A practical Series 28 study plan for FINRA Introducing Broker-Dealer FINOP candidates, with exam facts, weighted reading order, weekly milestones, miss-review method, and final review plan.
Use this study plan if you want a clear reading order instead of bouncing between Series 28 formulas and operations terms. Series 28 gets easier when you treat it as an introducing-firm FINOP exam with a narrow control perimeter, not as a smaller generic Series 27.
The chapter sequence under /finra/series28/ is the main reading path. Use the Cheat Sheet for fast recall, the FAQ for eligibility and route cleanup, and the Resources page for official FINRA links and current source material.
Series 28 only makes sense if the firm scope is limited enough for the abbreviated FINOP path.
Series 28 lane rather than Series 27Net Capital and Operations, Regulations, and Preservation of Books and Records, because those two functions drive most of the exam| Checkpoint | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| 95 items | The exam is compact but technical; avoid wasting time on full-carrying-firm assumptions. |
| 120 minutes | Your pace target is about 1 minute and 16 seconds per item. |
| 69% passing score | Classification and workflow discipline can offset difficult technical items. |
| Four functions | Most stems reduce to reporting, operations/records, net capital, or customer-protection perimeter. |
| Function | Exam weight | Why it matters to your plan |
|---|---|---|
| Net Capital | 33% | Largest block and the easiest place to lose points through classification and calculation errors. |
| Operations, General Securities Industry Regulations, and Preservation of Books and Records | 31% | Operational core of the exam and the main introducing-firm workflow block. |
| Customer Protection, Funding and Cash Management | 19% | Smaller than in Series 27, but still critical because it tests the introducing-firm perimeter directly. |
| Financial Reporting | 17% | Gives the statement and filing frame that supports the rest of the exam. |
Use the site chapters in this order on the first serious pass:
This order works because the reporting frame and operations logic make the capital and protection questions easier to interpret correctly.
| Days | Primary focus | What you should finish |
|---|---|---|
| 1-4 | Financial Reporting | Build the reporting frame and learn what each filing is trying to show. |
| 5-11 | Operations and Records | Build the introducing-firm operational logic carefully. |
| 12-20 | Net Capital | Treat this as the main technical block. Tag each miss by classification, formula, or requirement error. |
| 21-26 | Customer Protection, Funding, and Cash Management | Focus on the limited but highly testable introducing-firm perimeter. |
| 27-30 | Mixed review | Use the Cheat Sheet, FAQ, and Resources page to tighten weak spots and confirm current FINRA details. |
| Weeks | Primary focus | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | Financial Reporting | Finish first pass and build your filing-purpose notes. |
| 3-4 | Operations and Records | Strengthen workflows, books and records, and introducing-firm boundaries. |
| 5-6 | Net Capital | Spend serious time on the highest-weight technical block. |
| 7 | Customer Protection, Funding, and Cash Management | Finish the narrower perimeter and connect it back to earlier material. |
| 8 | Final review | Run mixed sets, retag misses, and recheck the live FINRA structure. |
| Month | Primary focus | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Financial Reporting + first half of Operations | Build the foundation slowly and clearly. |
| 2 | Finish Operations + Net Capital | Strengthen the two largest functions. |
| 3 | Customer Protection/Funding/Cash Management + final review | Finish the perimeter topics and convert weak spots into routine pattern recognition. |
Tag each miss using one of these buckets:
reporting purposeoperations workflowcapital classificationcustomer protection perimeterfunding or cash-management judgmentrecords or filing evidenceYour note should be one sentence long: what the issue was, what clue should have redirected you, and what the better answer was actually doing.
| Stage | What to do | Move on when… |
|---|---|---|
| Function drills | Drill reporting, operations, net capital, and customer-protection questions separately. | You can name the tested function before reading the choices. |
| Classification drills | Slow down on capital and boundary questions. | You classify before you calculate or choose a filing answer. |
| Mixed timed sets | Mix all four functions near exam pace. | You are not confusing Series 27-style duties with Series 28 duties. |
| Final review | Rework missed-question notes and official-outline weak points. | Your remaining misses are narrow details, not route-boundary errors. |
Day 7-6: Reread your weakest operations and net-capital notes.Day 5: Run a full Cheat Sheet pass and rewrite any shaky classifications from memory.Day 4: Review reporting and customer-protection topics together.Day 3: Use the Resources page to confirm the current live FINRA structure.Day 2: Review repeated misses only.Day 1: Keep it light and focus on introducing-firm boundaries, classifications, and operational judgment.