BYU-Idaho CFA Prep

Finance Formulas and Study Resources

Welcome to BYU-Idaho CFA Prep

This site contains comprehensive study materials and formula references for CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) exam preparation, with a focus on formulas.

Quantitative Methods Module

The Quantitative Methods section covers essential mathematical and statistical concepts for financial analysis. This module consists of 10 comprehensive learning modules:

Module Topics

  1. Rates and Returns
    • Learn about different types of returns, including holding period returns, arithmetic and geometric means, and money-weighted vs. time-weighted returns.
  2. Time Value of Money
    • Master present value, future value, annuities, perpetuities, and other time value concepts essential for financial analysis.
  3. Statistical Measures of Asset Returns
    • Understand measures of central tendency, dispersion, skewness, and kurtosis for analyzing asset return distributions.
  4. Probability Trees
    • Learn probability theory, conditional probability, and decision tree analysis for investment decisions.
  5. Portfolio Mathematics
    • Explore portfolio risk and return calculations, including covariance, correlation, and portfolio variance.
  6. Simulation Methods
    • Discover Monte Carlo simulation and other computational methods for modeling financial scenarios.
  7. Estimation and Inference
    • Study point estimates, confidence intervals, and statistical inference techniques for financial data.
  8. Hypothesis Testing
    • Learn the fundamentals of hypothesis testing, Type I and Type II errors, and test statistics.
  9. Parametric Tests (Independent Samples)
    • Master t-tests, chi-square tests, and F-tests for comparing independent samples.
  10. Simple Linear Regression
    • Understand regression analysis, including coefficient estimation, hypothesis testing, and model evaluation.

Download Options

Each module includes downloadable resources in multiple formats:

  • PDF - For printing and offline study
  • Word - For editing and note-taking
  • PowerPoint - For presentations and review

CFA Practice App

Test your knowledge with our interactive Practice Problems App. This app provides hands-on practice questions based on the course content to help reinforce your understanding of key concepts.

About This Site

This resource is designed to help students prepare for the CFA exam by providing:

  • Clear, concise formula explanations
  • Practical examples and applications
  • Downloadable study materials
  • Organized, easy-to-navigate content

Using Formulas with AI Assistants

Each topic page includes all relevant formulas, and every formula has a “View Markdown Source” option. Clicking this reveals the LaTeX code for the formula, which you can easily copy.

This feature is especially useful when seeking help from AI language models (like ChatGPT, Claude, or Copilot). Since these models are trained on LaTeX, sharing the LaTeX code ensures the AI understands exactly which formula you’re asking about. This is much more reliable than trying to copy formulas from PDFs or Word documents, which often don’t paste correctly into chat interfaces.

Note on Site Development

This is the first semester that BYU-Idaho offers this course, and this site is being built at the same time as the course is being taught. As a result, the current style and format of the site is subject to updates and changes as we continue to improve the learning experience.

Please note that some errors or bugs may be present in the site. If you encounter any issues, please document them (with screenshots if possible) and share them with the professor and/or developer at: ramirez@byui.edu

Suggestions and constructive criticism (dev only) are also welcome as we work to enhance this resource for future students.

Last updated: January 2026

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