After months of preparation, everything culminates on exam day. How you manage your time, mindset, and tactics during those 4.5 hours of testing can make a significant difference. 

This section covers practical exam-day strategies: pacing yourself, using the flagging function and calculator efficiently, avoiding common traps, and keeping your composure.

Plan Your Time: Pacing is Key

You’ll have 135 minutes per session for 90 questions, which works out to ~1 minute 30 seconds per question on average. That average is deceivingly short – some conceptual questions might only take 30–60 seconds if you know them, but a multi-step calculation or mini-case could easily consume 3+ minutes if you’re not careful. Thus, a pacing strategy is critical:

• Use time checkpoints: A popular approach is to divide the session into segments as a pacing guide. 

For example, aim to complete about 30 questions in the first 50 minutes, 60 questions by 1 hour 40 minutes, leaving ~35 minutes for the last 30 questions and any review. 

Write target question numbers next to times on your scratch paper (e.g., “Q30 by 10:30am, Q60 by 11:20am” if you started at 9:00). 

During the exam, if you find you’ve answered only 20 questions by the 50-minute mark, you know to pick up speed.

• Don’t get bogged down: If a question is really time-consuming or confusing, do not spend 5-10 minutes on it while other questions remain unanswered. It’s better to skip or make a quick guess and move on.

A strategy: give each question a first pass of at most ~2 minutes. If you haven’t solved it by then, pick the best answer you can (eliminate obvious wrongs and guess among remaining) and mark it. 

• Use any extra time for review wisely: If you finish with, say, 15 minutes left, first revisit questions where you had it narrowed down or realized you might have made a simple error. Be cautious in changing answers though – only change if you have a specific reason (new insight or noticed mistake). 
  
• Guessing strategy: Remember, there is no penalty for wrong answers.
  
  Never leave a question blank. If you are running out of time at the end, and say 5 questions are left with 1 minute on the clock – pick an answer for each (e.g., choice B all the way down) in a few seconds. A blind guess has 33% chance, which is infinitely better than 0% for blanks.  

Practicalities

You are allowed to bring two calculators (in case one fails) – either TI BA II Plus or HP 12C. 

Make sure that you’ve practiced all relevant functions before exam day (NPV, IRR, amortization, depreciation, statistics, etc.). Here are some tips:

Set your BA II Plus format settings at the start (or the night before). For example, set the number of decimal places to 4 or 6 as you prefer (2 may be too low for some currency or return calcs). Clear any previous worksheet data (press 2nd + CLR TVM, etc.). These small steps ensure you don’t carry any old values that could skew a calculation (the BA II Plus remembers figures like N and I from prior use which can confuse if not cleared).

Remember to bring your valid international passport, your exam admission ticket, and your calculators (with backup batteries). Arrive early at the test center (30+ minutes recommended) to allow time for check-in, ID verification, and settling down.

Bring earplugs if noise distracts you (many centers allow the foam earplugs; some provide headphones). Dress in layers, as the room might be too cold or warm.