This CFA Level 2 cheat sheet distills the CFA Program Level II curriculum into a printable rundown of the valuation models and facts the item sets test most. 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 2 toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
CFA Level 2 exam at a glance
- Questions: 88 multiple-choice across 22 item sets (vignettes); 20 sets scored, 2 unscored
- Time: Two 132-minute sessions — about 4 hours 24 minutes, optional break between
- Passing standard: Pass/fail; the Board sets a Minimum Passing Score each cycle (not published)
- Cost: About US$1,140 early / US$1,490 standard for 2026 (verify at cfainstitute.org)
What’s on the CFA Level 2 cheat sheet
- Ethical & Professional Standards (10–15%) — the seven Standards in vignettes, MNPI vs mosaic theory, and GIPS.
- Financial Statement Analysis (10–15%) — intercorporate investments, pensions, currency translation, and reporting quality.
- Equity Investments (10–15%) — the model map — DDM, FCFF/FCFE, residual income, and multiples.
- Fixed Income (10–15%) — the term structure, forward rates, arbitrage-free trees, and OAS.
- Portfolio Management (10–15%) — multifactor models, active management, and measuring risk (VaR).
- Quant, Economics, Corporate Issuers, Derivatives & Alternatives (5–10% each) — regression pitfalls, parity conditions, Modigliani-Miller, option pricing, and private assets.
How to use it in your final week
- Drill the equity model map until picking is automatic — DDM for stable payers, FCFF/FCFE for non-payers, residual income for negative early cash flow, multiples for a fast relative check.
- Front-load the five 10–15% topics — Ethics, FSA, Equity, Fixed Income, and Portfolio Management — since together they carry the majority of the exam and decide most results.
- Read the sheet the morning of the exam for one last pass on the memory hooks: V₀ = D₁ / (r − g), FCFE = FCFF − interest(1 − tax) + net borrowing, current-rate gain to equity vs temporal to income, and the parity conditions.
- Pair every review pass with a full timed item set (11 sets per 132-minute session ≈ 12 min each) so your vignette pacing and stamina stay sharp.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your CFA Level 2 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 2 cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the CFA Level 2 cheat sheet downloads as a PDF with no sign-up and no account. It sits alongside Career Employer's free CFA Level 2 practice test, study guide, and flashcards, so your whole review layer costs nothing.
It condenses the highest-yield Level II material into a quick reference: the 10 topic weights, the equity valuation model map (DDM, FCFF/FCFE, residual income, multiples), fixed-income term-structure and OAS facts, option-pricing shortcuts, FSA methods, and the parity conditions — organized the way CFA Institute weights the item sets.
Yes. Because Level II is delivered as 22 item sets rather than free-standing questions, the sheet flags which facts examiners bury inside a vignette — the equity model to pick, the translation method to apply, the Standard that was violated — so you can pattern-match under time pressure.
No — Level II is application-heavy and pass rates hover near 45%, so recognition of a formula is not the same as being able to work it in a vignette. Use the sheet to lock in the models and weights, then prove it with full timed item sets on the practice test.
Click the download button or the preview card at the top of this page and the PDF opens instantly. Bookmark this page so you can pull it up on your phone the morning of the exam for a final memory pass.
References
- 1.CFA Institute. “CFA Program Level II Exam.” cfainstitute.org, 2026. ↑
- 2.CFA Institute. “CFA Exam Dates and Fees.” cfainstitute.org, 2026. ↑
- 3.CFA Institute. “CFA Program — Become a Chartered Financial Analyst.” cfainstitute.org, 2026. ↑
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