’s self-learning ability with a software application, and thus,
have not been included directly in a tutorial exercise.

Brisbane Arts Theatre is operated in a professional manner and it is expected that your Excel
workbook will be used by other staff, and potentially updated in the future by others. Therefore,
you would be well advised to make your work of the highest quality (e.g. apply screen freezing
to long pages, use name references where appropriate, use lookup functions instead of nested
ifs where a data table exists, do not hardcode changeable data, use appropriate fonts and
colours, graph axes and titles, etc). Keep in mind, however, that your work will be judged
primarily on the quality of your solution, less on their appearance.

7 Plagiarism
It is understandable that students talk with each other regularly and discuss problems and
potential solutions. However, it is expected that the submitted assignment is a unique document
– all parts of the assignment are to be completed solely by the individual student. The best
practice to avoid misconduct is to not look at another student’s file and not show your
solution to another student. In case where an assignment is perceived to not be a unique work,
a loss of marks may occur.

For further information about academic integrity, plagiarism and consequences, please visit
http://ppl.app.uq.edu.au/content/3.60.04-student-integrity-and-misconduct.

8 Submission
To be done through Blackboard Assignment Submission, your Excel Workbook file MUST be
named in the format of BISM7202_StudentLastName_StudentID.xlsx.
If your ID is 41724943 and your family name is Smith, the name of your file would be
BISM7202_Smith_41724943.xlsx.

9 Important Date
Submission Due Date: 20 May 2019 at 13:00 / 1pm

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BISM7202 Excel Assessment Specification Semester 1, 2019

10 Late Submission
Request for extension of the assignment due date will need to be done via the submission of an
online application at this link: https://my.uq.edu.au/node/218/0#0.

The lecturer cannot grant any assessment extensions to students.

You will incur penalties of 5% of the total available marks if your work is submitted late (i.e.
after the due date and without an approved extension). The penalty once calculated is deducted
from the marks awarded for the assessment. Assessment submitted more than 10 days after the
due date will receive zero marks.

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BISM7202 Excel Assessment Specification Semester 1, 2019

11 Marking Rubric
This assignment is worth 40 marks. The marking rubric below is designed to reflect a marking
scheme of 100 points that are at the end scaled back to 40 marks. If you received 75 points out
of 100 points on the below rubric, your final mark out of 40 is calculated as follows: 75 ÷
100 × 40 = 30. Therefore, the final mark would be 30 out of 40.

Criteria Points Poor Satisfactory Good

(100)

Demonstrates a good understanding of functionality relating

Demonstrates a poor understanding of functionality relating

knowledge and self-learning. Few or no errors in solutions.

Formulas &

Demonstrates a satisfactory understanding of functionality

relating to criteria in Microsoft Excel in line with tutorial
32 0 – 15 16 – 24 25 – 32
Functions

to criteria in Microsoft Excel. Many errors remain in

to criteria in Microsoft Excel in line with tutorial

knowledge only. Some errors exist in solution.
Tables and
10 0–4 5–7 8 – 10
Charts
Database and
Advanced 16 0–7 8 – 12 13 – 16
Functions solution.
PivotTables
and 7 0–3 4–5 6–7
PivotCharts
What-If
11 0–5 6–8 9 – 11
Analysis

Solver 11 0–5 6–8 9 – 11

Conditional
6 0–2 3–4 5–6
Formatting
unprofessional process in developing solution.

Few or no errors exist in solution. Follows an

satisfactory process in developing solution.

excellent process in developing solution.

Some errors exist in solution. Follows a
Many errors exist in solution. Follows

General 7 0–3 4–5 6–7

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