Symonym Design
CFP® exam study app

Basis

Basis is a study app for the CFP® exam. Symonym Design built it for one person preparing to sit the November 2026 exam, and shaped it around how she studies.

An iOS version is in progress.

In the works

  • Know what to study next. A daily plan built from your misses and the exam’s weights. iPhone screenshot: the Today screen, 7 days to the exam, suggesting “Face your 4 traps”, with today’s plan and readiness by domain.
  • Help before you answer. Four checks and fill-in steps catch the slip before it costs you. iPhone screenshot: a Social Security question with four checks and fill-in bands for provisional income, Tier 1 and Tier 2, flagging that Tier 2 starts at the top line.
  • It knows the mistake you keep making. Pick the same wrong answer twice and Basis names the trap. iPhone screenshot: a missed question marked “Took the 85% ceiling as the answer, 3rd time”, with the rule, a walkthrough link and HP 10bII+ keystrokes.
  • Fixed means actually fixed. A miss counts as fixed only when you get it right again days later. iPhone screenshot: Session done, 20 answered and 3 fixed, each back in 2 days, with one still a trap.

Built around the mistakes she repeats

Instead of a flat question bank, Basis tracks which mistakes she repeats and turns each one into a “trap” with a plain-language rule. A trap counts as beaten only when she gets it right on two different days.

A plan and help that adapt

  • Daily plan: weighted by the exam’s domain percentages.
  • Step-by-step panels: on her toughest calculations, so a slip is caught before she answers.
  • Walkthroughs: explain the reasoning behind a question, not just the answer.
  • Spaced review: brings each miss back the next day.
  • Nightly review: turns each day’s study into a short recap.

What’s inside

  • About 550 original questions, written to 2026 tax law
  • 35 walkthroughs
  • Client “pop quiz” meetings
  • Multi-part case studies
  • A timed practice exam in its own exam-room design

Design

Basis uses a monarch butterfly motif and a frosted-glass look.

CFP® is a certification mark owned by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. Basis is independent and isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by CFP Board.