How to use the BA II Plus and HP 12C for the CFA exam: keystrokes, settings and tricks

13 October 2026 · 13 min read · Charta Learning

Passing the CFA® Program exams is not about being clever with a calculator, but a wrong setting or a long-winded keystroke sequence costs minutes over a paper. This tutorial covers the two approved models, the Texas Instruments BA II Plus and the Hewlett Packard 12C: the settings to fix before anything else, the sequences you will use every day, and the tricks that save time, including how to store a result and use it again. Every sequence below can be tried in the practice calculators inside Charta (see the next section), and each was checked there against a worked answer.

Practise on the calculator inside Charta

Tap the Calculator button on any study screen, on a practice question, or in the bar of a mock exam, and a practice BA II Plus or HP 12C opens. Switch between the two at the top.

• Move it, resize it, fold it away. Drag it by its title bar, use the smaller and larger buttons, or fold it to a strip. Charta remembers where you left it.
• Every function on both keyboards works, from time value of money, cash flows, amortisation and statistics to bonds, depreciation and dates. Only the HP 12C's programming is left out.
• Try the keys you were given. When Tutor on tap gives a key sequence for a question (set Calculator keys to your model), press the keys yourself in the practice calculator and check that the display matches the figure it quotes.

It is a practice tool, not a replacement for your own approved calculator, which you must bring to the exam. Learn the real keys on the real machine, and use the simulator to check a sequence quickly or to practise away from your desk.

Five settings to fix before you calculate anything

Most wrong answers on the day are not hard questions answered badly. They are easy questions answered on a calculator that was left in the wrong state.

1. Clear what is left over. An earlier question's numbers sit in memory and silently feed into the next answer.
2. Set the decimals. Show four, or more. A display of two decimal places hides the difference between answers that are close.
3. Check payments per year. The BA II Plus assumes 12 payments a year until you tell it otherwise.
4. Check begin or end. Annuities due start payments at the beginning of the period.
5. Check the calculation order on the BA II Plus (see below).

On the BA II Plus

• Clear time value of money: 2ND CLR TVM (the second function above FV).
• Clear a worksheet (cash flows, statistics, bonds): open it, then 2ND CLR WORK.
• Decimals: 2ND FORMAT shows DEC = 2. Type 4 (or 9), press ENTER, then 2ND QUIT. The setting stays until you reset the calculator.
• Payments per year: 2ND P/Y shows P/Y = 12. Type 1, press ENTER, and 2ND QUIT. That sets compounding per year to 1 as well. For monthly mortgages, leave it at 12.
• Begin or end of period: 2ND BGN, then 2ND SET to switch between END and BGN, then 2ND QUIT. BGN shows on the display while it is on. Switch it back after an annuity due.
• Chain or algebraic arithmetic: in the FORMAT worksheet, press the down arrow until you reach Chn, then 2ND SET to change it to AOS, and 2ND QUIT. In chain mode 12 + 3 × 4 = gives 60, because each operator acts on the running total. In AOS mode it gives 24, because multiplication comes first. Know which one your calculator is in. Many candidates prefer AOS, since it matches how a formula is written.
• Full reset: 2ND RESET, then ENTER. It puts every setting back to the factory default, including payments per year at 12 and decimals at 2. Only do it when you mean to, and redo the settings afterwards.

On the HP 12C

• Clear time value of money: f CLEAR FIN (the gold function on x≷y). f CLEAR REG (on CLx) clears the storage registers as well.
• Decimals: f then the number of places, for example f 4.
• Begin or end: g BEG (on 7) and g END (on 8). BEGIN shows on the display while it is on.
• Monthly rates and periods: the i key takes an annual rate for the period you are counting in. To work in months, type the annual rate and press g 12÷ (the blue function on i) and type the years and press g 12× (on n). For annual problems, enter the numbers directly.
• Reverse Polish notation: you enter numbers first, then the operator. ENTER separates two numbers. To work out (2 + 3) × 4, press 2 ENTER 3 + 4 × and the display shows 20. There are no brackets to manage, which is why many HP users find long calculations quicker once the habit forms.

Time value of money

Both calculators use the same five keys: N, I/Y (or i), PV, PMT and FV. Enter four of them and compute the fifth. Two rules cover most mistakes:

• Cash you pay out is negative; cash you receive is positive. If you invest 1,000 today, key it as a negative PV and expect a positive FV. A positive PV and a positive FV together usually return an error or a nonsensical answer.
• N counts periods, not years. Five years of monthly payments is 60. The rate must match: an annual rate with monthly periods needs dividing by 12, which the BA II Plus does for you when payments per year is 12.

Example: the future value of 1,000 at 6% for 5 years

• BA II Plus (with payments per year set to 1): 5 N, 6 I/Y, 1000 +/- PV, CPT FV. The display shows 1,338.23.
• HP 12C: 5 n, 6 i, 1000 CHS PV, FV. The display shows 1,338.23.

Leave the BA II Plus at its default of 12 payments a year and the same keystrokes return 1,025.25, which is the value after 5 months at 0.5% a month. This is the most common avoidable error on the machine. If an annual problem produces an odd answer, check payments per year first.

Example: the monthly payment on a 30-year loan

A loan of 100,000 at 5% a year over 30 years, paid monthly.

• BA II Plus (payments per year at 12): 360 N, 5 I/Y, 100000 PV, 0 FV, CPT PMT. The display shows -536.82. The payment is negative because it is money you pay.
• HP 12C: 360 n, 5 g 12÷ (which divides the annual rate by 12 and stores 0.4167% in i), 100000 PV, 0 FV, PMT. The display shows -536.82.

A quicker way to enter the term on the BA II Plus is to type the years and press 2ND xP/Y, which multiplies by the payments per year. 30 2ND xP/Y puts 360 in N.

Solving for the other variables

Compute whichever key is unknown: enter the four you know and press CPT and the fifth (BA II Plus), or the fifth key alone (HP 12C). Two details worth knowing:

• Solving for N on the HP 12C rounds up to a whole period. Invest 1,000 at 7% to reach 2,000 and the BA II Plus gives 10.24 years, while the HP 12C displays 11. Remember it when the question asks for a fractional answer.
• Solving for the rate needs a sign change somewhere. If PV and FV are both positive and there is no PMT, there is no rate that connects them, and the calculator shows an error.

Amortisation: how much of a payment is interest?

After working out the payment above, you can see how a year of payments splits between interest and principal.

• BA II Plus: 2ND AMORT (above PV). Enter P1 = 1 and P2 = 12 and press the down arrow. You see the balance after twelve payments (BAL), the principal repaid (PRN) and the interest paid (INT): BAL 98,524.63, PRN -1,475.37 and INT -4,966.49.
• HP 12C: with the loan keyed in as above, type 12 and press f AMORT (on n). The display shows the interest for those twelve payments, -4,966.50. Press x≷y for the principal, -1,475.36, and RCL PV for the balance, 98,524.64.

The cent difference between the two is not a mistake: the HP 12C rounds each payment's interest to the cent as it goes, as a lender would. Either is acceptable against the multiple-choice options on the exam.

Cash flows: NPV and IRR

Uneven cash flows have their own worksheet on the BA II Plus and their own keys on the HP 12C. Take an investment of 1,000 that returns 300, 400 and 500 over three years, with a discount rate of 10%.

BA II Plus

1. CF, then 2ND CLR WORK to start clean.
2. CF0 shows. Type 1000 +/- ENTER, then the down arrow.
3. C01 shows. Type 300 ENTER, down arrow. F01 is the frequency, which is 1 unless a cash flow repeats, so press the down arrow again.
4. C02: 400 ENTER, down, down. C03: 500 ENTER.
5. NPV, type 10 ENTER, down arrow, CPT. The display shows -21.04.
6. IRR, CPT. The display shows 8.90.

HP 12C

1. 1000 CHS g CF0 (the blue function on PV), 300 g CFj (on PMT), 400 g CFj, 500 g CFj.
2. 10 i, f NPV (on PV). The display shows -21.04.
3. f IRR (on FV). The display shows 8.90.

The tricks that matter

• The frequency saves keystrokes. Level cash flows that repeat go in one entry. An investment of 100 followed by 50 a year for three years is 100 +/- ENTER, 50 ENTER, then 3 in the frequency box (F01), and the IRR is 23.38%. On the HP 12C, type 3 g Nj (on FV) after the 50.
• Re-use the worksheet to test a change. Once the flows are in, change one cell or the discount rate and compute again. You do not retype the rest. Typical uses are "what if the third cash flow is 600" or "what if the rate is 12%".
• The BA II Plus remembers the flows until you clear them. It is a feature when you want to re-check, and a hazard when the next question starts with last question's cash flows. Clear the worksheet at the start of every question.
• Remember the signs. IRR needs at least one outflow and one inflow. A set of flows that are all positive has no IRR.
• Insert or delete a cash flow on the BA II Plus while its cell is on screen: 2ND DEL (above the up arrow) removes it and 2ND INS (above the down arrow) inserts a blank one.

Statistics

For a mean and standard deviation from a short list, use the statistics worksheet instead of working out the sums yourself. For the numbers 2, 4, 6 and 8:

• BA II Plus: 2ND DATA (above 7) opens the worksheet. Type 2 ENTER, down arrow (Y01 defaults to 1, so leave it), down arrow, then 4 ENTER, and so on. Then 2ND STAT (above 8). The first setting is LIN, a two-variable regression. Press 2ND SET repeatedly until it shows 1-V for one variable. Scroll with the down arrow: n = 4, mean (x̄) = 5, Sx = 2.58 (the sample standard deviation) and σx = 2.24 (the population standard deviation).
• HP 12C: f CLEAR Σ (the gold function on SST) to clear, then 2 Σ+, 4 Σ+, 6 Σ+, 8 Σ+. Press g x̄ (on 0) for the mean, 5.00, and g s (on the decimal point) for the sample standard deviation, 2.58.

Know which standard deviation the question wants. A sample of data usually wants Sx; a complete population wants σx. The two differ by a margin large enough to change an answer.

The same worksheets give a regression line and correlation when you enter pairs of x and y values: a (the intercept), b (the slope) and r (the correlation).

Saving and re-using results

You will meet a number in the first half of a question that you need again in the second half. Do not write it down to two decimals and retype it. Store it at full precision.

• BA II Plus: type or calculate the number, then STO and a digit 0 to 9. To use it, RCL and the digit. There are ten memories, shown with 2ND MEM (above 0), and they hold their value when the calculator is switched off until you reset it. 2ND ANS (above =) recalls the last answer.
• HP 12C: STO and a digit, RCL and a digit, the same idea. The stack also helps: g LSTx (on ENTER) brings back the number you were using before the last operation, which rescues a calculation after one wrong keystroke.
• Store, do not round. Rounding an intermediate result to two decimals and carrying on is how a correct method ends on the wrong answer option.
• Store a number to compare. Calculate the answer under one assumption, STO it, change the input, calculate again, and RCL the first to compare.
• Store a constant. If every line of a table needs a discount factor or a conversion, store it once and recall it.

Programming on the HP 12C. The real HP 12C can also store a keystroke program, so a sequence you repeat is a single run command. Charta's practice calculator leaves programming out, so learn the keyboard first. If you do use programs, check CFA Institute's current calculator policy before the exam rather than assuming, and clear anything you do not want in the machine.

Other worksheets worth learning

• Interest conversion (BA II Plus 2ND ICONV, above 2): turn a nominal rate and a compounding frequency into an effective rate. A nominal 12% compounded monthly gives an effective 12.68%. See effective annual rate and compounding.
• Percentage change (2ND Δ%, above 5): the change from 100 to 121 is 21%. On the HP 12C: 100 ENTER 110 Δ% gives 10.00.
• Bonds (BA II Plus 2ND BOND, above 9): enter settlement and maturity dates, coupon, call price, day-count basis, coupon frequency and the yield, and compute the price and accrued interest. On the HP 12C, f PRICE and f YTM. See bond pricing and yield to maturity.
• Depreciation (2ND DEPR): straight-line, sum-of-the-years' digits and declining balance, year by year.
• Dates: days between two dates (2ND DATE), on a 30/360 or actual basis.
• Powers and roots: the y^x key and the square root, plus 1/x. A geometric mean or a compound growth rate is a power: type the growth factor, press y^x, then the exponent such as 0.2 for a fifth root.

A routine for every question

1. Clear the worksheet or the TVM registers you are about to use.
2. Check the three settings that change answers: payments per year, begin or end, decimals.
3. Enter the numbers with the right signs, and compute.
4. Ask whether the answer is the right size and sign. A mortgage payment bigger than the loan is a wrong key somewhere.
5. If the answer is not one of the options, check payments per year, begin or end, and whether you rounded an intermediate figure, before you re-do the whole calculation.

Common questions

Which calculator should I choose?

Either. Both are allowed, and candidates pass with both. Pick one early and practise with it every day, since changing in the last weeks costs speed. See which calculator you can use in the CFA exam.

Why does my future value come out too small?

On the BA II Plus, payments per year is almost certainly still 12. Set 2ND P/Y to 1 for annual problems, and key N as the number of periods.

Do the calculators remember my settings when they are off?

The BA II Plus keeps its settings and memories until you reset it, so check them before the exam rather than trusting last week's state. The HP 12C keeps its storage registers for as long as the batteries last. Replace the batteries a week or two before the exam.

Can I practise without my own calculator?

Yes: the practice calculators inside Charta are for exactly that. They behave like the real machines, including the BA II Plus defaulting to 12 payments a year and the HP 12C rounding a computed N up. Move to your own calculator for the final weeks.

Sources

• CFA Institute, The CFA Program: the calculator policy and exam-day rules.
• Texas Instruments, BA II Plus Professional guidebook, and Hewlett Packard, HP 12C user's guide: the worksheets and key functions. Charta's practice calculators follow these.

Charta Learning is independent of CFA Institute, Texas Instruments and Hewlett Packard. Check the current CFA Institute calculator policy before the exam.