The HP 12C Q-Card

The Display

DecimalPlaces Press (f], then specify the # of decimal places:

(12), (F)0), (F)9), etc. (And ()-) shows scientific notation.)
Keep in mind that this rounds the displayed version of the
value; (FJBND) rounds the actual value to match the display.

Decimal Point The HP 12C can use either a comma or period

as a decimal point. (The commais conventional in Europe.)
To change the current setting, turn off the calculator, press
and hold down the (*] key, then turn on the calculator.

Clearing clears only the X-register. (REG) clearsall

data registers. (See page 2 for more about registers.)

Arithmetic and Math

Arithmetic To calculate 245, press (+.

To divide 40 by 200, press =
Scientific Notation To find 2,000,000 x 2,000,000, press (2JEEX]6)
(X). The result, 4888888 12, is “four times
ten to the 12th power” (4 trillion).

Powers and Roots To calculate -19", press

¥, To calculate /144, press @@, To find\/729 ,
press () 7.
Logarithms To calculate LN(149.5), press (419J5) @N. To
calculate €, press (a)eX).

Factorials To calculate 10!, press B

 Percentages

Finding Percentages To take 75% of 16, press

(or >).
To find what percent 12 represents out of a fotal of 16, press
(1X6) ENTER] (112) (7] (or (1)2) ENTER) (1)(6) (<] (110)0) ().
To find the % change from 12 to 16, press
(&%) (or (18] (ENTER) (1)2) (=) (1 (1) 0)0) (X)).
Adding Percentages To add 25% to 16, press
(+]. To subtract 25% from 20, press =

Registers, Storage and Clearing

The Stack Registers The HP 12C display shows the X-register,

the bottom register of a stack of 4. The other three are (pro-
ceeding up from the X-register) the Y-, Z- and T- register.
This arrangement allows arithmetic without (0] or (=]; pre-
ceding/intermediate results just “float” up above in the stack
until you need them, at which time you can rearrange them,
if necessary, via and (RY. To clear the stack, press (0)
(or clear all registers via . E ”\‘-.).

The Numbered Storage Registers Besides the stack registers,

you also have 20 otherstorage registers, denoted by the num-
bers 0-9 and .0-.9. Use and to access these regis-
ters. Thus, to store the result of 789+5 into register .4, you’d
press (=J(STOI-J4). You’d then recall this
value later when needed, via (BCL]-J4). To clear any num-
bered storage register,just store a value of 0 there. (To clear
all numbered registers, use ® (@6,

The Financial Registers There are five other storage registers

in the HP 12C, used for financial (TVM) calculations—see
pages 4-5. and work with those registers, too. For
example, to recall (i.e. to copy to the X-register) the value in
the PV register, you'd press (BCLIPV). To clear the financial
registers, press B N
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 Calendar Functions

Date Formatting A date on the HP 12C is represented as a sin-

gle real number in one of two formats: D.MY or M.DY. For
example, the date February 6, 2001, would be expressed as
206280 ! in M.DY format; or b32288 { in D.MY format.
To setthe date format, press either (BJBMY) (and D.MY will ap-
pearin the display) or (EJMBY) (and D.MY will disappear).

Calculating Days and Dates To find the date 91 days after

December 21, 1959, press (1J2)- ]21]9)5]9)*
(@DATE). (The resulting date* has an extra digit on the
right, giving the day of the week: 1-7 = Monday-Sunday.)
To find the number of days between two dates, type the first
date, press (ENTER), type the second date and press (8JADYS)

Bonds and Depreciation

Bond Price Type the desired yield (as a percent); press (il
Type the annual coupon rate (as a percent); press (PMT).
Type the settlement (purchase) date;* press (ENTER].
Type the maturity (redemption) date;* press (f]PRICE).
(Then will show the corresponding accrued interest.)

Bond Yield-to-Maturity Type the price (as % of par); press (Pv).

Type the annual coupon rate (as a percent); press (PM™T],
Type the settlement (purchase) date;* press (ENTER),
Typethe maturity (redemption) date;* press (FJYTM).

Depreciation Type the asset’s original cost; press (PV).

Typethe asset’s salvage value; press (FV].
Type the asset’s useful life (in years); press (0.
For a DB calculation, type the factor (as a percent); press (i),
Type the year # being depreciated; then press (f)su),
or (f]DB) to calculate the depreciation for that year.
will then show the remaining depreciable value.

*Always use the current date format (either M.DY or D.MY) to key in and
to interpret date values.

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 Time Value of Money (TVM) Calculations

To solve for payment (PMT), Future Value (FV) or Present Value

(PV) in a uniform cash flow scenario:

Calculating PMT
Press (8JBEG) or (BJEND), as needed, to setthe annuity mode.
Type the # of periods in the loan term and press ().
Type the periodic interest rate and press (i].*
Type the amountfinanced** and press (PV).
Type the final remaining balance** and press (FV).
Calculate the payment amount (PMT) by pressing (PMT).

Calculating FV
Press (@JBEG) or (B)END), as needed, to set the annuity mode.
Type the # of periods in the loan term and press (n)x
Type the periodic interest rate and press (1).*
Type the amountfinanced** and press (PV).
Type the periodic payment** and press (PMT),
Calculate the Future Value (FV) by pressing (FV).

Calculating PV
Press - or - as needed, to set the annuity mode.
Typethe # of periodsin the loan term and press (n).*
Type the periodic interest rate and press (i)
Type the periodic payment** and press (PMT).
Typethe final remaining balance** and press (FV].
Calculate the Present Value (PV) by pressing (PV).

*The time period used by n, i and PMT must always agree. For example,
if a PMT occurs monthly, then the loan term in years must be multiplied
by 12 before storing into N; and the loan interest rate in percent must be
divided by 12 before storing into i. For this common case (monthly peri-
ods), there are keystroke shortcuts, (8)i2%) and (8Ji23), which accomplish
the multiplication or division and then the storage, all in one step.

**The signs of the PV, PMT and FV values reflect the direction money is
flowing: either fo you or from you. So in any financial transaction, pick
one perspective—either the lender’s or the borrower’s—and stick with it.
For example, if PV is a positive number,(i.e. as a borrower, you receive
the loan amount), then FV and PMT are usually negative (the amounts you
must repay). Use the key to change the sign of any number.

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 TVM Calculations (cont.)

To solve for periodic interest rate (i) or number of periods (n)

in a uniform cash flow scenario, using the TVM formula:

Calculating i
Press (8)JBEG) or -, as needed, to set the annuity mode.
Type the # of periods in the loan term and press (). *
Type the amount financed** and press (Pv).
Type the periodic payment** and press (PMT).
Type the final remaining balance** and press Fv).
Find the periodic interestrate by pressing (1.

Calculating n
Press - or -, as needed,to set the annuity mode.
Type the periodic interest rate and press (i)*
Type the amount financed** and press (Pv).
Type the periodic payment** and press (PMT).
Type the final remaining balance** and press (FV).
Find the # of payment periods by pressing (n).
(Note: The result is rounded up to the next whole period.)
*[** (See the notes at the bottom of page 4.)

Amortization (AMORT)

To amortize a loan,first do a normal TVM calculation, solving

for PMT. Next, press (0)(), to set the payment counter to the
beginning of the loan term. Then key in the number of pay-
ments to be amortized. Then:

Press (FJAMORT) to see the interest paid.

Press to see the principal paid.
Press to see the remaining balance.
Press to see the total number of payments amortized.

Repeat for the next set of payments to be amortized: Key in

the number of payments in the next set. Then press (fJAMORT)
to see the interest paid, to see the principal, etc.

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 Statistics and Data Analysis

Storing Statistical Data To begin, press (fICLT to clear the

numbered registers 1-6, which are also used forstatistics.
Then key in each data point and press (Z4). (For two-vari-
able data, you key in the y value first, press (ENTER), then
key in the xvalue, then press (Z+).) The display will show
the number of data points entered so far.

Editing/Correcting Statistical Data If you enter a data point

in error or wish to delete a point for any other reason, just
enter it again (using to separate y and x values for
two-variable data), but then use rather than (Z+). This
will delete its contribution to the statistical accumulation.
(The display reflects this, decrementing the point count).

Statistical Sums and Calculations Once you have entered a

correct set of data, here are the calculations you can do:

shows the total number of points accumulated.

shows the sum of all the x data.
shows the sum of the squares of all the xdata.
RCLI4) shows the sum of all the ydata.
shows the sum of the squares ofall the y data.
shows the sum of the products of each x and y.
@& shows the simple mean (average) of the x data;
then shows the simple mean of the y data.
@& shows the weighted mean of the x data.
(The y data are used as the respective weight factors.)
@X8) shows the sample standard deviation of the x data;*
then shows the sample stand. dev. ofthe y data.
Linear Regression: Key in an x value, then use @83 to get
a corresponding y value estimate; gives the correla-
tion coefficient, 7. Or, key in a y value, then use @&
get a corresponding x value estimate; again, gives r.
So, to find b and m in the linear equation y = mx+ b, press
(0)@)&3 (= b).then (sTO[0) (1) (@)& (ReLI0) (] (= m).
*To get the population standard deviation(s) of the data, accumulate the
mean(s) of the data as an extra point (via (Z4). then use @8 as above.

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 Cash Flow Lists

Creating a Cash Flow List A cash flow list is a description of

the amounts and signs (income is +; outlay is —) of the cash
flows in an investment scenario. The flow amounts may
differ, but they must be periodic in occurrence. The list
consists of an initial cash flow and then up to 20 groups of
identical consecutive cash flows (up to 99 flows per group).

To start a new list, key in the initial cash flow amount

(“Group 0”), including its sign (). and press (2JCFa).
Key in the flow amount and sign of Group1 press (JCH).
Key in the number of consecutive occurrences of the cash
flow amount in Group 1; press (e)IN)
Key in the flow amount and sign of Group 2; press (SJCE).
Key in the number of consecutive occurrences of the cash
flow amount in Group 2; press (8N
...And so on—for all such groups (up to 20) in the scenario.

NPV and IRR

Calculating NPV After you have completely entered a cash

flow list (see above), to find the Net Present Value (NPV),
key in the periodic discount rate and press (i)* Then press
*

Calculating IRR After you have completely entered the de-

sired cash flow list (see above), to find an Internal Rate of
Return (/RR), press (f)iRR). (Keep in mind that /RR s an it-
erative calculation that sometimes has either no solution or
multiple solutions, including possible negative values. If
you encounter such a situation, you’ll usually get an error
message. See page 8 here for more about such errors.)

*The time period used by the discount rate (stored in i ), the cash flows
(stored via (B)CF), (BJCF) and (BJM), NPV and IRR mustall agree. Thus,
for example, if the cash flows are monthly, the annual discount rate (for
NPV) must be divided by 12 before it’s stored intoi; and any IRR result
for those cash flows must be multiplied by 12 to get an annualized rate.

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 Errors and Troubleshooting

Common Errors
Error S Check the signs of PV, PMT and FV—at least one
of them must be negative! And if solving for n, be sure that
PMT is enough to coverthe interest accruing each period.

Error 3: The IRR calculation needs your help: Key in a

guess as to the periodic IRR and press - The ma-
chine will try to find the nearest IRR solution. There are of-
ten other solutions, too, so be sure to try other guesses.

Error 1: There is no solution to the IRR calculation you

are attempting. (Check the signs of your cash flows!)

Verifying Proper Operation With the power off, press and

hold downthe key, then power (ONJ, then release (X). The
display should show TU 1Q for some seconds, then halt
with all items lit. (This will not reset memory. To do that,
use the same press-and-hold procedure as above, but with =
rather than (X). Then press any key to clear the PrError)

Contents
Arithmetic, Mathand the Display ... ............... 1
Peieenligee .. . .. .. ... .2
Registers, Storage and Clearing ...................2
Calendar Functions, Bonds and Depreciation ......... 3
TVM Calculations: PMT,FVandPV ... .............4
TVM Calculations: i,nand AMORT ................5
Statistics and Data Analysis ......................6
Cash Flow Lists, NPVandIRR ....................7
Errors and Troubleshooting ...................... 8
For more copies of this Q-Card or other publications on financial
calculators and problem solving, contact the publisher (below).
© Grapevine Publications, Inc.
626 N.W. 4th Street, Suite B
P.O. Box 2449, Corvallis, OR 97339-2449 USA
orders: (800) 338-4331 fax: (541) 754-6508
phone: (541) 754-0583 web: http://www.read-gpi.com

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