9 Best Financial Calculators for Finance and Accounting Grad School Students
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For most of us, Math is one of the most demanding and challenging subjects to master and, more so, to love. It doesn’t help that the US education system has placed so much emphasis on the subject.
The adage, “Math is everywhere,” is no longer enough motivation to keep students interested in mastering complex Mathematical equations regardless of age.
Thankfully, the invention of innovative calculating devices has become more sophisticated; therefore, solving and understanding complex numerical problems is now easier.
We may deny it, but calculators serve as a vital tool to foster students’ mathematical curiosity and deepen conceptual understanding.
The uninitiated device, often seen as a “cheat sheet,” actually encourages students to focus on Mathematics.
The Calculator: Before
Over 5,000 years ago, the ancient Romans invented the Abacus. The Abacus became the first numerical calculating device known to humankind. It was a groundbreaking invention that led to the expansion of the understanding of mathematical concepts.
Presumably, everyone has seen an Abacus. We all had it on display at the back of our classrooms in elementary.
What seemed to be a very simple device is equipped with four general features of a computational device: (1) a physical structure, (2) an interpretation function, (3) structure-specific transformation operations, and (4) a control structure. All these features are present in an Abacus.
To use the Abacus for calculation, one must learn how to move the beads on the rods. If you know how to use this simple mechanism, you can add, subtract, multiply, and divide.
The downside, however, is that the user needs to manipulate the device by moving the beads for each step to complete a computation. This is where the calculators we have now depart from their predecessors.
The Calculator: Today
An essential part of the remarkable history of the development of computing devices is successfully incorporating the control structure into the computing device itself. This is where the calculators we know today differ from the Abacus.
Modern computers, much like pocket calculators, perform many, if not all, mathematical operations without needing the user to manipulate the device directly.
In 1967, the first-ever handheld calculator was born. Named “Cal Tech,” it shaped the direction of how modern calculators look like and what operations they can perform. The Cal Tech was commercially released in 1970 and was manufactured by Texas Instruments.
It was a 45-ounce calculator that featured a small keyboard with 18 keys and a screen that could display up to 12 decimal digits. The 45-ounce device carried the total weight of the future of computing devices and Mathematics.
Calculators and the Classroom
At the beginning of the 21st century, the use of calculators in the classroom was questioned. Calculators were considered to have a debilitating effect on students rather than an enabling device.
Because calculators have become so sophisticated, it was believed that using calculators during Mathematics class may negatively affect a student’s level of understanding of the different concepts.
Instead of learning fundamental mathematical operations, students will depend on calculators to do the work for them.
However, several studies have shown that allowing the use of calculators from Kindergarten until the University level benefits students’ quality of learning and increases their appreciation of Mathematics.
Naysayers would presume that calculators make students lazy and that calculators are a crutch. This is one of the biggest myths impeding the universal acceptance of the use of the device in classrooms. The myth has been counter-intuitive in integrating technology into classroom instruction when evidence proves that calculators are practical learning tools.
Calculators do not do all the work. The true test of competence in the subject is knowing what the problem asks. Finance and accounting graduate students could attest to this.
Students, especially those in graduate school, need calculators to speed up the tedious computation process.
Calculators do not think; they merely perform rote mathematical operations. Calculators enhance learning and thinking when used appropriately and intelligently. They give students the freedom to discover and observe the intricate mathematical processes by simply having an efficient, inexpensive, portable device to aid their learning process.
To lessen your burden, we have sifted through the internet to find the ten best financial calculators for finance and accounting grad school students. Here they are:
THE BEST FINANCIAL CALCULATORS FOR FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING GRAD SCHOOL STUDENTS
Texas Instruments BA II Plus – Professional Financial Calculator
Available on Amazon starting at $57.02
Texas Instruments (TI) stands on its 75-year innovation leadership and a strong commitment to education. Classrooms around the world recognize TI. For more than three decades, Texas Instruments has been present in educating students, empowering teachers, and inspiring students to hurdle and succeed in Mathematics.
Teaching STEM subjects or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics is now efficient and practical with Texas Instruments calculators. TI limits itself to helping STEM students and innovates products specifically targeted to finance and accounting students.
The Texas Instruments BA II Plus – Professional Financial Calculator is the manufacturer’s top model in its line of financial calculators. It packs exceptional features and is one of the most advanced calculators for business and finance graduate students and professionals.
With the TI BA II Plus Professional Financial Calculator, you will get the standard capabilities of financial calculators. You can solve Time-Value-of-Money (TVM), annuities, leases, mortgages, amortization, cost-sell-margin, savings, depreciation calculation, and more. Plus, it makes more advanced business and financial calculations available on a portable device.
It can solve Net Future Value (NFV), Payback and Discount Payback, Modified Duration, Modified Internal Rate of Return (MIRR), and more advanced calculations. A stand-out companion for all finance and accounting grad school students.
Why choose Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional Financial Calculator?
- Approved for use on professional exams: Chartered Financial Analyst®* exam, and GARP® Financial Risk Manager (FRM®)† exam
- Features prompted display guides that guide users through financial calculations.
- Capable of a ten-digit display
- Equipped with ten user memories
- Capable of math functions, including trigonometric calculations, natural logarithms, and powers
- Features an Automatic Power Down (APD) function, which extends battery life for reliability
- With a one-year limited warranty
HP 12C Platinum Financial Calculator
Available on Amazon starting at $34.99
Hewlett-Packard, or simply HP, is known the world over for its innovative digital products and its clear vision to create technology that makes life better for everyone. HP is a prolific inventor and engineer of some of the most sought-after digital products in the market.
HP has maintained its position as a leader in reinventing technology from monitors, processors, tablets, desktop computers, and laptops. However, we aren’t here to talk about what is the latest and most advanced HP laptops! We are here to highlight its more humble offering to education, the HP 12C Platinum Financial Calculator.
The HP 12C Platinum Financial Calculator has stood the test of time in the consumer-driven calculator market. If you have been around to have needed a calculator in the 1980s, chances are you have this one lying around. An excellent calculator for new finance students.
This device has a good shelf life, which continues to deliver what finance and accounting students and professionals need in a pocket calculator. With its groundbreaking performance and high functionality, you have everything you will ever need in your finance and accounting class.
You can depend on the HP 12C Platinum Financial Calculator to perform over 130 built-in functions, including loan payment calculations, interest rates and conversions, Time-Value-of-Money (TVM), Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), cash flows, bonds, standard deviation, and more.
Why choose HP 12C Platinum Financial Calculator?
- Approved for use on professional exams: Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), Chartered Financial Analyst® exam, and GARP® Financial Risk Manager (FRM®)† exam
- Uses the Reverse Polish Notation (RPN), which makes it very easy-to-use
- RPN also reduces the number of keystrokes for encoding data for calculation
- Features a thin, sturdy casing
- Internal Rate of Return (IRR) memory saves up to 20 cash flows with power-off memory protection that will keep your data safe.
- Features a 10-character, 1-line LCD display
- Perfect for finance, accounting, real estate, business students, and other professionals
- The battery lasts up to two years based on average use of one hour per day
- With one year warranty (varies per region)
DM15L Financial Calculator
Available on Amazon starting at $189.95
The DM15L from SwissMicros is a high-end scientific and financial calculator claiming to be a clone of the HP 12C in size. However, the DM15L, although comparable to the HP 12C, is arguably the most accurate calculator in the market.
It helps that SwissMicros remains a small manufacturer of Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) calculators from Switzerland.
SwissMicros sees Mathematics as a language and dedicates its products to deciphering the language through remarkable craftsmanship in the calculators it makes.
SwissMicros’ DM15L is a high-end programmable calculator that is equipped with a root-solver and a numerical integration. It is a very powerful tool that can handle complex numbers and matrix operations.
Why choose DM15L Financial Calculator?
- Programmable and customizable
- Features numeric integration
- Can handle complex operations
- Can solve matrix solutions
- Runs on LPC1115 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 microcontroller
- Equipped with Reflective Positive FSTN display with 132 × 16 pixels resolution
- Features a 69.1 mm × 10.0 mm display area
- Powered by one × CR2032 lithium coin cell, 3.0 volts that can last up to five years
- Generates sound at 4 kHz resonance frequency Piezo-electric buzzer
- Firmware may be updated with the use of a USB Mini-AB port for data exchange
- Comes with five years of warranty
Calculated Industries Qualifier Plus IIIfx (Model 3430)
Available on Amazon starting at $56.77
An expert in manufacturing calculators, apps, and digital measuring tools, Calculated Industries, Inc. makes some of the most advanced and dependable calculators in the industry.
Calculated Industries makes every math solution easy, efficient, and within your fingertips. Its calculators are the go-to tools for architects, contractors, builders, real estate brokers, engineers, and finance and accounting grad school students.
Calculated Industries Qualifier Plus IIIfx (Model 3430) is advertised as the perfect companion for real estate brokers. Still, its functionality is also suitable for students. The Qualifier Plus IIIfx will give you fast and accurate results for all your investment solutions. You can depend on this tool even without all those complicated formulas.
Real estate investors and agents consider this calculator their best friend. While it can solve the most common real estate finance problems, it has an upgraded system and does not include even advanced problems.
The Calculated Industries Qualifier Plus IIIfx (Model 3430) can calculate multiple cash flows, Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Net Present Values (NPV), and Net Future Values (NFV). You can confidently solve commercial investment deals without the stress of misplacing the decimal point.
Why choose Calculated Industries Qualifier Plus IIIfx (Model 3430)?
- Features clearly labeled keys with dedicated keys for residential mortgage finance terms, including Term, Pmt, Loan Amt, and Int.
- Easy to use, therefore boosting your confidence in solving financing solutions.
- Equipped with a built-in date-math function and triple zero key that effectively reduces the number of keystrokes
- Features an LCD display with a 9-character display
- Promises a 12-digit internal accuracy
- Dependable battery life with two long-life (LR44) batteries with approximately 800 hours of usage
- Comes with a one-year warranty
Texas Instruments BA II Plus Financial Calculator
Available on Amazon starting at $26.00
The Texas Instruments BA II Plus – Financial Calculator is another great under the Texas Instruments’ financial calculator product line. It is the humble successor of the Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional calculator. Nevertheless, this device is equipped with the standard features of a financial calculator and so much more.
It is advertised as an “easy-to-use financial calculator” that delivers powerful computation functions and memory. It is designed with business professionals and finance and accounting students in mind. In fact, it is among the most popular financial calculators in the market, not to mention less expensive than the BA II Plus Professional model.
The Texas Instruments BA II Plus – Financial Calculator is a practical choice for both students and professionals. Even at this price, TI did not skimp on its features. You can perform various financial calculations with the BA II Plus Financial Calculator from Modified Internal Rate of Return (MIRR), Net Future Value (NFV), Payback, Modified Duration, Discount Payback, Accrued interest, Amortization, Cost-Sell-Margin, and Depreciation.
It can also perform cash-flow analysis and even advanced list-based statistics, which the higher-end model also features. An excellent value for money, especially for finance grad school students who are struggling with their finances!
Why choose Texas Instruments BA II Plus Financial Calculator?
- Approved for use on professional exams: Chartered Financial Analyst®* exam, GARP® Financial Risk Manager (FRM®)† exam, and Certified Management Accountants®‡ exam
- Integrates great visuals with distinct colored keys for ease of use and quick recall of its functions
- Equipped with an easy-to-read, 10-digit display
- Features an Automatic Power Down (APD) function, which conserves battery
- Features prompted display that will show the current variable label and values as you perform various calculations
- Equipped with worksheet mode where you view tables for bond, amortization, compound interest, and depreciation
- Save your worksheet with the BA II Plus built-in memory
- Features a one-year limited warranty
Casio FC-200V Financial Calculator
Available on Amazon for $78.19
It comes as no surprise that we include Casio in this list of the ten best financial calculators for finance and accounting grad school students. Synonymous with manufacturing reliable and durable calculators for education and industries across the board, Casio is the one to beat.
Casio’s Financial Models are some of the most popular in the industry. They are powerful, sporting original designs, and equipped with financial consultant features that will make financial consultations a breeze. The Casio FC-200V Financial Calculator made it to our list because it delivers high availability, flexibility, scalability, and exceptional performance at an affordable price.
It is best for finance and accounting students who get stuck in calculation, investment appraisal, and amortization. With added advanced features, the Casio FC-200V is the practical choice.
You can calculate simple interest, compound interest, investment appraisal (cash flow), amortization, interest rate conversion, depreciation, bond calculation, statistical regression, and more. Casio FC-200V Financial Calculator’s simplicity, high performance, and durability will not fail to impress any user.
Why choose Casio FC-200V Financial Calculator?
- Features multifunction keys for easy access to different modes with a single press of a button
- Direct mode function is a handy feature for long calculations
- Direct mode function also allows users access to Time-Value-of-Money on two separate modules: Compound Interest (CMPD) and Simple Interest (SMPL)
- Users can customize shortcuts for added accessibility
- Incorporate full-dot, 4-line display
- Features a 10-digit mantissa, and 2-digit exponential display on a large, easy-to-read LCD display
- Promises long battery life of up to 3 years (on a 1 hour per day usage)
- Powered by both a solar cell and one G13 type button battery (LR44)
Victor 6500 Financial Calculator
Available on Amazon starting at $27.09
The next financial calculator we are featuring on this list is Victor Technology, LLC (Victor). Victor is an American-owned and operated manufacturer and supplier of calculators, including basic calculators, printing calculators, scientific calculators, and financial calculators.
It also designs and manufactures desktop accessories and office supplies. You can find Victor Technology’s products at Staples and Office Depot, making it a recognizable brand in the United States.
The Victor 6500 Financial Calculator is a 12-digit financial calculator perfect for any desktop workstation. A desktop calculator is uncommon, with features reserved for more advanced and sophisticated financial or scientific calculators. For the most part, this is what sets the Victor 6500 Financial Calculator apart from the competition.
With innovative solutions, Victor Technologies designed and created reliable calculators like the Victor 6500 and Victor PL8000.
The Victor PL8000 was the first-ever printing calculator that featured an alphanumeric display and printer, Loan Wizard capabilities, personalized text messages, a reprint key, and a help button. This is a testament to Victor Technology’s relentless pursuit of innovation.
If you are quick with your fingers, dedicated keys are a must-have in a financial calculator. The Victor 6500 Financial Calculator has four finance keys: PV (Loan), Pmt (Payment), PYR (number of years), and Int (annual interest rate). These keys respond quickly to even the fastest typist. It also features a large 12-digit display, which makes reading the output easy.
Most importantly, the Victor 6500 offers a Time-Value-for-Money (TVM) solver, a win for desktop calculators.
Why choose Victor 6500 Financial Calculator?
- Easy to read, large 12-digit angled 21mm display
- Equipped with Victor Technology’s Loan Wizard software
- Features an automatic tax key
- Can calculate payment, months, interest, and loan amount
- Features three independent memories
- Equipped with a hybrid power source, solar cell, and a battery backup
- The automatic power-down feature is an effective power-saving tool
- With two years manufacturer’s standard warranty
HP 17BII+ Financial Calculator
Available on Amazon starting at $54.75
The HP 17BII+ Financial Calculator is another financial calculator from the tech giant Hewlett-Packard. It promises powerful performance-perfect students and professionals in the real estate, finance, accounting, and business industries. But it is not only powerful, but it is also very easy to use as it features a superb keyboard layout.
Quickly enter numerical or alphanumeric values with the calculator’s frequently used functions in a non-shifted key position.
Make your computations easy and quick with the HP 17BII+ Financial Calculator’s intuitive and fast menu-style variable entry. You can quickly calculate Time-Value-for-Money (VM), Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), interest rates and conversions, standard deviation, cash flows, bonds, percent, loan payments, and more.
With over 250 functions, you can count on the HP 17BII+ Financial Calculator to calculate Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) and algebraic data entry. You can even store data in its 28KB user memory, a helpful feature when you are in a time crunch.
Why choose HP 17BII+ Financial Calculator?
- Approved for use in Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) exam
- Ideal for real estate, finance, and accounting students, economic and business
- Features an impressive two-line, 22-character LCD, and a 131×6 dot matrix, and a mode indicator
- Highly customizable menus
- The LCD’s contrast can be adjusted
- You can easily select business functions
- Can calculate statistics, business, and mathematical solutions
- Comes with a 1-year limited warranty
Calculated Industries Real Estate Master IIIx Model 3405 Financial Calculator
Available on Amazon starting at $42.60
An impressive financial calculator from Calculated Industries (CI) is the Real Estate Master IIIx Model 3405 Financial Calculator. CI is a powerful and easy-to-use financial calculator. It is an excellent tool for residential real estate agents and finance and accounting students. Quickly find answers to any of your financing questions and problems.
You can carry the Real Estate Master IIIx Model 3405 Financial Calculator as it is perfectly sized to fit in your pocket. Worry no more about calculation errors in your finance, accounting, and business classes or future client meetings.
The Calculated Industries Real Estate Master IIIx Model 3405 Financial Calculator has dedicated function keys, allowing you to quickly and confidently find the correct and accurate answers to your financial and accounting solutions.
You can solve for mortgage payments, cash flow analysis or Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Net Present Value (NPV), Net Future Value (NFV), amortization, principal and interest payment, and more.
Real estate agents can even complete loan options with just a few clicks. Calculated Industries has designed the Real Estate Master IIIx Model 3405 Finance Calculator to speak your language, be it numeric or alphanumeric.
Why choose Calculated Industries 3405 CE Financial Calculator?
- Features accurately labeled keys for quick recall
- Power-efficient with two long-lasting LR44 batteries
- With auto shut-off feature after being idle for 8-12 minutes
- Promises to deliver 800 hours of use
- One-year limited warranty
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