I asked a bunch of accountants about their favorite financial calculator and this is what they said*:
1. Sharp Compet QS-2130
This one showed up a cup times on my impromptu best financial calculator list. One person said she had one in the kitchen and in the office. Another said she had one on each of her five desks at the office, one in each briefcase, and a couple more at home. This clearly delivers.
2. Victor 670
Someone had been using this as their go to for 26 years!
3. Hewlett Packard 12C
Multiple people cited this as a calculator they’ve been using since their college years – and I’m not talking about recent college grads either. One person said she started using this calculator 30+ years ago and still going strong.
4. Excel
Of course, many people mentioned Excel as their favorite financial calculator. I tend to agree if I have a 10-key pad available so I can do the data entry with one hand. It’s easy to audit and also has the flexibility of adding notes to any computation you enter.
5. Texas Instruments BAII
The user of the TI BA II said after 30 years he knows the keys and can do NPVs lightning fast. Just like shortcuts in Excel save you tons of time completing tasks, knowing your calculator well does the same. You don’t really see many of these anymore.
6. Texas Instruments BA II Plus
This is another financial calculator used in the college years, so that further shows how long the person using the BAII model has had it.
7. Hewlett Packard 10B
I had another person who swore the HP 10B as their calculator of choice. And here I thought HP was known for computers!
8. Hewlett Packard 10B II
This HP was actually the calculator I used in college and when I worked in industry. It is the updated version of the HP 10B (obviously) but you can still purchase either one based on your preferences.
9. TI SR-16
It looks like the TI SR-16, released in 1974, may be a fan favorite of those who had the privilege to use it, but finding one today would be quite the task.
10. Canon MP210 12-digit
I tried to find this calculator and am not convinced it’s the right name. That being said, the person who ranked this as #1 said she can’t remember ever not having it and particularly likes the feel of the keys. It’s amazing how much touch matters on a keyboard. I have a wireless apple keyboard that I feel the same way about.
11. Moffsoft Free Calc
If you like typing on your keyboard but prefer the look and functionality of the old school calculators with the printable tape history, this might be a good option for you.
12. Sharp Compet VX-2126H
Has been delivering since 1993 for one of the self-proclaimed old school accountants in the group. I believe it, based on the time I spent trying to find one in stock.
13. Victor 1260-3
This is the classic calculator I remember seeing people using when I first started accounting. All of the ex-auditors loved these types of calculators because of the ability to print the tape to stick on top of account reconciliations. That was back when we still printed things.
14. Victor Imperial 10-key adding machine
Apparently, this calculator came out in the 1960s and the best I could do to find this was a google image search just to figure out what it looked like. I’m not sure this one qualifies as a calculator.
15. Staples SPL-230
You buy this calculator more for the convenience factor than you do for the functionality or great feel mentioned on some of the others on this list.
*Some of the links are affiliate links where I receive a small commission if you decide you want to buy a new calculator. This does not increase the cost to you.
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