FCPlus Pro 2.1 is an extremely mind-boggling piece of software. It's amazing what it can do! When I first received it for the review, all I could think of was, "Wow, I never realized how many functions you could cram into a financial calculator software..."

I just took a class in accounting (with the most hilarious professor ever) this past semester, and boy, I sure wish I could have used FCPlus Pro on my exam! Every single calculation problem on my exam could have been easily solved if I'd have FCPlus Pro, and I'm not kidding. It's that amazing.

Anyhow, I shan't bore you with details of my accounting exam. Let's take a look at what FCPlus Pro has to offer.

FCPlus Pro (a non-Pro version is also available, with less functions and features) allows you to enter data in either standard or RPN mode. It has a feature known as "worksheets", and the worksheets allow you to perform financial and statistical calculations with ease. Many mathematical functions and worksheets are available for use.

The calculator is highly customizable, and you can choose the functions (from the functions list) that will show up as buttons on your main and input screen (the input screen looks very much like the main screen, and is found in each worksheet). You can choose the number of decimal places that you answer will be shown in, and you can also choose your input mode (standard or RPN). While in RPN mode, you can make use of the 'stack' button on the main screen to view and edit your RPN stack.

A functions list is accessible from the [f(x)] button on the calculator screen. Tapping on this button brings you to a long list of functions that you can use in your calculations. These include common scientific functions such as nPr, x!, ln.

FCPlus Pro shines in its usage of worksheets. The calculator has worksheets for numerous financial calculations, such as TVM (Time Value of Money), cash flows, profit margins, depreciation, simple interest, and breakeven, just to name a few. Also available are worksheets for conversion calculations (area, temperature, mass, volume, etc.) and statistics.

The worksheets are pretty easy to use, and I found little trouble in getting them to work. All you have to do is enter the values that you are interested in, and then hit the 'CPT' command. The calculator that shows you the corresponding value of, say, the future value of a sum of money. I found it somewhat troublesome to have to hit the CPT command every time I wanted to make a calculation. I would prefer that the results change dynamically as I entered the values, but I suppose such a feature would slow the calculation down somewhat. Another thing I would like to see is the ability to jump from worksheet to worksheet. As it is, I can only access worksheets from the main screen, so if I were in a TVM worksheet and wanted to go to a conversion worksheet, I would have to quit the TVM worksheet, access the main screen, click on the conversion worksheet, and then finally end up in the conversion worksheet. This gets troublesome at times, and the ability to jump from worksheet to worksheet would be very much welcomed.

A very useful feature in FCPlus Pro is the Amortization Screen. Found in the TVM worksheet, it displays period-by-period information for TVM calculations. From this screen, you can choose to view information such as beginning/ending balances, interest, payments, etc. Two views are available, namely the table view and the period view. The period view is good when you need to view all relevant information over a period, while the table view is good for times when you need to view a list of values (such as beginning balance) corresponding to a separate list of values (such as interest).

FCPlus Pro is indeed a very useful piece of software. What makes it better is its user manual. The manual is extremely comprehensive, and chock-full of information on how to work the software. The manual is very well-written, and includes numerous examples on how to utilize the different functions. I found this especially helpful when trying out the worksheets. I'd recommend that you read the manual before you start using FCPlus Pro, because it gives a great overview (and more) of the software. Only downside is, since the manual is so comprehensive, it is kind of lengthy.