Excel PMT Function
Excel PMT Function
PMT function in Excel is used to calculate the payments that need to be paid for any loan or
investment amount at a fixed rate of interest with the same constant amount. This is just EMI
that we pay for our loan or invested amount when we opt for any policy or loan from a bank.
The reason behind naming the function as PMT is because it calculates the payment amount.
There are five parameters that are used in this PMT function. In which three are compulsory, and
COMPULSORY PARAMETER :
1. Rate: It is the interest rate that we need to pay per period/time. If it is monthly payments,
divided by 4 months).
OPTIONAL PARAMETER :
1. [Fv]: It is the future value of payments we want after the loan is paid off. In this case, we
only want to get the loan paid and nothing else; omit it or make it 0.
2. [Type]: If the payment is due at the end of the month, omit this or make this 0. In case
the payment is due at the beginning of the month, make this 1. For example, if payment is
due on 31st January, this will be 0, but if it’s due on 1st January, make this 1.
You can download this PMT Function Excel Template here – PMT Function Excel Template
Example #1
Suppose we have to purchase a flat, costing $9,00,000, and we know the interest rate, which is 9
In this case, we wanted to know the installment amount or EMI, which needs to pay each month
In this case, the PMT function helps determine the exact amount that has to pay each month.
Now we will see step by step calculation from the PMT formula in excel to know the installment
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We have to make sure that the interest rate should be monthly, which we to calculate by dividing
i.e. F3/F7
=PMT(F4,F6,D5)
fixed amount in the future. There are lots of situations in our life where we have to deal with it
for a few purposes or goals; in this situation, the PMT function helps.
For example: Suppose we want to invest in getting $1,00,000 in 10 years when the annual
The interest rate is calculated to 0.417% by 5% divided by 12months (because we are investing
Sign Convention:
As we can see in the above example that the output is negative because of Cash Outflows. If we
are paying an equal monthly installment or investing monthly, then the cash is going out from
Common Errors:
#NUM! – It happens when the supplied value of rate is less than or equal to -1;
#value! – It will occur if any of the supplied arguments are not numeric.
So, with the help of the above, we came to know that the above are the few common errors.
Below are the few errors which is also encountered by the users while applying the PMT
function in Excel :
Common Problem:
The result from the PMT function is much higher or lower than expected.
Possible Reason:
When users are calculating monthly or quarterly or annual payments, they sometimes forget to
convert annual interest rates or the number of periods according to the requirement. Hence, it
PMT function is generally used in financial institutions, where the loan is given or
investment made.
Things to Remember
#NUM! error –
#VALUE! Error –
1. When users are calculating monthly or quarterly payments, in this situation, users need to
convert annual interest rates or the number of periods to months or quarters, as per their
need.
2. If users want to find out the total amount that was paid for the duration of the loan, we
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This has been a guide to PMT Functions in Excel. Here we discuss the PMT Formula in Excel
and how to use the PMT function in Excel, and practical examples and downloadable excel
3. FV Function in Excel