April 30th, 2015
*IMPORTANT* CALCULATOR SETTINGS FOR UPCOMING CFP® CERTIFICATION EXAMS
The CFP Board sets rules regarding materials allowed in the exam room, and will usually "clear" calculators. Proctors at exam testing centers are resetting all financial calculators back to original factory settings.
As a result, any settings for compound interest and decimal settings are being deleted.
One student reported, “Prometrics reset both of [my calculators] to factory settings before I entered the exam. It was quite a shock to see my calculator wasn’t the way I set it up when I turned it back on.”
To solve this issue, we recommend you clear your calculator and practice the steps for resetting it back to the essential compound interest and decimal settings.
Below are the directions to reset your HP financial calculator to the preferred settings when taking the CFP® exam:
HP10BII and HP10BII+
|
HP17BII
|
HP12C
|
HP 10BII and HP10BII+ |
Keystrokes | Display |
[ORANGE- SHIFT] [DISP] 4 | 0.0000 |
HP 17BII |
Keystrokes | Display |
[DSP] | SELECT DISPLAY FORMAT |
[FIX] | TYPE # DIGITS (0-11); PRESS [INPUT] |
4 [INPUT] | 0.0000 |
HP 12C |
Keystrokes | Display |
[f] 4 | 0.0000 |
HP 10BII and HP10BII+ |
Keystrokes | Display |
1 [“ORANGE” shift] [P/YR] (NOTE – the [P/YR] key is the [PMT], not the [N] key | 0.0000 |
HP 17BII |
Keystrokes | Display |
[FIN] | SELECT A MENU |
[TVM | 1 P/YR END MODE |
[OTHER] | 1 P/YR END MODE |
1 [P/YR] | 1 P/YR END MODE |
EXIT | 1 P/YR END MODE |
HP 12C |
The HP 12C is automatically set to one period per year |
Practice and memorize these steps before exam day. The last thing you want is to go to the exam and worry about figuring this out, so make sure you know how to do it before you go to the testing center!
If you have questions about this or have important information about exam day procedures you feel other students should know about, please contact us at (877) 426-2373 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..