Financial Functions in Excel
Excel offers a variety of financial functions that help in performing complex financial calculations. This webpage will cover six key financial functions: PMT, FV, PV, RATE, NPER, and IPMT.
1. PMT Function
The PMT function calculates the periodic payment for a loan based on constant payments and a constant interest rate. It is useful for determining the monthly mortgage payment or any other type of fixed payment.
Example: Suppose you want to take out a loan of $10,000 with an annual interest rate of 5% to be paid over 3 years. To find the monthly payment, use the formula =PMT(5%/12, 3*12, 10000)
. Excel will return the monthly payment amount, which is $299.71.
2. FV Function
The FV function calculates the future value of an investment based on periodic, constant payments and a constant interest rate. It helps in determining the value of an investment at a future date.
Example: If you plan to save $200 per month for 5 years with an annual interest rate of 4%, you can use the formula =FV(4%/12, 5*12, -200)
to find the future value. Excel will return $13,267.78, which is the amount you will have saved after 5 years.
3. PV Function
The PV function calculates the present value of a series of future payments. It is useful for determining the current value of a future sum of money or a series of payments.
Example: Suppose you expect to receive $5,000 annually for 10 years with an annual interest rate of 6%. To find the present value, use the formula =PV(6%, 10, 5000)
. Excel will return $36,800.33, which is the current value of those future payments.
4. RATE Function
The RATE function calculates the interest rate per period of an annuity. It is useful for determining the interest rate on a loan or investment when the other parameters are known.
Example: If you know that you need to pay $500 per month for 3 years to repay a loan of $15,000, you can use the formula =RATE(3*12, -500, 15000)
to find the monthly interest rate. Excel will return 0.006, which is approximately 0.6% per month.
5. NPER Function
The NPER function calculates the number of periods for an investment based on periodic, constant payments and a constant interest rate. It helps in determining how long it will take to reach a financial goal.
Example: Suppose you want to save $50,000 with monthly contributions of $500 and an annual interest rate of 5%. To find the number of months required, use the formula =NPER(5%/12, -500, 0, 50000)
. Excel will return 83.5 months, which is approximately 7 years.
6. IPMT Function
The IPMT function calculates the interest payment for a given period of an investment based on periodic, constant payments and a constant interest rate. It helps in understanding the interest component of a loan payment.
Example: If you have a loan of $20,000 with an annual interest rate of 6% to be paid over 5 years, you can use the formula =IPMT(6%/12, 1, 5*12, 20000)
to find the interest payment for the first month. Excel will return $100, which is the interest portion of the first monthly payment.