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PV function in Google Sheets

Calculates the present value of an annuity investment based on constant-amount periodic payments and a constant interest rate.

=PV(rate, number_of_periods, payment_amount, [future_value], [end_or_beginning])

PV syntax and parameters

Five arguments, three required.

  • ratenumberRequired

    The interest rate.

  • number_of_periodsnumberRequired

    The number of payments to be made.

  • payment_amountnumberRequired

    The amount per period to be paid.

  • future_valuenumberOptional

    [ OPTIONAL ] - The future value remaining after the final payment has been made.

  • end_or_beginningnumberOptional

    [ OPTIONAL - 0 by default ] - Whether payments are due at the end (0) or beginning (1) of each period.

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 Excel

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 Google Sheets gets this done.