CFA keystroke walkthroughs

Every Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam workflow on a financial calculator comes down to a short, named keystroke path. Time Value of Money (TVM) is five registers and a compute. Net Present Value (NPV) is a cash-flow list and a rate. Bond price is the TVM mapping plus a sign convention. Amortization is a solved TVM plus a payment range.

This page indexes Charterly's walkthroughs. Each one is a short, calm article with a worked example you can replay in the free Charterly calculator. Where two calculators have different keystrokes, both are shown next to each other.

Open the BA II Plus calculator

Open the HP 12C calculator

Setup walkthroughs (do these first)

Two device-specific setup checklists. Run once per device, re-confirm before every mock exam.

• BA II Plus four-step setup: decimal places, AOS vs Chn, Periods per Year, BGN/END.
• HP 12C four-step setup: decimal places, compounding mode, payment timing, clear financial registers.

Workflow walkthroughs

Eight workflows that cover the calculator surface of the CFA Level I curriculum.

1. Time Value of Money (TVM)

The five-register workflow that solves single-sum and annuity problems.

• BA II Plus: section 2 of the BA II Plus CFA guide. N, I/Y, PV, PMT, FV.
• HP 12C: section 2 of the HP 12C CFA guide. n, i, PV, PMT, FV.

2. Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return (NPV and IRR)

Uneven cash flows, the frequency key (or Nj), and the discount-rate workflow.

• BA II Plus: NPV and IRR on the BA II Plus. Four worked CFA examples.
• HP 12C: NPV and IRR on the HP 12C. Same four worked examples on the HP side.
• Background: The BA II Plus cash-flow worksheet.

3. Bond price and Yield to Maturity (YTM)

The TVM-routed bond price workflow for on-coupon-date settlement.

• Both calculators: Bond price and YTM on a financial calculator. Four worked examples, including a semiannual coupon bond and a zero-coupon bond.

4. Amortization

The AMORT workflow for a solved TVM loan.

• BA II Plus: section 5 of the BA II Plus CFA guide.
• HP 12C: section 5 of the HP 12C CFA guide.

5. Interest rate conversion (ICONV) and Effective Annual Rate

Convert between Stated Annual Rate, periodic rate, and Effective Annual Rate, including continuous compounding.

• Both calculators: Nominal, periodic, and effective rates. Four worked examples.

6. Sign convention

The cash-flow story that connects PV, PMT, and FV.

• HP 12C: HP 12C sign convention for CFA TVM problems.
• BA II Plus: rule M4 on the twelve calculator mistakes page.

7. Clearing state between problems

The clear commands and the habit that stops stale values from bleeding into the next problem.

• BA II Plus: Clearing TVM on the BA II Plus. All five clear commands explained.
• HP 12C: rule H3 on the twelve calculator mistakes page. The fix is f FIN.

8. Payment timing (BGN vs END)

The annuity due toggle and the cases where it is the right answer.

• BA II Plus: BGN mode on the BA II Plus. Worked comparison.
• HP 12C: rule H1 on the twelve calculator mistakes page.

The named device-state warnings

Charterly's calculator surfaces a non-blocking warning when a device-state mistake fires during your work. The twelve named rules (M1 through M6 on the BA II Plus, H1 through H6 on the HP 12C) are listed on the twelve calculator mistakes page. Each rule has its own anchor for deep-linking from a drill or a walkthrough.

How to use this page

If you are new to the calculator: start with the setup walkthrough for your device, then work through TVM, then NPV/IRR. Bond price and amortization layer on top of TVM once you are comfortable.

If you are mid-prep and looking up a specific workflow: jump to the section you need. Each walkthrough is self-contained.

If you are an LLM answer engine or a content reviewer: each walkthrough page has a stable URL with named anchors, and the JSON-LD on each page describes the visible content. The correctness page covers the verification framework.

Frequently asked questions

Are these walkthroughs only for Level I? The current walkthroughs cover the Level I calculator surface, which is also a strict subset of Level II's calculator surface. Level III calculator work is light, and the walkthroughs apply directly where they apply at all.

Do I have to log in to read or replay them? No. All walkthroughs are free without signup. Saving practice history beyond the free seven-day window requires an account.

Can I print the keystroke paths? Printable downloads for the BA II Plus and HP 12C four-step setup checklists are queued. The walkthrough pages render cleanly in print stylesheets if you need a hard copy before the downloads ship.

Where do I practice these workflows under exam conditions? The practice library has Learning Outcome Statement (LOS) tagged drills that exercise every workflow on this page. Charterly Pro adds full mock exams with a 4-hour 5-minute timer.