Syntax

PMT(Rate, Nper, PV, [FV], [Type])

The PMT function syntax has the following arguments:

• Rate: Required. The interest rate for the loan. As the rate is a percentage, ensure you add a percentage sign after your reference or divide by 100 (e.g., QA% or QA/100).
• Nper: Required. The total number of payments for the loan.
• Pv: Required. The present value, or the total amount a series of future payments is worth now; is also known as the principal.
• Fv: Optional. The future value, or a cash balance you want to attain after the last payment is made. If fv is omitted, it is assumed to be 0 (zero), that is, the future value of a loan is 0.
• Type: Optional. The number 0 (zero) or 1 indicates when payments are due.

Remarks: Make sure that you are consistent about the units you use for specifying rate and nper. If you make monthly payments on a four-year loan at an annual interest rate of 12 percent, use 12%/12 for the rate and 4*12 for nper. If you make annual payments on the same loan, use 12 percent for the rate and 4 for nper.

Manual calculation

The PMT function offers a quick way to calculate monthly payments. However, if you have only the essential inputs, you can also compute the monthly payment manually like this:

Pv* (Rate / (1- (1+ Rate)^(-Nper)))