Getting Up to Speed With Accounting

Calculators
© Mayer Goldberg ([email protected])

What is an accounting calculator

An accounting calculator is a special kind of electric or electronic calculator you often
see in small shops, used by secretaries and managers in various companies, by
accountants, etc. These are specialized calculators that are optimized for very specific
tasks that are frequently needed in business and finance.

What does an accounting calculator look like

Accounting calculators come in all shapes and
sizes. Many, though not all, can print
calculations onto a narrow roll of paper (about
6cm wide). Customarily, printing is done in two
colours: Black or dark purple for positive
numbers, and red for negative numbers.

Most accounting calculators are larger than

pocket calculators, meant to be used on a
table, and have a large display, large keys, and
some extra large keys. While nearly all modern
calculators have switched to the use of LCD
(Liquid-Crystal Displays) to reduce
power-consumption, many business calculators
still use bright LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes),
because most are meant to be used on a table,
are connected to an AC electric outlet, use
batteries, if at all, only to conserve settings and
data, and so they are less affected by higher
power-consumption.
Some of the keys on accounting calculators may seem familiar +, −, ∗, but function very
differently from the same keys on other calculators. Some keys have special marks that
are uncommon in other types of calculators: Δ%, ◇/#, M◇, GT, etc.

Nearly all calculators use floating-point numbers, that is a system of representing

decimal numbers where the position of the decimal point can vary within the number.
While most accounting calculators support floating-point numbers, they also support
fixed notations, whereby the decimal point appears to the right of a fixed number of
digits from the right, and numbers are rounded accordingly. Fixed notation is important,
e.g., when dealing with money, because there is a smallest unit of currency below
which the value is rounded off.

Why doesn’t it work [like other calculators]??

Different calculators are designed for different tasks. Scientific calculators are intended
for rapid computation of complex mathematical expressions. Graphing calculators are
intended for easy visualization of mathematical functions, curves, and data. Simple
calculators are intended for quick computations using the basic four operations,
percentages, and memory. Similarly, accounting calculators are optimized to handle
specific tasks that occur often in business and finance. This does not mean that other
calculators cannot be goaded to perform the same tasks, or that accounting
calculators cannot be goaded to perform other kinds of tasks for which they were not
designed; It is just that you’ll need to work harder!

Financial calculators are optimized for tallying numbers, that is, to add and subtract
them. This may not seem like much, since addition and subtraction are handled by all
calculators, however, while tallying numbers, accounting calculators maintain a Total
(i.e., sum), a Grand Total (i.e., a second level of summation), as well as the number of
items added, their average, and other data.

To visualize what this means, imagine you took a business trip that is fully-covered by
your work. You do, however, need to submit receipts, your daily expenses, as well as
the total expense for the entire trip. How would you go about generating such data?

On a “regular” calculator that is not optimized for accounting, you would use the
memory for the total expenses of the trip. You would therefore need to clear the
memory ahead of time. Then, for each day, you would tally up the expenses for that
day, based on the receipts you have. Once you know the total expense for the day, you
would jot it down, and then add it to memory (using a key such as M+) so as to update
the total expense for the entire trip. You would then clear your screen (but not the
memory!) and proceed to tally up the expenses for the following day, etc., until the
expenses for all the days of the trip have been tallied and accounted for. At that point,
the memory of the calculator would contain the expense for the entire trip, which you
would then recall via, e.g., MR or MRC.

How would you do the same operation on an accounting calculator?

Accounting calculators already maintain Totals and Grand Totals. So you would start by
clearing these. Then you would add all the expenses for the first day of your trip. Then
you would hit the ∗ key, which would do three things:

1.​ Display the Total amount

2.​ Add the Total amount to the Grand Total
3.​ Clear the Total amount

You can now record the daily total, and move on to tallying the expenses for the
following day. When you are done tallying all the daily expenses for the entire trip, you
would hit the key GT or G∗, to get the Grand Total, which would then contain the total
expense for the entire trip.

Note that you did not make use of the memory. Accounting calculators have memory,
and often more than one, and you can use these to manage other quantities
throughout your calculations, but so far, we didn’t need to use this memory to tally up
groups of numbers.

Accounting calculators support many other functions, including multiplication, division,

percentages, price markups and markdowns, adding or subtracting taxes, converting
currencies, and many more. But these operations are all organized around the basic
activity of tallying up groups of numbers into totals and grand totals.

You can certainly use your accounting calculator to do your calculus and trigonometry
homework, but these calculators are not optimized for such activities, and you will work
much harder, and have to press many, many more keys, and work in a roundabout and
circuitous manner than would be necessary if you were to use a scientific calculator.
Once you are familiar with accounting calculators, their functions, and use, you may be
tempted to try using them for ordinary or scientific computing, as a challenge, for your
amusement, and to hone your proficiency, but those are not the applications for which
these calculators are intended.
Functionality & Variations
If you are an experienced user of simple or scientific calculators, you will need to
re-learn many things, because the accounting calculator shares many keys with other
calculators, but these keys behave completely differently.

Addition, subtraction, Total, and Grand Total

Accounting calculators maintain the Total and the Grand Total as two internal variables.
When you hit + after a number, you are adding it to the current total. When you hit −
after a number, you are subtracting it from the current total. Some calculators do not
have + and − keys, but rather =+ and =− keys. Other calculators yet have an
independent = key. This can be very confusing if you compare the = function to the
corresponding key on non-accounting calculators:

●​ On non-accounting calculators, you use +, −, ∗, / between numbers, and then

use = to compute and display the value of the expression.
●​ On accounting calculators, you use +, − after numbers, to add or subtract their
value from the Total. The = key is used to end any multiplication or division
operation.​
Keys such as =+, =− have the compound effect of ending any multiplication or
division operation, and adding or subtracting the result to the Total.

The Monroe Heavy-Duty accounting calculators support the full complement of

operations: +, −, ∗, ÷, =+, =−, =, offering the user the most control over how to
compute an expression.

Example: Compute 2 + 3 + 4 on an accounting calculator.

CA​ ​ clear all — zero out the Total and grand total

2 +​ ​ add 2 to the Total

3 +​ ​ add 3 to the Total

4 +​ ​ add 4 to the Total

∗​ ​ add the total, 9, to the Grand Total, zero out the Total
Example: We wish to compute (2 + 3 + 4) + (5 + 6 − 7) on an accounting calculator.
We wish to record the values of the two parenthesized expressions, and compute the
Grand Total:

CA​ ​ clear all — zero out the Total and Grand Total

2 +​ ​ add 2 to the Total

3 +​ ​ add 3 to the Total

4 +​ ​ add 4 to the Total

∗​ ​ add the total, 9, to the Grand Total, zero out the Total

5 +​ ​ add 5 to the Total

6 +​ ​ add 6 to the Total

7 −​ ​ subtract 7 from the Total

∗​ ​ add the total, 4, to the Grand Total, zero out the Total

G∗​ ​ display and zero out the Grand Total, 13

If your accounting calculator does not have + and − keys, but perhaps =+ and =−, or
just =+ and − (as in the photo of the CASIO calculator shown earlier), you can use
these just the same. Remember that = affects only multiplication and division.

Note the crucial difference between how addition and subtraction are written on
non-accounting calculators: 2 + 3 − 4. The operators + and − are written between
numbers. They are called binary operators because they operate on a pair (bini) of
numbers. On accounting calculators, + and − are unary postfix operators, operating on
a single (uni) number, and given after (post) it.

If expressions such as “unary postfix operators” are a mouthful for you, just remember
this: When using an accounting calculator, don’t say or think “four plus five equals”, but
rather say or think “clear total, add four to the total, add five to the total, display the
total”. If you can make this one change in how you look at an accounting calculator, you
shan’t go wrong.
Also note that ∗ does not mean multiplication, as on some non-accounting calculators,
but rather a complex operation that has an effect on the Total and Grand Total
memories. Multiplication is denoted using the × (times) symbol. Similarly, / is not used
for division, as on some non-accounting calculators, but rather the symbol ÷.

Multiplication and division

Multiplication and division are binary, infix operators. This means that they are given
between two numbers. Chains of multiplication and division are evaluated from
left-to-right.

Example: Compute (2 × 3 × 4 ÷ 6):

2×3×4÷6=

Giving 4.

Not all accounting calculators have an = key. Some have =+ and =− or just =+. The
effect of using =+ or =− in place of = is that the result is either added to the Total or
subtracted from it.

Example: On a calculator without =+ evaluate : 2 × 3 + 4 × 5. Keep in mind that

multiplication takes place before addition!

CA​ ​ clear all — zero out the Total and Grand Total

2 × 3 = +​ multiply 2 and 3, and add to the Total

4 × 5 = +​ multiply 4 and 5, and add to the Total

∗​ ​ display the Total, add to Grand Total, zero the Total

Giving 26.

Example: On a calculator with =+ evaluate: 2 × 3 + 4 × 5. Keep in mind that

multiplication takes place before addition!

CA​ ​ clear all — zero out the Total and Grand Total

2 × 3 =+​ multiply 2 and 3, and add to the Total

4 × 5 =+​ multiply 4 and 5, and add to the Total

∗​ ​ display the Total, add to Grand Total, zero the Total

Giving 26.

What is the difference between what we typed in the previous two examples? The key
=+ accomplishes in one stroke the exact same thing as what could be accomplished in
two strokes by typing = followed by +. Clearly, having a separate key for = offers
greater flexibility, while having a specialized key =+ offers brevity of keystrokes. Most
accounting calculators offer some combination of specialized keys, but to my
knowledge, the heavy-duty models by Monroe are the only calculators that come with
the full set of keys, offering flexibility when needed and brevity when possible.

Example: Adding mixed fractions: (3 ⅖) + (4 ⅞) + (1 ¾)

Intuition: We can compute each mixed fraction in the Total memory, tallying up the
fractions in the Grand Total memory.

CA​ ​ clear all — zero out the Total and Grand Total

3 +=​ ​ add 3 to the Total

2 ÷ 5 +=​ divide 2 by 5 and add to the Total

∗​ ​ display the Total, add to Grand Total, zero the Total

​ ​ The Grand Total now contains 3 2/5

4 +=​ ​ add 4 to the Total

7 ÷ 8 +=​ divide 7 by 8 and add to the Total

∗​ ​ display the Total, add to Grand Total, zero the Total

​ ​ The Grand Total now contains (3 ⅖) + (4 ⅞)

1 +=​ ​ Add 1 to the Total

3 ÷ 4 +=​ divide 3 by 4 and add to the Total

∗​ ​ display the Total, add to Grand Total, zero the Total

​ ​ The Grand Total now contains (3 ⅖) + (4 ⅞) + (1 ¾)

G∗​ ​ display and zero out the Grand Total, 10.025

If your accounting calculator has an = key, then the result of multiplication or division is
not added automatically to the Total, and you should use + or − to add or subtract the
value.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

To calculate numbers effectively requires that we be able to set aside some numbers for
future use and reference, so they are unaffected by future calculations, until such a time
as we may be ready to use them.

Accounting calculators offer one or more independent memories, which are a

mechanism to set aside numbers so their values are unaffected by later calculations
until we are ready to use those numbers.

You could think of the Total and Grand Total as memories too. But they tend to change
while doing ordinary calculations, such as addition and subtraction, so they are not a
stable place to keep numbers for future use.

Calculators that offer a single memory generally prefix the operations on memory with
the letter M. Calculators that offer several, independent memories generally prefix the
operations on those memories with the corresponding Roman numeral, so that I refers
to the first memory, II refers to the second memory, IV refers to the fourth memory, etc.

Most accounting calculators provide four operations on memory:

1.​ M+​ Adds the current number to the contents of memory, changing it. The
value on the display does not change.
2.​ M−​ Subtracts the current number from the contents of memory, changing it.
The value on the display does not change.
3.​ M◇​ Recalls the value in memory, allowing us to use it in some calculation.
This does not change the value in memory.
4.​ M∗​ Recalls the value in memory, allowing us to use it in some calculation.
This operation tacitly clears, i.e., zeros out, the memory.
Similarly, on calculators that offer several memories, II+ adds the current number to the
second memory, changing it; III∗ recalls and clears the third memory; and IV◇ recalls
but does not clear the fourth memory, etc.

Example: Calculating Fibonacci Numbers

Fibonacci numbers are an infinite sequence of numbers the first two elements in which
are 0 and 1, and every subsequent element is the sum of the preceding two. Thus

Fib0 = 0

Fib1 = 1

Fib2 = Fib0 + Fib1 = 0 + 1 = 1

Fib3 = Fib1 + Fib2 = 1 + 1 = 2

Fib4 = Fib2 + Fib3 = 1 + 2 = 3

Fib5 = Fib3 + Fib4 = 2 + 3 = 5

Fibonacci numbers start growing really fast. Fib10 is 55, and Fib100 is
354224848179261915075. Fib1,000,000 is a number with 208988 digits…

How can we calculate Fibonacci numbers on an accounting calculator? The trick is to

use the display to hold the current Fibonacci number, and use memory to hold the
previous Fibonacci number, and keep updating the memory:
Notice that every Fibonacci number with an even index is displayed twice!
Nevertheless, this is a simple algorithm, and you may repeat as long as your calculator
has enough digits to represent the answer…

Useful operations on memory

Subtracting the contents of memory (𝑀 ← 𝑥 − 𝑀)

The trick is to use M∗ to recall and clear the memory, subtract it from the total, and
then add the value of the display to memory using M+.
Exchanging the contents of memory and the display (𝑥 ↔ 𝑀)

The display has 𝑥, memory has 𝑦. How can we exchange these two values, so that the
display shows 𝑦 and memory has 𝑥?

Intuition: Compute the difference between the display and memory, add it in one
place, and subtract it in the other:

M◇ −​​ display ← x − y

M+​ ​ M←x

M◇ -​ ​ display ← −y

+​ ​ display ← 0

+​ ​ display ← y

Miscellaneous Computations

Constant Operations

Reciprocals

Square Roots

The number y is the square-root of the number x, if y2 = y × y = x. For example, 2 is the

squarer-oot of 4, 3 is the square-root of 9, and 5 is the square-root of 25. The
square-root of x is written as 𝑥.

Some accounting calculators offer a square-root function, and most calculators that do
denote it simply as 𝑥. On the Monroe calculators, the key sequence ÷= (division
followed by equal) computes the square-root.

On calculators that do not offer a square-root function, the square root must be
computed using some algorithm. Here we demonstrate a relatively efficient algorithm
known as Heron’s Method (which is a special case of the Newton-Raphson Method).
We observe that for any positive numbers M, x, the square root of M is always between
𝑀
x and 𝑥
. So to find the square root of M, we start off with some guess x and improve
 𝑀 1 𝑀
on it by taking the average of x and 𝑥
, or 2
(𝑥 + 𝑥
). We repeat this process with the
improved approximation until we are satisfied, or until no further improvements are
found. For example, below we compute the square-root of 2. Each stage of the
computation is numbered and explained below:

1.​ Setting up in memory 1 as the initial approximation for the square-root of 2

 2
2.​ Dividing 2 by the approximation in memory: 1
= 1
2
3.​ Adding the approximation in memory (while tacitly clearing memory): 1
+ 1= 3
1 2
4.​ Dividing by 2, giving the new approximation: 2
( 1 + 1) = 1. 5
5.​ Storing the new guess in memory

Steps 6-9, 10-13, 14-17, 18-21 are just repetitions of 2-5, where each repetition uses
an approximation improved over the previous one. In step 22 we square the result,
1.41421356237, and verify that indeed, we have a satisfactory approximation for the
square-root of 2.

Trigonometric Calculations (cosine)

I don’t know of any accounting calculator that includes the trigonometric functions, as
these are unnecessary for any known accounting application! However, just to validate
the claim that indeed, any computation that can be carried out on a scientific calculator,
can also be computed on an accounting calculator, I have endeavored to demonstrate
how to compute the trigonometric functions.

Our demonstration is going to be sketchy, in that we shall settle for computing one of
the easier functions to evaluate, the cosine function. The traditional way to compute
cosine is to use on the Taylor-Series:

2 4 6 8
𝑥 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥
𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝑥 = 1 − 2!
+ 4!
− 6!
+ 8!
−···

Where x is given in radians.

8
If we ignore all the terms beyond 𝑥 , and arrange the terms nicely, it is simple to obtain
the following approximation:

2 2 2 2
𝑥 (𝑥 (𝑥 (𝑥 −56)+1680)−20160)
𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝑥 ≈ 40320
+ 1

And it is this approximation that I shall be computing on our accounting calculator.

◦
In fact, we are going to compute the 𝑐𝑜𝑠 20 so we shall first need to convert it to
2
radians, then square it to obtain our term 𝑥 , and from then on, the coast is clear:
1.​ Multiply by π, divide by 180, to convert to radians, and then square, to get our
2
term 𝑥
2
2.​ Store 𝑥 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑦, 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡 56, clear the Total
2
3.​ Multiply by 𝑥 from memory
4.​ Add 1680, clear the Total
2
5.​ Multiply by 𝑥 from memory
 6.​ Subtract 20160, clear the Total
2
7.​ Multiply by 𝑥 from memory
8.​ Divide by 40320
9.​ Add 1, giving 0.93969262081 as the final answer.

◦
In fact, the 𝑐𝑜𝑠 20 = 0. 93969262078590838405 ··· so we can see that the error is in
the 10th decimal place, which isn’t bad for a rough approximation…

Calendrical Calculations

Many accounting problems concern tallying work over time. Here are the types of
questions we might be interested in:

●​ How many days are between two dates?

●​ Adding or subtracting so many days from a given date, what date does this fall
on?

Some accounting calculators have built-in functions to support such calculations. On

most calculators, though, we would need to follow some algorithms manually.

The key idea behind answering such calendrical questions is to convert a date to a
running number: Imagine January 1, Gregorian year 1. This would be 1/1/1… We can
call this the first day and call it day #1, but that would be annoying, since it just so
happens to fall on a Monday, and so we arbitrarily start our count a day sooner, so that
January 1, year 1 would be counted as day #2. January 2, Gregorian year 1 would then
be day #3, again, because it falls on a Tuesday, etc. What would be August 10, 2022?
Well, it turns out it would be day #738196, which was a Wednesday…

Once we can convert any date to this running number, it is easy to find the day of the
week (just take the remainder when dividing by 7, where remainder 0 means it’s a
Saturday!).

Similarly, to find the number of days between two dates, we just subtract the two
respective running numbers for the two, given dates.

The next problem is the reverse: Find the date given a running number of days. Once
we know how to do this, we can answer questions that involve arithmetic on the
running number. For example, what would be the date 100 days after August 10th,
2022? Another example: What date would be 23 Tuesdays from today, etc.
The Gregorian leap-year

The Gregorian calendar dates back to the 16th century AD. It recognizes the following
months and their respective number of days:

January (31), February (28/29), March (31), April (30), May (31), June (30), July (31),
August (31), September (30), October (31), November (30), December (31).

Notice that February can have either 28 or 29 days. Those years in which February has
29 days are known as leap-years.

How do we know which years are leap-years? In the Gregorian calendar, a year is a
leap year in one of two scenarios:

1.​ If the year is divisible by 4, but not divisible by 100

2.​ If the year is divisible by 4 and also divisible by 400

Example: The year 1984 is divisible by 4. It is not divisible by 100. So 1984 is a

leap-year.

Example: The year 2000 is divisible by 4. It is also divisible by 400. So the year 2000 is
a leap year. Notice that the year 2000 fails rule 1: It is also divisible by 100. But it is
possible for a leap-year to fail rule 1 and satisfy rule 2.

Example: The year 1900 is divisible by 4. It is divisible by 100 (so we faile rule 1). It is
not divisible by 400 (so we fail rule 2). Therefore, the year 1900 is not a leap-year.

The running days

Hopefully, we have motivated you to think about the running number of days for a given
date. Now let us consider how to calculate it.

Our date consists of three components:

●​ The current year 𝑦

●​ The current month 𝑚
●​ The current day of the month 𝑑

For convenience, let 𝑦' = 𝑦 − 1.

How do we calculate the running days given 𝑦, 𝑚, 𝑑? We do this in two parts:

 ●​ How many days have passed up to the year 𝑦
●​ How many days have passed since the start of 𝑦

The running days is the sum of these two values.

The number of days up to the year 𝑦 consists of the sum of

●​ 365 * 𝑦' as if each year had exactly 365 days (with February having only 28
days…)
𝑦'
●​ ⎡ 4 ⎤ the number of years divisible by 4
⎣ ⎦
𝑦'
●​ − ⎡ 100 ⎤ negative the number of year divisible by 100
⎣ ⎦
𝑦'
●​ + ⎡ 400 ⎤ the number of years divisible by 400
⎣ ⎦

The symbol [·] means we take the integer part of some floating-point or real number.
For example, [3. 45] = 3. 45.

The number of days since the start of the year consists of the number of days up to the
current month + the day of the month + a correction in case the current year is a leap
year and we need to account for the 29th day of February + 1 day extra, to account for
the fact that 1/1/1 was on a Monday, rather than a Sunday.

By summing the days of the month, we get that the number of days up to a given
month:

January 0 February 31 March 59

April 90 May 120 June 151

July 181 August 212 September 243

October 273 November 304 December 334

As for the correction factor, if the current year is a leap-year, and the month is greater
than February, then the correction factor is 1, otherwise it is 0 (no need for correction).

Example: What are the running days for May 12, 1966?
1.​ For 𝑦' = 1965, we compute 356 · 𝑦' and store in memory.
2.​ We find how many years up to and including 𝑦' are divisible by 4, and add them
to memory.
3.​ We find how many years up to and including 𝑦' are divisible by 100, and
subtract them from memory.
4.​ We find how many years up to and including 𝑦' are divisible by 400, and add
them to memory. Now memory contains the number of days up to the year 𝑦.
5.​ Add the number of days up to the month of May.
6.​ Add the day in the month of May.
7.​ Add 1 to adjust for the day of the week.
 8.​ The running days are 717834.

Example: What are the running days for August 10, 20

1.​ For 𝑦' = 1999, we compute 356 · 𝑦' and store in memory.
2.​ We find how many years up to and including 𝑦' are divisible by 4, and add them
to memory.
3.​ We find how many years up to and including 𝑦' are divisible by 100, and
subtract them from memory.
 4.​ We find how many years up to and including 𝑦' are divisible by 400, and add
them to memory. Now memory contains the number of days up to the year 𝑦.
5.​ Add the number of days up to the month of August.
6.​ Add the day in the month of the week.
7.​ The running days are 730343.
8.​ Add 1 for the leap-year correction for the year 2000, where the month is greater
than February
9.​ Add 1 to adjust for the day of

The day of the week

The day of the week is the remainder, when we divide the running days by 7.
Remember that a remainder of 0 means that the day is Saturday.

Example: What is the day of the week for May 12, 1966?

1.​ We start with the running days of 717834.

2.​ Divide by 7, giving 102547.714285
3.​ Multiply 0.714285 by 7, and we get 5, this is a Thursday. Alternately, you can
subtract 102547×7 from the running days, giving 5.

The number of days between dates

To find the number of days between two dates, subtract the running days of the earlier
date from the running days of the later date.

From running date to date

Going from a running date to a date requires that we reverse the steps we took when
going from a date to a running date. We can apply a shortcut that works most of the
time, and that can be corrected for when it doesn’t work. We’re going to estimate the
year based on the average length of the Gregorian year: 365.2475 days.

Example: Starting with 730000 as our running days, we divide by 365.2475, and get
1998.644755. This means that the 𝑦 = 1999 and 𝑦' = 1998. So we now reverse the
steps involved in going from the date to the running date:

1998 1998 1998

1.​ 730000 − 365 × 1998 − ⎡ 4 ⎤ + ⎡ 100 ⎤ − ⎡ ⎤ =246
⎣ ⎦ ⎣ ⎦ ⎣ 400 ⎦
2.​ 246 − 1 = 245, for the adjustment of 1 day
 3.​ Consulting our days-from-start-of-year-to-month table, we see that September
has 243 days, and October would be too much, so our date does fall in
September, leaving us with 2 days.
4.​ Our date is therefore September 2, 1999.

What next?
This document introduced you to the fundamental ideas, the logic, and the principles of
operation that are common to all accounting calculators. Your journey, however, into
this territory has just begun: Most accounting calculators offer many additional features
and functionality in curious and existing combinations. So where can you go from here?

●​ Time-functions: Some models offer functions for working with time & date.
Setting, formatting, and recalling the time and date, using the time and date as
labels on the printout, computing the time between two dates (e.g., to compute
billing hours), calculate so many days past a given date, etc. You should not find
time-functions surprising, since many accounting problems involve billing for
time.
●​ Advanced percentages & interest: Most models offer sophisticated functions to
compute markup and markdown prices, difference in percentages between two
prices, tax rates, and various other functions related to percentages and interest.
●​ Precision and rounding: If you have worked with scientific calculators, you may
take floating-point numbers for granted, floating-point in calculators with many
digits makes rounding seem less important. But accounting calculators are
usually used with money-matters, where cash is rounded to smallest unit of
currency (e.g., 1 cent) or according to the smallest denomination in circulation
(e.g., the Danish 25-Øre coin) or to a fixed and given number of decimal places.
Once precision is limited, round-off becomes critical. Accounting calculators
allow users to set the calculator to fixed-precision or floating-point numbers, and
for fixed-precision, to specify the number of decimal places to the right of the
decimal point. Some calculators will let you specify how numbers are
rounded-off. If you’re going to be working with money, you should take the time
to familiarize yourself with what functionality is available in different brands and
models.
●​ Keyboarding: The speed and accuracy of operating the calculator is of the
essence when processing many items. While the general layout of the keys is
not quite standardized, the basic layout of the numeric keypad is. If you plan on
using accounting calculators to process large amounts of data, it would make
sense to invest some effort into streamlining and speeding up data entry. This is
one reason to invest in a good accounting calculator in which you can be
content, and to stick with it for as long as possible, so that you can get used to
its keyboard layout. Conversely, if you constantly switch among different
calculator layouts, you shall not be able to develop speed and accuracy in any
one of them.