This CFA Level 1 cheat sheet compresses the CFA Program Level I curriculum — all 10 topics — into a printable quick reference for the facts that decide pass/fail. It's a premium cheat sheet built by Capital Prep — the one premium prep we trust — and it's yours free. Reinforce it with the rest of your free CFA Level 1 toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
CFA Level 1 exam at a glance
- Questions: 180 multiple-choice (three options each)
- Time: Two 135-minute sessions (~4.5 hours) with an optional break
- Passing standard: Pass/fail; Minimum Passing Score set by the Board (not published)
- Certifying body: CFA Institute, delivered at Prometric centers
- Cost: About US$1,140 early / US$1,490 standard for 2026 (verify at cfainstitute.org)
What’s on the CFA Level 1 cheat sheet
- Ethical & Professional Standards (15-20%) — the Code, the seven Standards, material nonpublic information, and GIPS — the largest topic and the tiebreaker.
- Financial Statement Analysis (11-14%) — the three linked statements, DuPont ROE, key ratios, and FIFO vs LIFO under rising prices.
- Equity & Fixed Income (11-14% each) — the dividend discount model, multiples, bond pricing, and duration and convexity.
- Quant, Economics, Corporate Issuers, Derivatives, Alternatives & Portfolio Management — time value of money, monetary vs fiscal policy, WACC, put-call parity, and the CAPM.
How to use it in your final week
- Front-load ethics — the Code plus the seven Standards are 15-20% of the exam and decide borderline pass/fail results, so read that block of the sheet daily.
- Cover the big four together: Ethics, Financial Statement Analysis, Equity, and Fixed Income are roughly half the exam, so give them the bulk of your final passes.
- Drill the memory hooks — FIFO = higher income in rising prices, WACC uses the after-tax cost of debt, duration rises with longer maturity and lower coupon, and CAPM prices only systematic risk (beta).
- Pair each review pass with a short timed set that mirrors the ~90-second-per-question pace, so your stamina holds across both 135-minute sessions.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your CFA Level 1 practice test drives the exam-readiness ring at the top of this page. Download it, review, then take a full practice exam (or drill with the study guide and flashcards) to see where you stand.
CFA Level 1 cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the CFA Level 1 cheat sheet downloads as a PDF with no sign-up and no account. It sits alongside Career Employer's free CFA Level 1 practice test, study guide, and flashcards, so your whole review layer is free.
It condenses the highest-yield facts across all 10 CFA Program Level I topics — the Code and seven Standards, time value of money, financial-statement ratios, equity and bond valuation, duration, and the CAPM — organized by the exam's published topic weightings so you can review the heaviest areas first.
The CFA Level 1 is scored pass/fail with a topic-level summary; there is no published passing percentage. The Board of Governors sets a Minimum Passing Score (MPS) each cycle through a standard-setting process, so the practical target is to score comfortably above passing on full-length, topic-weighted practice before test day.
No — the CFA Level 1 spans roughly 93 learning modules and about 300 recommended study hours, so the sheet is a fast recall and last-week cram aid, not a full curriculum. Use it to lock in memory hooks, then work timed practice questions to build readiness.
It's built from the CFA Institute's current Level I topic outline and Code and Standards, and we review it against the official candidate resources each exam cycle. Always confirm fees and dates on the CFA Institute site, since pricing changes.
References
- 1.CFA Institute. “CFA Program Level I Exam.” cfainstitute.org, 2026. ↑
- 2.CFA Institute. “Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct (Guidance).” cfainstitute.org, 2026. ↑
- 3.CFA Institute. “CFA Program — Exam Dates and Fees.” cfainstitute.org, 2026. ↑
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