Series 4 Cheat Sheet.
The night-before summary, built like the exam.

The numbers to remember

• 125 multiple-choice questions
• 3 hours, 15 minutes time limit
• 72% passing score
• $200 exam fee
• FINRA is the governing body
• Corequisites: SIE + Series 7 (must be passed to hold the Registered Options Principal registration)
• Must be sponsored by a FINRA member or SRO member firm to register
• Retake wait: 15 calendar days after a failed attempt; 60 calendar days after three or more failures in succession within two years

Content domains and weights

• F1 — New Options Accounts: 21 questions
• F2 — Options Account Activities: 25 questions
• F3 — General Options Trading: 30 questions (largest function)
• F4 — Options Communications: 9 questions (smallest function)
• F5 — Regulatory Requirements: 12 questions
• F6 — Associated Persons / Personnel Management: 28 questions

F3 and F6 together are nearly half the exam — review these last, in your final pass, so they're freshest.

High-yield review areas

• General options trading supervision (F3) — the single largest function; prioritize this if time is short.
• Supervising associated persons and personnel management (F6) — second-largest function, close behind F3.
• Options account activity supervision (F2) — the third-largest slice; review alongside new-account procedures (F1) since both concern account-level oversight.
• Regulatory-requirement practices (F5) — smaller in question count but tests precise procedural knowledge, so don't skim it.
• Options communications supervision (F4) — the lightest function by question count; a quick focused pass is enough.

Top traps

• Don't confuse the corequisite requirement (SIE + Series 7) with a prerequisite you can complete after the Series 4 — you need those exams passed to actually hold the Registered Options Principal registration.
• Don't assume you can self-register — eligibility requires sponsorship by a FINRA member or applicable SRO member firm.
• Don't underweight F4 and F5 just because they're the smallest functions — every one of the 125 questions counts equally toward the 72% cut score.
• Don't plan to "just retake it" casually if you fall short — a failed attempt costs another $200 and locks you out for at least 15 calendar days, with a jump to 60 days after a third consecutive failure.
• Don't pace your practice sessions loosely — 125 questions in 3 hours 15 minutes averages under two minutes per question, so build that rhythm before test day.