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Intro finance is a short list of ideas used over and over. Money today is worth more than money later. Risk has to be paid for. An asset is worth the present value of the cash it produces. Almost every chapter, from bonds to stocks to capital budgeting, applies those ideas with a new formula.
That makes finance notes different from notes in a reading-heavy class. You need to capture three things accurately: the setup of each problem, the formula and when to use it, and the steps to get the number. Here's a layout that does all three on an iPad.
Draw a timeline for every cash flow problem
The most useful habit in finance is drawing a timeline before you touch a formula. Many mistakes on time value of money problems come from misreading when cash arrives, not from bad arithmetic.
- Draw a horizontal line and mark periods 0, 1, 2, 3 and so on. Period 0 is today.
- Write each cash flow above its period. Money you pay out is negative, money you receive is positive.
- Write the interest or discount rate above the line, and note the period length (years, months).
- Circle what you're solving for: a present value at 0, a future value at the end, a payment or a rate.
Once the timeline is drawn, the problem type usually becomes obvious: a single amount, a level stream (an annuity), a stream that starts later, or one that grows.
In Scribba, hold the Apple Pencil still at the end of a stroke and it snaps into a straight line, so a timeline takes seconds. Dot grid paper helps you space the periods evenly. When a professor draws a timeline on the board, copy exactly where the first cash flow lands. An annuity that starts at period 1 and one that starts at period 0 give different answers.
Keep a formula sheet that says when, not just what
Finance has a lot of formulas: present and future value, annuities and perpetuities, bond prices, the dividend growth model, NPV, CAPM, WACC. Writing them down is easy. Knowing which one fits a problem is the hard part, and it's what exams test.
Build a running formula page per unit, and for each formula write:
- The formula, with every variable defined in words.
- When to use it, in one line ("level payments, starting next period").
- The trap, like a growth rate that must be below the discount rate, or a rate that has to match the period length.
- A tiny worked example, with numbers plugged in.
Some finance exams let you bring a formula sheet, and some hand one out. Either way, writing your own is how you learn which formula goes where. See make an exam cheat sheet.
Tip: keep your formula sheet in its own small notebook and open it as a tab beside your lecture notes. Scribba keeps up to six notebooks open as tabs, and ⌘⇧ and ⌘⇧] move between them on a keyboard. See [notebook tabs and the quick switcher.
Write down the calculator steps
Most finance classes expect a financial calculator or spreadsheet functions, and the professor walks through the keystrokes in class. Those steps are easy to follow live and easy to forget by the time you do the homework.
When a worked example comes up, write the inputs as a short list next to the timeline: number of periods, rate, present value, payment, future value, and which one you computed. Note the sign of each cash flow, since financial calculators expect money in and money out to have opposite signs. If you're supposed to clear the calculator between problems, write that down too. On an exam, a value left over from the last problem is a classic way to get a wrong answer with the right method.
If your professor allows recording, the keystroke walkthroughs are exactly the part worth replaying. In Scribba, tap the mic and write as normal. Every stroke is linked to the moment in the recording, so tapping the inputs you wrote plays the professor explaining them. See how to record a lecture on iPad, and check your class's recording policy first.
Draw the risk and return graphs
The second half of many intro courses is about risk: standard deviation, diversification, beta and the capital asset pricing model. These come with a few standard graphs: portfolio risk falling as you add assets, the efficient frontier, and the security market line, with expected return against beta.
Use Grid or Graph (mm) paper for these. Label both axes before anything else, and mark the risk-free rate where the line meets the vertical axis. As with economics notes, write one sentence under each graph that says what it means in words.
Practice with problems, not rereading
Finance is a doing class. Rereading a solved example feels like understanding, but the exam asks you to set it up from a blank page.
- Cover the solution. In Scribba, drag study tape over the worked steps of an example. Read the question, draw the timeline, solve it, then tap the tape to check. See study tape on iPad.
- Mix problem types. Do a bond problem, then an annuity, then an NPV, in random order. Picking the method is the skill exams test, and you only practice it when the chapter title isn't giving the answer away.
- Explain your setup out loud. If you can't say why a problem is an annuity due and not an ordinary annuity, you'll miss the next one.
For formulas you need to know cold, make a small flashcard deck by hand: create a new deck, tap Add Card, and type the formula's name on the front and what it's for on the back. Decks use spaced repetition, so cards come back at growing intervals. Scribba doesn't recognize handwritten equations, so type formula cards or keep the formulas under study tape.
Frequently asked questions
Can Scribba do finance calculations?
No. Scribba doesn't recognize equations or do math. Use your calculator or a spreadsheet, and use Scribba to write out the setup and steps clearly.
What paper works best for finance notes?
Dot grid for timelines, grid or graph paper for risk and return plots, and ruled paper for concept-heavy lectures. You can change the paper of any single page from the page sidebar.
How do I keep my formula sheet handy while I do problems?
Keep it in its own notebook and open it as a tab, or open it in its own window with Split View beside your problem set.