BA II Plus Calculator: Keystroke Trainer for CFA & FRM

Yes. Both exams accept the BA II Plus and the BA II Plus Professional. The CFA Institute calculator policy allows only one other family, the HP 12C. GARP (the Global Association of Risk Professionals) runs FRM. It also allows three other HP models, per its FRM exam policies.

Plain takeaway: one BA II Plus covers both exams, so learn one set of keystrokes.

CFA Institute inspects calculators before the exam. You may bring a cover, a keystroke card, loose batteries and a small screwdriver. Manuals are not allowed, and you cannot borrow a calculator at the test centre. Online calculators, including this trainer, are not allowed in either exam.

Set it up once at home. Then check three things before every problem: P/Y, BGN or END, and a cleared worksheet. Think of it like a pilot's checklist: short, and done every time. Most lost marks come from a setting left over from the last question, not from the maths.

• Decimals. 2NDFORMAT 4 ENTER. The screen shows 2 by default. Set 4 or more, so long answers do not look rounded.
• Calculation method. In FORMAT, press ↓ four times. Chn (chain) works left to right: 3 + 2 × 4 = 20. AOS (algebraic) does × first: 11. Pick one and practise with it.
• P/Y. 2NDP/Y. After a reset it is 1, says the TI guidebook. Yours may show another value, so check it. Clearing TVM does not reset it.
• BGN or END. A small BGN on the screen means payments at the start. No BGN means END.
• Clear the worksheet. 2NDCLR TVM for TVM, or 2NDCLR WORK inside CF, AMORT or BOND.
• Full reset, if stuck. 2NDRESETENTER. It wipes everything, including your decimal (DEC) setting.

It follows a sign rule: money you pay out is negative, money you receive is positive. Think of it as your wallet: cash leaving is minus, cash arriving is plus. So a loan's PV is positive and its PMT negative.

To type a negative, type the digits, then press +|−. The minus key subtracts from whatever is on the screen. Say every amount has the same sign while you solve for I/Y or N. Then the screen shows Error 5.

Illustrative: you invest ₹1,00,000 today at 8% a year. Enter PV as −100000. CPT FV then shows 215,892.50, a positive amount you receive.

P/Y is payments per year. C/Y is compounding periods per year. The calculator turns I/Y, the yearly rate, into a rate per period using both. Entering P/Y copies the same number into C/Y. So set C/Y only when compounding differs from payments, and always after P/Y.

A simple habit for exam questions: keep P/Y at 1. Then type N as the number of periods and I/Y as the rate per period. Nothing hidden changes the answer.

Plain takeaway: N always counts payments, and P/Y must match how you typed I/Y.

Use BGN when each payment comes at the start of its period, like rent or a lease. Use END, the default, for most loans and bonds. BGN gives a higher present value, because each payment arrives one period sooner. The mode stays on until you switch it back.

Illustrative: take 100 a year for 5 years at 10%. It is worth 379.08 today in END mode, and 416.99 in BGN mode. To switch, press 2ND [BGN] 2ND [SET], then 2ND [QUIT]. BGN does not change the cash flow worksheet.

NPV (net present value) is what future cash flows are worth today, minus the cost. IRR (internal rate of return) is the rate that makes NPV zero. Press CF, then 2ND [CLR WORK] to wipe old flows. Enter CF0, then each amount (C01, C02 …) and how often it repeats (F01, F02 …). The calculator holds up to 24 flows after CF0.

For NPV, press NPV, type the rate per period as a percentage, ENTER, ↓, CPT. For IRR, press IRR, CPT. With no sign change, IRR shows Error 5. With several sign changes, it shows the root closest to zero.

The AMORT (amortization) worksheet splits loan payments into principal (PRN) and interest (INT), and shows the balance left (BAL). It uses the payment rounded to your decimal setting. CPT FV uses the unrounded payment. So a balance after 12 payments can differ by a few paise from FV after 12 periods.

Illustrative: a ₹10,00,000 loan at 9% over 20 years has a monthly payment of 8,997.26. Payments 1 to 12 then show INT = −89,240.01. Both are negative because you pay them.

Use TVM keys when you are on a coupon date. Work in coupon periods. N = years × coupons a year. I/Y = YTM (yield to maturity) ÷ coupons a year. PMT = coupon per period, and FV = face value. CPT PV gives the price as a negative.

Use the BOND worksheet for a date between coupons. It gives the clean price (PRI) and the accrued interest (AI) per 100 of face value. Accrued interest is the coupon earned since the last payment. Dates go in as MM.DDYY: 6 March 2027 is 3.0627.

No. Both models are allowed, and the standard BA II Plus covers the exam worksheets here. The Professional adds extra cash flow outputs and bond duration. Those are NFV (net future value), payback, discounted payback and MOD (modified IRR), plus DUR (modified duration).

This trainer uses keys found on both models. On the Professional, the cash flow and bond worksheets show those extra lines after the ones you use here.

Your numbers run through two engines. A tested maths engine gives the answer. A key-by-key model of the worksheets then replays the keystrokes and shows the screen after each group. The two must agree, or the page tells you to trust your own calculator. Every number on this page comes from those two engines.

The model follows the BA II PLUS guidebook from Texas Instruments. That covers defaults, rounding in AMORT, the bond formulas and the error codes. Our tests check it against the guidebook's worked examples. Each slip is your problem replayed with one key changed.

• CFA Institute: calculator policy (page updated 12 Jan 2026: approved models, inspection, covers and keystroke cards)
• GARP: FRM exam policies (authorized calculators; unauthorized use means the exam is not graded)
• Texas Instruments: BA II PLUS guidebook (PDF) (defaults, worksheets, AMORT rounding, bond formulas, error messages)
• Texas Instruments: BA II PLUS PROFESSIONAL guidebook (PDF) (NFV, payback, MOD and DUR)