300Hours: Master your BAII+ for the CFA exams

Speed matters in the CFA exam. It's worth investing some time to learn how to use your calculator better, especially earlier on in your CFA prep.

(Side-tip: If you're still choosing your calculator, get the BA II Plus - the base model, NOT the professional one. It's the easiest to use, cheapest and least likely to give you trouble.)

There are step-by-step keystrokes and examples in our guide here, but the main points you should cover (and why) are:

Have a Killer Setup
Lots of small niggles can be solved right at the start by having the right setup. In general, do these 3 things:

• Increase To 9 Decimal Places - this ensures you don't have any rounding issues. Our guide specifies 'floating decimals' so that you don't see any unnecessary zeros.
• Set The Period Per Year To 1 - most common configuration used for most CFA questions.
• Use Algebraic Operating System (AOS) Instead of Chain Method (CHN) - so that 3 + 4 x 5 = 23, not 35.

Learn how to use these keys / keystrokes, you will use them a lot

• Parentheses (Or Brackets)
• Clear Entries & Memories
• Power Function (Exponents)
• Memory Function - storing and recalling numbers is something you'll use for almost every calculation
• Stat Function - a nearly unknown trick when we first started writing about it, now all competent CFA candidates know this!

If you have any questions, they may be covered in our FAQ - otherwise drop them in the comments and I'll answer!