How we got there
Read this like a teacher at the board. We go slowly, name every number, and say why we take each step.
Explain in another language · 11
1. What is the question asking?
Read the question twice. Circle the unknown. Underline every number and unit. The paper is asking: Credit sales were R60 000 in January and R80 000 in February. Debtors pay 40% in the month of sale and 55% in the following month; 5% become bad debts. Calculate the cash expected from debtors in February.
In other words — as if you have never seen this before
If you have never seen this before: February receipts = 40% of February's sales + 55% of January's sales. Bad debts are never received. We will name a method in words, write the formula with no numbers, then substitute one line at a time.
2. What do we already know?
Jan R60 000, Feb R80 000. 40% same month, 55% next month, 5% bad.
3. Which method — and why this one?
February receipts = 40% of February's sales + 55% of January's sales. Bad debts are never received.
4. Step-by-step working
01 / 06
Multiply
40%×80 000=R32 000.
0,40×80 000=32 000Why this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
02 / 06
Multiply
55%×60 000=R33 000.
0,55×60 000=33 000Why this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
03 / 06
Add
32 000+33 000=R65 000.
32 000+33 000=65 000Why this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
04 / 06
Step G — Sense-check the size
Ask: is this the kind of number a Grade 10–12 paper would want? A speed of 3 000 ms for a learner walking, or a probability bigger than 1, means a unit or algebra slip. Estimate first: round the numbers and do the sum in your head.
Why this step: Markers write ‘unrealistic’ in the margin when the method is right but the size is wild. A 10-second head check often finds a missing 10² or a unit that never changed.
05 / 06
Step F — Box the answer with its unit
R65 000 from debtors in February.
Why this step: A number without a unit is half a mark on a Physics paper, and a marker can miss a Maths answer that is buried in working.
06 / 06
Step H — What the marker is looking for
On an NSC memo you usually earn: (1) a method mark for naming the right formula or idea in words, (2) an accuracy mark for substituting the given numbers with units, (3) an accuracy mark for the boxed answer with its unit. Write those three lines even if you are unsure of the arithmetic — blank pages score zero.
Why this step: First-timers chase the final number and leave the method blank. The memo still pays out for the idea and the substitution even when the last line is wrong.
5. The answer
R65 000 from debtors in February.
Copy onto your answer sheet — in this order
Formula: 0,40×80 000=32 000
Answer: R65 000 from debtors in February.
6. Check it like a marker
Depreciation and bad debts never appear in a cash budget because no cash moves.
7. A trap first-timers fall into
First-timers often grab the first formula they remember, mix units (cm with m, minutes with seconds), or drop a minus sign. Write the formula in words first: “this equals that, because…”