How the HP 10BII Financial Calculator is Organized

Assuming you’re comfortable with the time value of money, let’s next get familiar with
the layout of the HP 10BII financial calculator.

Basic Math Functions

The most frequently used buttons will certainly be the math keys. These math keys
work just like they do on a regular non-financial calculator. All of the other fancy-
looking keys might make things confusing at first, but these math functions should
make you feel right at home. As you can see these are easy to find and we
have clearly labelled this section in red below.

Math functions on the HP 10BII.

Time Value of Money Functions

The time value of money keys are located along the top of the calculator and
correspond to the 5 components of all time value of money problems (N, I, PV, PMT,
and FV). We’ll cover how to use these keys in more detail below, but here’s where
these keys are located on the HP 10BII:
 Time value of money functions on the HP 10BII.
Gold and Purple Keys

You probably already noticed the solid purple and gold keys. These frequently used
keys are needed to shift through different functions for the same key. If you look
closely at the other keys on the financial calculator you’ll notice that they have white
letters, gold letters, and purple letters.

The white letters are the primary functions, while the gold and purple letters indicate
alternative functions for the same key. You can use any of these alternate functions
at any time by simply pressing the appropriate shift key (gold key for example) and
then pressing the function key with the gold label that you want to use. We’ll
demonstrate this process below, but here’s where these keys are located in case
they didn’t already stand out to you:
 Gold and purple keys on the HP 10BII
How to Use Basic Functions and Settings
Now that we have a general feel for how the financial calculator is organized, let’s go
over some frequently used functions and useful settings you should understand.

How to Turn Your Financial Calculator On and Off

Turning the HP 10BII on and off is pretty simple. All you have to do is use the ON
Button to turn it on or the Gold Key first then the ON button to turn it off. Notice the
gold text on the ON button, which indicates this is a secondary function for the same
button that needs to be preceded by the Gold key.
 How to turn the HP How to t

10BII on 10BII off

How to Clear All Registers

As you work through different problems on your financial calculator, one of the
easiest ways to make a mistake is to not clear out your existing work from other
problems. The clear all function will immediately clear out all of your prior work so
you can start a new problem with a clean slate. To accomplish this all you need to do
is simply press the Gold key followed by the C key.
 How to clear all work
How to Use The Plus and Minus (+ / – ) Sign Key

A common task when using a financial calculator, especially when working with the
time value of money functions, is changing the sign of a number. The HP 10BII
makes this easy with a dedicated plus and minus ( + / – ) sign key, which toggles the
sign of an inputted number. To change the sign of a number on the HP 10BII, simply
input or calculate a number, then hit the +/- key as shown below:
 HP 10BII change sign
How to Use The Memory Register

There are a couple of different ways to store and recall numbers on the HP 10BII.
First, we’ll go over the memory register key, which just stores one value at a time. To
use the M register, simply input or calculate a number, then hit the M register key as
show below. To recall a value stored on the M register, simply press the RM or recall
memory key:
 How to store value How to re

in the memory register from the memory register

How to Store and Recall Multiple Values From Memory

If you want to store multiple values then you’ll need to use a different approach. This
is particularly useful when you are calculating multiple figures that then later need to
be used in a final calculation. To do this you’ll need to use the store and recall key as
shown below:
 Store and recall key on the HP 10BII
To store a number using this approach, use the following procedure:

1. Input or calculate a number

2. Press the gold key
3. Press the STO key
4. Press a number (0-9) where you’d like to store the value

This is a straightforward process on the HP 10BII but it does involve a lot of steps
that can be cumbersome and sometimes annoying. This is one area where the TI
BA2 Plus offers a much faster and simpler solution since the store and recall keys
are two separate buttons (no extra shift key is required). The TI BA2 Plus is outside
of the scope of this article, but if you’ll be storing and recalling multiple numbers like
this on a regular basis, then you’ll probably like the TI BA2 Plus better.

Recalling a stored value is a lot easier:

1. Press the RCL button

2. Press a number (0-9) where you previously stored a value

How to Use a Financial Calculator Waitlist

Step by step instructions and examples for using an HP 10BII financial calculator.
This course is currently closed. Signup below to join the waitlist.

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How to Use The Time Value of Money Keys

Now that we have a good understanding of how the HP 10BII financial calculator is
organized and we’ve also gone over some regularly used functionality, let’s dive into
the time value of money. This is, after all, what a financial calculator is built for.

Assuming you’re comfortable with the concepts of the time value of money (in
particular the 5 components of all time value of money problems), the time value of
money keys on the 10BII are very intuitive to use. The best way to master using the
time value of money keys on the 10BII is to simply practice. Below we’ll go over how
to use each of the 5 keys individually and also go over some practice problems. But
first, lets discuss how to avoid a common mistake people make when using a
financial calculator.

Consistency of The Time Value of Money Components

One of the most common problems people make when using a financial calculator is
inputting inconsistent time value of money components. When solving for time value
of money problems it’s critical that the frequency of the N, I, and PMT components
match. For example, if the number of periods (N) in the problem is monthly, then the
interest rate (I) and payments per period (PMT) must also be expressed monthly.

The HP 10BII financial calculator has a built in settings for payments per year that
attempts to auto-adjust the interest rate based on how many periods there are in a
year. However, this does not auto-adjust the N and PMT components (you still have
to do this manually), which makes this function cause more problems than it’s worth.
For this reason it’s better to set payments per year to 1 and then totally ignore this
setting. You’ll need manually adjust the components in each problem so that they
match in frequency, but this will result in fewer errors. You can set the payments per
year setting to 1 by simply pressing the 1 key, then the gold key, and finally the PMT
key.
 HP 10BII payments per year
So, assuming you have your financial calculator set to 1 payment per year and
you’ve cleared all registers, let’s go through some example problems to demonstrate
how to use the time value of money functions on the HP 10BII financial calculator.

Solve for Present Value on the HP 10BII

Let’s take a look at a present value problem and then solve it with the HP 10BII.

A U.S. savings bond will be worth $10,000 in 10 years. What should you pay for it
today in order to earn 6.5% annually?

To solve this time value of money problem let’s take a look at the 4 variables that we
know. We are given the future value FV of $10,000, the number of periods N is 10
years, and the rate I is 6.5% per year. There is no payment and both the rate and the
number of periods are consistent, so we can now solve for the unknown present
value PV, which is $5,327.

To do this on the HP 10BII, first clear all prior work, and then use the following steps:

1. Input 10,000 and press the FV key

2. Input 10 and press the N key
3. Input 6.5% and press the I/YR key
4. Input 0 and press the PMT key
5. Press the PV key to solve for the present value
Solve for Future Value on the HP 10BII

What will $100,000 invested today for 7 years grow to be worth if compounded
annually at 5% per year?

To solve this problem simply identify the 4 known components and then use the HP
10BII financial calculator to find the 5th unknown component. In this problem we
know the present value PV is -$100,000 because it’s what’s invested today. It’s
negative because it’s leaving our pocket when we put it into the investment. The
number of periods N is 7 years, and the rate I is 5%. The N and I components are
both expressed annually, so they are consistent. Knowing this we can simply plug
those 4 components into the calculator and solve for future value FV, which is
$140,710.

1. Input -100,000 and press PV

2. Input 7 and press N
3. Input 5% and press I/YR
4. Input 0 and press PMT
5. Press the FV key to solve for the future value

Solve for Payment on the HP 10BII

What are the monthly payments on a 30 year loan of $300,000 at a annual rate of
4.5% compounded monthly?

In this problem we are given the total number of periods N of 30 years, a present
value PV of $300,000, an annual interest rate I of 4.5% compounded monthly, and
because this is a loan amortized over 30 years, it is implied that the future value FV
is $0. After a quick check it appears that the number of periods and the rate are
actually expressed in different compounding periods, which of course presents a
conflict. To resolve this let’s adjust the N and I components so they are both
expressed monthly. We can convert the total number of compounding periods to 30
x 12, or 360 months and the rate to 4.5% / 12, or 0.375% per month. Now we have
our 4 known components and can easily solve for the monthly payment amount,
which is $1,520.

1. Input 300,000 and press PV

2. Input 360 and press N
3. Input .375 and press I/YR
4. Input 0 and press FV
5. Press the PMT key to solve for the payment

Solve for Interest Rate on the HP 10BII

To solve for the interest rate, let’s take a look at a variation on the present value
problem above.
A U.S. savings bond will be worth $10,000 in 10 years. If you paid $5,327 for it
today, how much would you earn on an annual basis?

In this problem we know that the present value PV is $5,327 because that is what we
are paying for the investment today. The future value FV is $10,000 since this is the
lump sum we will receive in the future. Because it isn’t explicitly given, we know that
the payment amount is implied to be 0. The number of periods N is given to us as 10
years. So, now we know 4 out of the 5 time value of money components and we can
easily solve for the 5th unknown interest rate component, which turns out to be 6.5%

1. Input -5,327 and press PV

2. Input 10,000 and press FV
3. Input 10 and press N
4. Input 0 and press PMT
5. Press the I/YR key to solve for the interest rate

Solve for Number of Periods on the HP 10BII

To solve for the number of periods, let’s take another variation of the present value
problem above.

If you paid $5,327 for a U.S. Savings Bond today and earned 6.5% annually on your
investment, how many years would it take for your investment to be worth $10,000?

In this problem we know that the present value PV is $5,327 because that’s what we
are paying for the investment today. The interest rate is 6.5% annually because this
is how much we earn each year. Finally, we know that the future value FV is $10,000
because this is how much the investment will be worth at some point in the future as
it compounds. How far into the future? Well, now that we know 4 out of the 5
components we can simply plug them in and solve for N, which is 10 years.

1. Input -5,327 and press PV

2. Input 10,000 and press FV
3. Input 6.5% and press I/YR
4. Input 0 and press PMT
5. Press N to solve for the number of periods

Conclusion
In this article we showed you how to use a financial calculator step by step. We
specifically focused on the HP 10BII and detailed how the calculator is organized,
how to perform common calculations and functions, and finally we covered how to
use the time value of money keys along with step by step examples. Additionally, we
took a look at some common mistakes people make when learning how to use a
financial calculator and we showed you how to avoid making these errors. Learning
how to use a financial calculator is not a quick process and it does take time. There
are many features of the HP 10BII that we did not cover in this article, but the
elements we discussed will give you a solid foundation.