10-Key Typing Test

"10-key" is the numeric keypad on the right of a full-size keyboard: the digits 0 to 9 laid out like a calculator, plus the decimal point and an Enter key. Jobs that involve entering figures all day, such as accounts payable, billing, payroll, bank operations, inventory and data entry, often test how quickly and accurately you can use it. The result is given in keystrokes per hour (KPH) rather than words per minute, because numbers have no words.

How the test works

A number appears in large type with the next few queued beside it. Type it on the keypad and press Enter to move on. You can choose whole numbers, amounts with two decimal places like a ledger, or a mix, and a length of 1, 3 or 5 minutes. The clock starts on your first digit. Each entry is either right or wrong as a whole: one wrong digit makes the entry wrong, as it would in a real ledger.

How KPH is calculated

Keystrokes per entry = digits + decimal point + 1 for Enter
Gross KPH = all keystrokes / hours
Net KPH   = keystrokes in correct entries only / hours
Accuracy  = correct entries / entries x 100

For example, 40 five-digit entries in one minute is 40 x 6 = 240 keystrokes. Over one sixtieth of an hour that is a gross speed of 14,400 KPH. If 2 entries were wrong, net KPH counts only the 38 correct ones, which gives 13,680. Different employers count slightly differently (some leave out the Enter key, some deduct for corrections), so when a posting gives a KPH figure it is worth asking how it is measured.

Technique

• Turn Num Lock on. With it off, the keypad moves the cursor instead of typing digits.
• Rest the right middle finger on 5. It usually has a raised bump so you can find it without looking.
• The index finger covers 4, 7 and 1, the middle finger 5, 8 and 2, the ring finger 6, 9 and 3 and the decimal point.
• The thumb presses 0, and the little finger presses Enter.
• Keep your eyes on the figures you are copying, not on the keypad. That habit is where most of the speed comes from.
• Accuracy before speed: a wrong figure in a ledger costs far more than a slow one.

Many laptops have no keypad. A small external USB or Bluetooth keypad costs little and is worth having if you are preparing for a numbers-heavy job. The test notes whether you are using the keypad or the number row above the letters, which is much slower for long runs of figures.

Related tests in India

Indian government data entry posts measure the same idea in key depressions per hour (KDPH), but on English text rather than numbers. The SSC Data Entry Operator skill test, for example, asks for 8,000 or 15,000 key depressions an hour over 15 minutes. The SSC typing test page covers it.

1. Choose whole numbers, amounts with decimals or mixed, and a length of 1, 3 or 5 minutes.
2. Click the input box, turn on Num Lock and rest your fingers on the keypad.
3. Type the number shown and press Enter. The next number appears straight away.
4. Keep going until time runs out, or press Submit to stop early.
5. Read your net KPH, gross KPH and accuracy, and check the list of wrong entries.

• Preparing for a data entry, accounts payable, billing or payroll job that tests 10-key speed.
• Building speed on a new external keypad.
• Checking accuracy on decimal amounts before a bookkeeping or bank role.
• Daily practice to move from the number row to touch typing on the keypad.