A note for teachers
AP Business with Personal Finance is a project-based course, and the projects are where students apply what they learn. The Business Canvas Project runs across Units 1 to 4: students design their own business idea piece by piece as each unit unfolds. It is never submitted to College Board, but Free-Response Question 1 (about 25 minutes and 15% of the exam score) asks students to pitch and validate their own project, so the quality of the project work shows up directly on exam day.
The trouble with a brand-new course is that there are very few models of what finished work looks like. The pages below fill that gap. Each one is complete, so you can project it, hand it out, or borrow from it, and each is written to show the thinking behind the work, not just the final answer.
These are independent examples, not College Board materials. Adapt them to your own requirements and rubric.
Start here
The guide to hand students when the project launches.
Business Canvas Project Guide →
A step-by-step guide written for students: what the Canvas Project is, how to build each piece unit by unit, why hypothesis testing matters, and how the project is tested on FRQ 1.
In your classroom: Hand it out at project launch so students see the whole arc, and the payoff on the exam, before they start. It pairs with any of the worked examples below. The piece students most often skip is hypothesis testing, and the guide calls it out directly, so it is a good page to revisit when you reach that task.
Worked Business Canvas examples
Three complete projects, each built task by task across Units 1 to 4, with customer research, hypothesis testing, pricing, financials, and exam-day validation practice. Three different business models means students see several ways to succeed.
Paws & Relax Luxury Pet Resort →
A service business: an upscale doggy daycare and grooming spa in Overland Park, Kansas. About $195,000 to start, with an estimated $65,000 in monthly revenue.
In your classroom: The original and most detailed example. It ties the work to the six project components (customer, product, market, operations, organization, finance and accounting), so it is the best one to show at each stage as you reach it. It also includes exam-day validation practice for FRQ 1.
Loop Threads →
A product business: an online brand that curates and upcycles secondhand clothing for teens and young adults. About $28,000 to start, with an estimated $11,500 in monthly revenue.
In your classroom: A smaller-scale, product-based model. It shows students that a strong project does not need a big budget, and it contrasts nicely with the pet resort when you compare a product business to a service business.
PeerPrep →
A digital business: a peer-tutoring app that connects high school students with vetted student tutors. About $42,000 to start, with an estimated $14,000 in monthly revenue.
In your classroom: An idea students relate to, which makes it a good discussion piece for the customer problem, pricing, and trust. It is also a useful model for a digital marketplace that connects two groups of customers.
Personal finance project
The companion project on the personal finance side of the course.
Financial Advisor Project (sample) →
Students act as financial advisors for a fictional household, the Reynolds family. They analyze income, spending, debt, insurance, and goals, then recommend a comprehensive plan in a written report and a short presentation.
In your classroom: The page includes student instructions, the family profile, a completed sample report, and a slide outline, so you can show what strong work looks like. The teacher notes suggest ways to modify the scenario (change income, debt balances, or family size, or add a job-loss or medical event), possible extensions such as a budgeting spreadsheet or peer review, and scoring categories you can turn into a rubric.
More for planning your course
Looking for review activities to pair with the projects? See the games. For pacing, practice, and everything else free on the site, visit For Teachers, or start with the exam guide for how the projects connect to the exam.