commercial activity


1.

money

coins and notes, should be considered to be small items of value, such as a small amount of gold or silver.

bank account balances represent a large amount of this.



cheques

a paper note indicating to a bank to trasfer money out of one's own account into someone else's. On the cheque is written the name of
the recipient, and the amount.

a 'bank cheque' is equivalent to a sum of cash, a personal cheque only results in a transfer if there is sufficient money in the sending
person's account to cover the amount.




contracts

an agreement between two parties, if one party does not fulfill the terms specified for them, the other party can take legal action and

seek a court judgement ordering a sum of money in compensation from the other party.



patents

if an invention is protected by a patent, other people cannot use the invention without the permission of the 

patent holder, which may include paying licence fees for the right to use the process.

patents must be applied for.



copyright

any written work is automatically protected by copyright, which gives the author rights to prevent unauthorised copying or publishing of the work.



company

a company is a legal name, with the value of the company's assets and income split into a number of shares, usually thousands or millions of shares.

assets can be owned in the name of the company.

activites are directed by a number of directors, usually between 3 and 15

directors may be the owners of the company (major shareholdings) or others in the case of large public companies such as mining companies and banks.



balance sheet

statement of assets (cash, patents, buildings etc) and liabilities (debts, other amounts owed such as amounts due)



profit & loss statement

statement of revenue (incoming amounts), and expenses



2.

employment

work activity office work, shop assistance, etc.

generally 36 to 38 hours per week, 9am to 5pm monday to friday for example, shift work in some industries

employer provides the work environment including equipment (desks, chairs etc), a salary (sum of money) paid each week or fortnight.

complex legislation governing pay rates, annual holidays (4wk per year), etc.



trade

e.g. send 100 tonnes of wheat each month to country X in exchange for 25 tonnes of coffee, agreement for a 6 year period.



transactions

buying (items in shops etc), sum of currency handed over in exchange for item, price is fixed

selling items (property, etc)



settlement

exchanging the physical item for the funds, may involve signing receipts, statements etc, arranged for a specified date and time.

ensure that the terms of the agreement (price, quantity, items etc) are agreed before the settlement date is agreed and takes place.

