At some point in CFA® Level I preparation, most candidates end up with formulas spread across study notes, question banks, calculator instructions, and handwritten pages.
A CFA Level I formula sheet brings those relationships into one place. It gives you a clearer view of what you have covered, which formulas still feel uncertain, and where your review time should go.
The sheet becomes most useful when you actively work with it. Recall the formula without looking, explain what each input means, and then apply it to a question. That process prepares you to recognize and use the right relationship when the exam presents it in an unfamiliar way.
This guide explains which formula-heavy topics deserve the most attention, how to use your sheet for active recall, and how to review CFA Level I formulas during the final month.
Quick Answer
Use a CFA Level I formula sheet as a compact review system. Group formulas by topic, identify the relationships you use most often, and test your recall through practice questions.
Prioritize Quantitative Methods, Financial Statement Analysis, Fixed Income, Equity Investments, Derivatives, and Portfolio Management. Your aim is to recognize the question type, select the correct formula, and apply it accurately under time pressure.
Key Takeaways About the CFA Level I Formula Sheet
A formula sheet keeps important relationships organized in one place.
Understanding when a formula applies is just as valuable as recalling it.
Formula-heavy topics usually need more review time.
Active recall gives you better feedback than repeatedly reading the sheet.
Mixed practice helps you choose the correct formula without a topic heading as a clue.
Calculator practice should develop alongside formula recall.
What Is a CFA Level I Formula Sheet Used For?
A CFA Level I formula sheet collects important formulas from across the curriculum into one reference. It can serve as both a review map and a checklist for your memory.
During an active review session, cover the formula and try to write it from memory. Then define each input and explain what kind of question the relationship helps you solve. Finish by applying it to a practice problem.
Simply reading the page creates familiarity. That can feel reassuring, but recognition alone does not prove that you can recall the formula during an exam. Your sheet should regularly expose what you have forgotten and direct you back to the areas that need work.
You can download the CFA Formula Summary Sheet and use it as the base for your review.
Do You Need to Memorize CFA Level I Formulas?
You need to know the core formulas well enough to recognize when they apply and use them accurately.
Some relationships become easier to remember once you understand the underlying idea. You may even be able to reconstruct them from first principles. Others, including certain ratios, return measures, and bond relationships, are more practical to commit directly to memory.
A useful approach is to separate formulas into three groups:
Formulas you need to recall immediately. These are relationships that appear often or would take too long to rebuild during the exam.
Formulas you can derive from a familiar concept. Understanding the logic gives you a backup when your memory slips.
Formulas that depend on calculator functions. You still need to recognize the relationship and know which inputs to enter.
Plan your preparation around independent formula recall. CFA Institute describes Level I as testing key terms, concepts, and formulas across 180 multiple-choice questions. Candidates also need to know how to use the relevant functions on their approved calculator.
Review the current CFA Institute candidate resources before exam day so you understand the latest testing policies and what will be available at the test center.
Which CFA Level I Formula Topics Should You Prioritize?
Formula demands vary across the curriculum. Some topics involve frequent calculation, while others depend more heavily on interpretation and conceptual judgment.
The table below can help you decide where to spend your formula-review time.
Topic | Formula Areas to Prioritize | Why They Matter | How to Review Them |
|---|---|---|---|
Quantitative Methods | Time value of money, rates and returns, probability, statistics, hypothesis testing | These relationships support several other curriculum areas | Practise throughout your study plan rather than saving them for final review |
Economics | Currency relationships, exchange rates, and applicable policy relationships | Questions often combine calculations with economic interpretation | Connect every calculation to the economic effect it represents |
Financial Statement Analysis | Ratios, inventory, depreciation, working capital, and financial statement relationships | Calculations often lead into questions about company performance | Practise both the calculation and the interpretation |
Corporate Issuers | Cost of capital, leverage, and capital budgeting | These formulas support financing and investment decisions | Organize formulas according to the decision they help evaluate |
Equity Investments | Valuation relationships, return measures, and market indexes | Formula use is closely tied to valuation logic | Explain the business meaning behind each result |
Fixed Income | Bond pricing, yields, duration, convexity, and spreads | This topic combines formulas, calculator work, and interpretation | Practise the calculation steps with your approved calculator |
Derivatives | Forward, futures, and option payoff relationships | Similar-looking relationships can become easy to confuse | Use short scenarios or payoff sketches to reinforce the logic |
Portfolio Management | Expected return, variance, covariance, beta, and risk measures | These relationships connect Quantitative Methods with portfolio decisions | Practise identifying the required inputs before calculating |
The table focuses on formula areas rather than reproducing a full formula list. Check every specific relationship against the curriculum for your exam year before adding it to your personal sheet.
Our guides to CFA Level I Quantitative Methods and CFA Level I Financial Statement Analysis explore two of the areas where formulas tend to accumulate quickly.
How Should You Decide Which Formulas to Memorize First?
Start with formulas that appear frequently, connect to several types of questions, or take too long to reconstruct during an exam.
You can rank each formula using three practical questions:
How often have I encountered this relationship in lessons or practice?
Can I explain why the formula works?
Can I apply it accurately without looking at my notes?
A formula deserves more attention when it appears often and you still hesitate over its structure, inputs, or interpretation.
Your error history also offers useful guidance. If you repeatedly select the wrong formula for a particular question type, the problem may involve recognition rather than memory. Add a short note beside the formula describing the situation in which it applies.
For example, your sheet can include:
Use this relationship when the question asks for…
That small prompt links the formula to the decision you need to make.
How to Use a CFA Formula Sheet for Active Recall
A formula you can copy from the page has limited value. A formula you can recall, explain, and apply is ready for exam use.
Use this six-step review loop:
1. Write the Formula From Memory
Cover the formula and reproduce it without looking. A mistake gives you immediate feedback about what needs more review.
2. Define Every Input
Write down what each symbol represents, including the units where relevant. This helps prevent errors caused by using the wrong value or time period.
3. Explain When the Formula Applies
Describe the type of problem the formula solves. This develops the recognition skills you need when the question does not name the relationship directly.
4. Complete One Practice Question
Apply the formula to an actual scenario. A worked question tests whether you can move from the wording of the problem to the correct calculation.
5. Record the Reason for Any Error
Be specific. You may have forgotten the formula, selected the wrong relationship, entered the wrong calculator inputs, or misread what the question asked.
Each cause requires a different fix.
6. Test It Again After a Gap
Return to the formula several days later. Recall that survives a gap is more reliable than recall tested again five minutes later.
Begin this loop with your weakest areas. Formulas you already use accurately still need occasional review, but they should not take time away from relationships that continue to cause mistakes.
Working through CFA Level I practice questions will show whether your formula knowledge holds up inside realistic questions.
How to Review CFA Formulas During the Final Month
The final month should gradually move you from topic-by-topic review to mixed practice under time pressure.
Timing | Formula Review Focus |
|---|---|
Four weeks before the exam | Build or download your formula sheet and mark formulas that still feel uncertain |
Three weeks before the exam | Review formulas by topic and complete targeted practice questions |
Two weeks before the exam | Mix questions from different topics and practise choosing the correct formula without prompts |
Final week | Review recurring mistakes, calculator steps, and a smaller set of weak formulas |
The move into mixed practice is especially valuable. During topic review, you already know whether the next question concerns statistics, fixed income, or equity. The exam gives you fewer clues.
Mixed quizzes train you to recognise the problem first and select the appropriate relationship from memory. That is the skill you ultimately need on exam day.
You can get the Formula Summary Sheet and use it to organize this four-week review plan.
Calculator Fluency and Formula Recall Work Together
Your calculator can speed up the calculation, but you still need to decide what the question requires.
This becomes especially relevant in areas such as time value of money, cash flow analysis, and statistics. Knowing the correct calculator sequence saves time and reduces input errors. Recognising the underlying relationship ensures that you use the correct sequence in the first place.
Practise formulas with the same approved calculator you plan to take into the exam. Learn the functions early enough that the keystrokes become familiar through repetition.
You should also know how to:
Clear previous values before beginning a new calculation
Check the calculator settings that affect your answer
Enter cash flows in the correct order
Distinguish between annual and periodic inputs
Recognise when a result is unreasonable and needs to be checked
For approved models and current exam-day rules, see our CFA calculator guide.
Common CFA Formula Study Mistakes
Formula preparation can become repetitive, which makes it easy to fall into habits that feel productive without producing much improvement.
Watch for these common mistakes:
Reading the sheet several times without testing recall
Memorizing symbols without learning what the inputs represent
Practising calculator steps separately from the underlying concept
Reviewing every formula for the same amount of time
Completing only topic-specific questions and avoiding mixed practice
Reaching a numerical result without interpreting what it means
Using an older formula sheet without checking it against the current curriculum
Recording that an answer was wrong without identifying why
A useful formula sheet should change as your preparation develops. Mark mastered formulas, add reminders beside recurring traps, and move difficult relationships into more frequent review cycles.
How KeyPoint Learning Helps You Apply CFA Level I Formulas
A formula sheet gives you a clear reference point. Lessons and practice help you turn that reference into usable exam knowledge.
KeyPoint Learning brings Level I lessons, study materials, practice quizzes, mock exams, and progress tracking into one study environment. This allows you to move from reviewing a formula to applying it and checking where your understanding still needs work.
Progress tracking can also help you make better review decisions. Instead of giving every formula another pass, you can focus on topics where your practice performance shows a recurring weakness.
Make Your Formula Sheet Part of Your Practice
A CFA Level I formula sheet becomes more valuable each time it sends you back into active practice.
Use it to organize formulas, test your recall, and identify the relationships that continue to slow you down. Then apply those formulas through topic questions, mixed quizzes, and mock exams.
By the final weeks, you should be able to look at a question, recognise the relationship it tests, and carry out the calculation without searching through your notes.
You can download the formula sheet and start practising, or explore our other CFA resources as you build the rest of your Level I study plan.
FAQs About the CFA Level I Formula Sheet
What Is the Best Way to Use a CFA Level I Formula Sheet?
Use the sheet for active recall. Cover each formula, write it from memory, define the inputs, and explain the type of question it solves.
Follow that review with a practice question. This confirms whether you can recognise and apply the relationship rather than simply remember its appearance
Do I Need to Memorize Every CFA Level I Formula?
You need to know the formulas required by the current curriculum well enough to apply them accurately. Core relationships that appear frequently or take too long to derive deserve direct memorization.
For formulas built on concepts you understand well, the underlying logic may help you reconstruct the relationship. Practice will show which formulas you can reliably derive and which ones need immediate recall.
Does CFA Institute Provide a Formula Sheet During the Exam?
Plan your preparation around recalling and applying formulas independently. Review CFA Institute’s current candidate resources and exam policies before your exam window to confirm what materials are provided.
Avoid relying on older candidate accounts or third-party assumptions, since exam policies can change.
Which CFA Level I Topics Have the Most Formulas?
Quantitative Methods, Financial Statement Analysis, Fixed Income, and Portfolio Management contain many of the formulas candidates regularly review. Equity Investments, Corporate Issuers, Economics, and Derivatives also include relationships that may require calculation.
Your personal priorities should reflect both the curriculum and your practice performance.
How Often Should I Review CFA Formulas?
Review difficult formulas several times across your study plan rather than concentrating them in one long session. Spaced review makes it easier to identify which relationships remain available from memory after several days.
As the exam approaches, combine formula review with mixed questions and mock exams.
Should I Create My Own CFA Formula Sheet?
Creating your own sheet can strengthen memory because you select, organize, and rewrite each relationship. It also takes time and may leave gaps if you accidentally omit something.
A prepared sheet gives you a complete starting point. You can then annotate it with calculator notes, common mistakes, and reminders from your own practice.