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Excel

PV function in Excel

Returns the present value of an investment

=PV(rate, nper, pmt, [fv], [type])

PV syntax and parameters

Five arguments, three required.

  • ratenumberRequired

    The interest rate per period. For example, if you obtain an automobile loan at a 10 percent annual interest rate and make monthly payments, your interest rate per month is 10%/12, or 0.83%. You would enter 10%/12, or 0.83%, or 0.0083, into the formula as the rate.

  • npernumberRequired

    The total number of payment periods in an annuity. For example, if you get a four-year car loan and make monthly payments, your loan has 4*12 (or 48) periods. You would enter 48 into the formula for nper.

  • pmtnumberRequired

    The payment made each period and cannot change over the life of the annuity. Typically, pmt includes principal and interest but no other fees or taxes. For example, the monthly payments on a $10,000, four-year car loan at 12 percent are $263.33. You would enter -263.33 into the formula as the pmt. If pmt is omitted, you must include the fv argument.

  • fvnumberOptional

    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 (the future value of a loan, for example, is 0). For example, if you want to save $50,000 to pay for a special project in 18 years, then $50,000 is the future value. You could then make a conservative guess at an interest rate and determine how much you must save each month. If fv is omitted, you must include the pmt argument.

  • typenumberOptional

    The number 0 or 1 and indicates when payments are due.

PV examples

Formulas you'll actually reuse.

  1. What a $350/month payment over 5 years is worth today at 6%:

    =PV(6%/12, 60, -350)

    Result18103.95

  2. What to invest now to reach $50,000 in ten years at 4%:

    =PV(4%, 10, 0, -50000)

    Result33778.23

PV in Google Sheets

Same name — your formula ports as-is.

Try PV in the playground

Edit the example — nothing to install.

Preloaded with the PV formula from Example 1 — change anything and watch it respond.

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PV errors

What they mean — and the fixes.

  • #NUM!

    Payment and result share a sign — cash you pay out is negative, cash you receive is positive.

Related functions

More ways Excel gets this done.