Be an Actuary Review of Calculator Functions for Ba Ii
Speed and accuracy matter for the CFA, FRM and CAIA exams. It is worth investing some time to acquire how to use your calculator more effectively.
This Texas Instruments BA II Plus guide is the ultimate list of some bottom-known, time-saving calculator functions that yous need to know for your CFA exam preparations.
These tips and advice apply to both BA II Plus & BA 2 Plus Professional figurer models. It likewise assumes yous already know the basics like calculating IRR, NPV and time value of coin.
I'll start off with a discussion on which figurer version I prefer (and why), moving on to the recommended reckoner settings for CFA exams, then jumping into details of each role I found useful, before ending with the usual FAQ department.
Let's swoop in!
- BA 2 Plus vs. BA 2 Plus Professional
- BA Ii Plus calculator – three recommended settings for CFA exams
- 1) Increase to 9 decimal places
- 2) Set the menstruum per year to 1
- three) Use Algebraic Operating Organization (AOS) instead of Chain Method (CHN)
- How to employ BA Two Plus: Additional tips & functions y'all should know
- Parentheses (or brackets)
- Clear entries & memories: Backspace, CE|C and Clear TVM buttons
- Power function (exponents): The K function and y^ten push button
- Retentivity function: Storing & recalling values and clearing memories
- Stat office: Crazy shortcuts to standard deviation, variance & mean
- BA 2 Plus calculator assist & FAQ
- Why is my BA II Plus rounding?
- Can I solve normal distribution questions with BA II Plus?
- My BA II Plus is not calculating correctly. Need troubleshooting help!
- How to reset BA II Plus calculator?
- What is the typical BA 2 Plus battery life?
- What battery does BA II Plus need?
- How do I modify or replace my BA 2 Plus calculator'southward bombardment?
BA 2 Plus vs. BA II Plus Professional
The BA Two Plus calculator is used past near CFA exam candidates – but which should you choose? BA Ii Plus or BA Two Plus Professional version?
Having tried both thoroughly,I would recommend using the basic BA Two Plus model instead of the Professional version.
Here's why.
I prefer simple BA Ii Plus model because:
- it does the job well,
- it is lighter, and
- the buttons press is superior without much forcefulness required – this is more than important than you first recall (come across below).
Whilst BA Ii Plus Professional certainly looks better and feels more premium, I felt the effort to make it premium (weight and push press) did the estimator a disservice without extra benefits vs the "basic" model:
- More expensive
- Near 50% heavier than BA II Plus (including its cover) – yes, nosotros measured. The Professional version doesn't come up with a cover by the mode.
- The button blueprint isactually my pet peeve here:
- Sure, the Professional version'due south buttons feel more premium, however they are harder to press and non as responsive when keying in data. If you apply this for hours, yous can't really beget to constantly check if data has been entered correctly. This can present quite an unnecessary source of calculation mistakes.
- Too, the Professional person version'south push are still colour, in an effort to await sleek. The2d button is but a shade lighter than the rest. Merely that's it. Having the colour differentiation across the numbers,2d button and TVM functions are actually quite handy, for me at least.
- What about the extra features in Professional? I don't detect them necessary nor worth information technology, the touted NFV additional function only applies very select cases of NPV, and can be done via NPV yourself anyway. It is better to stick to the standard NPV function and larn one way to doing that to avoid confusion and waste material time with unnecessary complexities that overall don't save much time, nor is tested oftentimes.
Yous don't reallyneed BA Ii Plus Professional. And you certainly don't need a fiscal calculator to tell yous that yous're an Advanced Business organisation Annotator, vs. just a Concern Analyst 🙂
If you haven't got a BA Ii Plus calculator and decided on your model at present, you can easily become the latest model on Amazon:
BA II Plus
simple, light, affordable and gets the task done.
BA Ii Plus Professional
BA II Plus figurer – 3 recommended settings for CFA exams
Make certain that you lot don't execute the RESET part (i.e.2ND +|− ) unless you want to reset all your settings dorsum to mill settings. For more info on how to reset your calculator, come across the Help & FAQ section.
If yous accidentally did that (or if ane of the proctors did that to your calculator before the exams – it happens), make certain you lot learn how to reconfigure your calculator settings as below.
i) Increment to ix decimal places
 Screen will show 'DEC = 9'. If at that place is no ' = ' sign, pressENTER again to register your settings. | Your reckoner's default is two decimals. For the CFA exams, we recommend a nine decimal setting for floating decimals. Floating decimals essentially means that the calculator volition testify as many decimals (upward to 9, in this example) for each number as needed. For example, with a 9 decimal setting, the calculator volition prove 2 as 2 (with no decimals), but will show two.39756732 equally 2.39756732. |
2) Set the menses per year to ane
 | This is to check that the setting is right for nearly calculations you lot need for the CFA exam curriculum. Set "P/Y", i.e. menstruation per year = ane. Recent BA Two Plus calculators accept 1 as default, all the same much older models take a default of 12. So worth checking merely in instance. |
3) Employ Algebraic Operating System (AOS) instead of Chain Method (CHN)
 Screen should show 'AOS'. If non just repeat the keystrokes. | Fix your calculation method to Algebraic Operating System (AOS). This ways that when yous calculate 3 + four x 5, it volition prove 23. The concatenation method (Chn) still, volition show 35. Nosotros recommend AOS method setup to avert confusion. |
How to utilize BA Ii Plus: Additional tips & functions yous should know
The tips listed here applies to all levels. Try them, and cull whichever works all-time for you.
This department is not meant to be a comprehensive section nigh all the IRR, NPV, TVM and CF functions that you lot need to know for your exams, simply rather a few tips that hopefully speeds up your calculation procedure whilst maintaining accuracy.
Parentheses (or brackets)
 | I find these parentheses buttons quite helpful in making certain I compute correctly, as putting brackets (just like writing them on paper) ensures that the computation is washed in the preferred order and logical way. |
Clear entries & memories: Backspace, CE|C and Clear TVM buttons
Backspace button  | This is a useful backspace push, specially when yous make a mistake in the eye of typing out a long equation, you don't have to restart. For example, pressing2 x 3 → 2 = will requite yous 4, as y'all have reversed the error of pressing3 without the demand to restart the whole functioning. Y'all have meliorate control and can delete by character/numbers, rather than clearing the whole previous entry similar the role below. |
CE|C button: 1x clears previous entry  CE|C button: 2x clears everything | Using the aforementioned example previously, pressingCE|C in one case clears the previous entry entirely, whereas pressing it twice clears everything. And sotwo x iii CE|C ii = will give you lot 4.2 x 3 CE|C CE|C will but give you 0, as pressing CE|C finer clears everything in the calculation. Pro tip: Printing the CE|C button twice to clear your estimator before moving to the new calculation. |
CLR TVM push button: Articulate TVM Worksheet  | Make sure you clear all previous work before you start any TVM calculations. Information technology may sound obvious, but yous need to brand this a habit every bit information technology is 1 master source of calculation mistake. |
CLR WORK button  | If you desire to clear just an individual memory, just store a zero value in it. More info on how to store values further below → However, if you desire to clear all 10 memory slots, press2ND 0 2nd CE|C. Remember, clearing memory earlier starting a new adding is cardinal to avoid errors. |
Power function (exponents): The K office and y^10 button
The One thousand function  | This is a quick compounding part, especially when discounting or in TVM questions. For instance, if you pressone 10 1.05 2ND % =, information technology volition give you one.05 (compounded once). Pressing= continuously north times volition give you the reply for 1.05^due north, where n = 2, 3, 4… |
y^x push button  | To use the power office or exercise exponentials, use the y^ten button. Brand sure you have set your figurer to AOS mode first. Then try this example: 5 x 10^3. The calculator keystrokes are:5 x 10 y^x three =, which should become you 5,000 under AOS setting. You can fifty-fifty use fractions in the exponents, e.m.3 x 100 y^x 0.25 = 9.486832981. |
Retentivity office: Storing & recalling values and immigration memories
| Storing & Recalling Numbers To store a number:  To recall a number: | Storing values are crucial for more than complex calculations. Storing(STO) and recalling(RCL) numbers in the calculator's retentiveness speeds things up significantly. To shop the number on your calculator screen, pressSTO then for exampleone to assign it to slot 1. To recall that aforementioned number, pressRCL 1. Lifesaver! |
Call back Your Last Answer  | As well there's some other lesser known great feature that recalls the final answer of your computation. It updates the value continuously and reflects your terminal answer. Handy if you forgot to shop information technology, or need it equally an input to the next equation. |
| Immigration All Memory / Stored Values | Finally, you lot need to remember and know how to clear stored values: one) To clear an individual memory, merely shop a zero value in information technology, i.e. press0 STO iii (if clearing memory slot 3 only, for instance). 2) To articulate all x stored memories (numbers 0-9) using the CLR WORK function by pressing2ND 0 second CE|C. |
Stat role: Crazy shortcuts to standard deviation, variance & hateful
While I'm not going to go into detail of how to employ TVM, NPV, IRR or CF functions (you should know this anyway), the Statistics part is ane of the relatively unknown functions that actually saves a ton of time particularly for Quants or Portfolio Direction topics. Basically whatsoever question that requires calculation of the standard deviation or mean from a data set would be perfect for this.
Best to illustrate this withan case with sample information gear up: 20, fifteen, five, -3, viii
 | 1) To setup your calculator to practice unmarried variable statistics, press2d 8. |
 (Repeat until yous reach the 'ane-V' setting) | 2) Toggle using2nd ENTER until you encounter 1-Five. The other four settings: LIN, PWR, EXP, Ln are for regression analyses which we won't be needing for CFA exams. |
| | iii) Clear screen and permit'south input the information in a higher place. |
 | four) Enter the Data setting (press2ND 7). 5) Always clear memory of previous entries before entering new information by pressing2ND CE|C (CLR Work). |
 | half dozen) Then, enter data into X01, X02, X03…. etc, and leave Y01, Y02, Y03… every bit default of 1. X represents data, whilst Y represents frequency of that data betoken. |
 (Echo ↓ as needed) | 7) Finally, you lot enter into the Stats function to see 'ane-V', which is the correct setting. By toggling with the↓ button, y'all'll see the results: n=v; A quick way to become the population mean and standard deviation! |
Okay, that may not seem like a large deal to you.
The Stat function's truthful time-saving power comes when you're asked to expect for standard deviation or variance in a slightly more than complex question like this:
| Nugget Type | Weighting | Return |
|---|---|---|
| Existent Estate | 0.55 | -2.iii% |
| Equities | 0.35 | 9.0% |
| Bail | 0.10 | 3.1% |
| | one) Assuming that your calculator is already configured for single variable statistics (1-Five), articulate your data as usual before yous beginning a new question past pressing2d 7 2ND CE|C. |
 | two) In this case, 10 variables are the return, Y variables (frequency) are the weighting. It is important to notation that the frequency data (Y variables) must be entered in whole numbers for this estimator. This means that for the weightings, we merely enter 55 for 55% (non 0.55) and and so on. iii) Continue to enter data into X01, X02, X03 for returns and Y01, Y02, Y03 for weighting. |
| | 4) Finally, you enter into the Stat role, which should say 1-V, and curlicue downwardly for your answers: a) north=100 (good check point that your weights sum up to 100%, and also that you didn't mix up the variables) b) mean x̄=2.195% c) population standard divergence (σx) = 5.23 is the respond. We are using this instead of sample standard deviation (despite it beingness similar as n is large) because due north is arbitrary due to the weighted nature of the question. Voila! Nowthat'due south a crazy fourth dimension saver. |
BA 2 Plus calculator assist & FAQ
Why is my BA Ii Plus rounding?
The BA II Plus calculator comes with a 2 decimal places default setting. To finish the rounding, all yous have to do is increase the decimal places, as detailed in the Recommended Reckoner Settings section.
Note that changing the number of decimal places affects the display only, as the the reckoner actually doesn't circular internal values (except for acquittal and depreciation results) which information technology uses for calculations.
If you desire to round the internal values, apply the Circular part (2ND STO buttons).
Can I solve normal distribution questions with BA II Plus?
Unfortunately BA II Plus and BA 2 Plus Professional do non provide z-value probabilities.
You'll need to know how to use and read from the z-tables provided. and more importantly, memorize 6 critical z-values for the CFA exams.
More details about these key values are provided in our Gratuitous Probability Distribution Tables article.
My BA II Plus is not calculating correctly. Need troubleshooting assistance!
Well-nigh of the time, this tends to be a human being fault rather than the figurer's fault.
Here's a few listing of things to check to troubleshoot, assuming your inputs are done correctly:
1) TVM calculations:
a) Did yous Articulate TVM worksheet? Before starting each TVM calculation, just brand you clear your previous work (information technology's skilful practice) – just printing2ND FV buttons.
b) END vs. BGN style: Make certain that your estimator is in the END mode, rather than BGN mode. If it is in BGN mode, you can see information technology in the pinnacle office of the screen, and but printing2ND PMT 2d ENTER 2d CPT to switch information technology back to END way.
– Information technology'due south useful to know that the factory settings has End manner by default also.
c) + and − signs: Brand sure that the signs of PMT and FV are the same, and opposite to the PV. Don't enter (+) for FV and PV, for example, as it will trigger Error v (i.due east. no solution exists).
– Some other tip is to double check that cash inflows are positive and outflows are negative.
d) I/Y format: Remember that I/Y is given in integers not in decimals.
two) Clear everything earlier you start: PressCE|C push twice and2d 0 2ND CE|C to articulate all 10 retention slots.
3) Check your calculator settings: Press2ND . ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ (↓ button 4 times) to go through the main settings of the calculator, just to make sure everything is right.
How to reset BA Two Plus calculator?
ane) Press2ND and so+|− buttons.
2) You'll seeRST? and theEnter indicators on screen.
– If y'all changed your mind at this indicate, just presssecond CPT to abolish reset. The screen will then show 0.
– If you would yet like to go along to reset, pressENTER, and the screen will bear witnessRSTand0 to confirm that your figurer has been reset.
Hard reset option: You can also reset the calculator by gently inserting a pointed object in the pigsty marked RESET at dorsum of the figurer.
What is the typical BA II Plus battery life?
What battery does BA II Plus need?
The BA II Plus calculator is powered by a single CR2032 lithium battery. It isn't solar powered.
Make sure yous become the right 1, as there are other batteries that take similar sizes, such as the CR2025 and CR2016.
How practice I change or replace my BA Two Plus computer'south bombardment?
You tin can picket our video on how to modify your figurer's battery, or follow the instructions below.
The instruction beneath is for BA 2 Plus 'basic' calculator only. For BA Two Plus Professional, the back comprehend easily slides out without the need for screwdrivers.
1) Things you lot demand: A single CR2032 battery, a small Phillips screwdriver (00 size), and preferably something to prise open the calculator shell.
2) Unscrew all 4 screws at the back of the reckoner.
3) This is the tricky bit. Even without the screws, the estimator shell is held shut with plastic snap locks. It's very frustrating to attempt and overcome this by hand so employ a penknife or a modest slotted screwdriver. Watch the video to run across the best way to rapidly pop open the shell.
4) Change the battery. In the older BA II Pluses, the battery is held together with two more Philips screws. In the new model, you can merely slide it off.
5) Pro tip: One time yous've changed the bombardment, quickly bank check that the reckoner is working Earlier yous reassemble it!
6) Snap the cover back on, and screw the screws back on. You lot're done!
7) Yous should know that it's noisy. Changing your battery makes a shit ton of racket. The thunderclap sound of snapping the reckoner shell open and shut, your grunts and miscellaneous clatters will all sound quite loud in the exam hall. If your battery needs changing, change it a week or so before the exam.
8) Some other pro tip: Your calculator'due south data is non retained when the battery is removed. Therefore, replacing the battery has the same effect equally resetting the reckoner, and then make certain you lot reconfigure to your preferred settings correct away before using it again.
Which BA 2 Plus function did you notice peculiarly useful? Do you have farther tips to share? Allow us know your comments below!
P.S. – Meanwhile, hither are some related articles that you lot may find useful:
- Withal unsure which calculator to choose? Check out our BA II Plus vs HP12C reckoner guide →
- Decided on HP12C calculator? Remember to refer to our HP12C Computer Guide for CFA Test→
Source: https://300hours.com/ba-ii-plus-guide/
0 Response to "Be an Actuary Review of Calculator Functions for Ba Ii"
Postar um comentário