Free tool
Find the public offering price, shares bought and the dollars lost to a front-end load, apply a breakpoint schedule you enter yourself, and work out a back-end CDSC by year held.
Built for FINRA SIE exam prepEnter a NAV, charge and amount.
Load math shows up all over the SIE. Encodr turns the formulas into spaced-repetition practice so they hold until exam day.
Get started freePublic offering price. POP is NAV divided by one minus the sales charge, when the charge is stated as a percent of POP. NAV $9.50 with a 5% charge gives POP $10.00, so a $10,000 purchase buys 1,000 shares. Only 1,000 x $9.50 = $9,500 goes to work in the fund, and the $500 difference is the charge.
Breakpoints. Above certain investment levels the front-end charge steps down. Enter your own schedule to see which row applies to an amount and how far the next breakpoint is. A broker may not sell shares in amounts just below a breakpoint to earn the higher charge.
Back-end load. A CDSC is charged when shares are sold, usually on the lesser of cost or value, and it falls the longer the shares are held. Bought at $12,000, redeemed at $15,000 in year 3 with a 3% charge: the base is $12,000, the charge is $360 and proceeds are $14,640.
Regulatory numbers such as the FINRA Rule 2341 cap of 8.5 percent of the offering price are as of 2026, check your firm. This tool is for study only, and is not investment advice.
Related prep: the FINRA SIE course page, SIE exam math formulas with examples and the bond yield calculator.
The public offering price (POP) is the NAV divided by one minus the sales charge, with the charge stated as a percent of POP. At a NAV of $9.50 and a 5% charge, POP is 9.50 / 0.95 = $10.00.
A breakpoint is the investment level at which a fund reduces its front-end sales charge. Funds are not required to offer breakpoints, but if they do they must disclose them and the broker must apply them.
A CDSC is a back-end load paid when shares are sold, usually declining the longer the shares are held. It is typically figured on the lesser of the original cost or the value at redemption.
No. Both default schedules are examples so the tool works on load. Enter the schedule from a fund prospectus. Regulatory caps such as the FINRA Rule 2341 limit of 8.5 percent are as of 2026, check your firm and the current rule.
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