Introducing Broker-Dealer Financial and Operations Principal Exam (Series 28) Study Guide

The Series 28 (Introducing Broker-Dealer Financial and Operations Principal Exam) is a FINRA qualification exam with a fixed, well-documented format. Knowing the mechanics before exam day removes avoidable stress and lets you plan your study time with confidence.

• 95 questions, all multiple-choice, distributed across four content functions.
• 2 hours (120 minutes) total time limit to complete the exam.
• Passing score: 69% of the scored questions.
• Exam fee: $195, paid when the exam window is scheduled.
• No prerequisite exam is required before sitting for the Series 28.
• No corequisite exam is required alongside it.
• Candidates must be associated with and sponsored by a FINRA member firm to sit for the exam — this is not an exam you can register for on your own.

Because every question counts toward one of only four functions, there is no filler content on this exam — every topic you study maps directly to a scored area, which makes a proportional study plan especially effective.

FINRA organizes the Series 28 outline into four major content areas, called functions. Each has a fixed number of scored questions, so you can budget your study time proportionally.

• Function 1 — Financial Reporting: 16 questions. Covers how an introducing broker-dealer's financial statements are prepared and reported.
• Function 2 — Operations, General Securities Industry Regulations, and Preservation of Books and Records: 30 questions. The largest single block outside net capital, covering day-to-day operational compliance and recordkeeping rules.
• Function 3 — Net Capital: 31 questions. The single biggest function on the exam, focused on net capital computations and requirements.
• Function 4 — Customer Protection, Funding and Cash Management: 18 questions. Covers customer reserve and safeguarding requirements along with firm funding and cash management.

Together these four functions add up to the full 95-question exam. Net Capital and Operations/Books and Records together make up the majority of the test, so a study plan that shortchanges either one is taking on unnecessary risk.

Net Capital is the largest function on the Series 28, worth 31 of the 95 questions — nearly a third of the exam. It is also the topic most candidates find conceptually hardest, because it blends accounting mechanics with regulatory thresholds.

• Focus your review on how net capital is calculated from a firm's financial statements, including which assets are allowable and which are excluded.
• Understand the purpose of net capital requirements: ensuring an introducing broker-dealer has enough liquid capital to meet its obligations to customers and counterparties.
• Practice the arithmetic. Net capital questions on this exam tend to be computational, not just definitional, so working through sample calculations repeatedly builds the speed you need under a strict time limit.
• Connect net capital concepts to the adjacent Financial Reporting function — the two areas draw on the same underlying financial statement knowledge, so strengthening one reinforces the other.

Because this single function is worth roughly a third of your total score, under-preparing here is the single riskiest gap a Series 28 candidate can leave unaddressed.

Beyond Net Capital, the remaining three functions cover the day-to-day operational and customer-safeguarding side of running an introducing broker-dealer.

• Financial Reporting (16 questions) tests your ability to read and prepare the financial statements a broker-dealer must file, laying the groundwork the Net Capital function then builds on.
• Operations, General Securities Industry Regulations, and Preservation of Books and Records (30 questions) is the second-largest function. It spans general operational compliance obligations and the rules governing how long and in what form firm records must be kept.
• Customer Protection, Funding and Cash Management (18 questions) covers how firms safeguard customer funds and securities, plus how the firm funds and manages its own cash position day to day.

These three functions together make up the majority of the exam outside Net Capital, so treat them as a connected cluster rather than three isolated topics — recordkeeping obligations, customer safeguarding, and financial reporting all reinforce one another in practice.

The Series 28 has straightforward eligibility rules, but the retake policy is worth knowing before you schedule your first attempt so a setback doesn't derail your registration timeline.

• There is no prerequisite exam and no corequisite exam required for the Series 28 — it stands on its own.
• You must be associated with and sponsored by a FINRA member firm to be eligible to sit for the exam.
• If you do not pass on your first attempt, standard FINRA rules apply: a candidate must wait 15 calendar days before retaking the exam.
• After a third consecutive failure, the required wait extends to 60 calendar days before the next attempt is allowed.
• These wait periods apply to each retake in sequence, so a candidate who fails repeatedly faces a progressively longer path back to the exam.

Because sponsorship is mandatory, coordinate with your firm's registration team early — you cannot simply register independently the way you might for a general-knowledge test, and building in buffer time around any retake windows helps avoid scheduling surprises.

With a fixed 120-minute window and 95 questions, pacing matters as much as knowledge. A practical study plan works backward from those constraints.

• Weight your review time to match the blueprint: spend the most time on Net Capital, then Operations/Books and Records, then Customer Protection, then Financial Reporting.
• Use full-length timed practice tests to build stamina for the 2-hour window — computational questions like net capital calculations take longer per item, so simulate that pressure before exam day.
• Review missed practice questions by function, not just overall score, so you can see exactly which of the four areas needs more attention.
• In the final review pass, focus on high-yield computational patterns (net capital adjustments, customer reserve formula mechanics) rather than trying to memorize every rule citation — the exam rewards applied understanding over rote recall.

A well-paced candidate treats the exam as four mini-tests inside one 120-minute session, allocating time roughly proportional to each function's question count.