How to Use the PMT Function in Google Sheets

The PMT function in Google Sheets is used to calculate the periodic payment for a loan or an investment based on constant payments and a constant interest rate. The syntax for the PMT function is:

=PMT(rate, number_of_periods, present_value, [future_value], [end_or_beginning])

Parameters:

• rate: The interest rate for the loan or investment.
• number_of_periods: The total number of periods (payments) for the loan or investment.
• present_value: The current value of the loan or investment.
• future_value (optional): The desired future value of the loan or investment after all payments have been made. If omitted, it is assumed to be 0.
• end_or_beginning (optional): Specifies whether the payment is made at the end (0) or beginning (1) of the period. If omitted, it is assumed to be 0 (end of the period).

Example

Let's say you want to calculate the monthly payment for a loan of $10,000 with an annual interest rate of 5% and a loan term of 2 years (24 months). Here's how you would use the PMT function in Google Sheets:

1. Open Google Sheets and create a new or open an existing spreadsheet.
2. In an empty cell, enter the following formula:

=PMT(5%/12, 24, 10000)

In this example:

• rate: 5%/12 (the annual interest rate divided by the number of periods per year)
• number_of_periods: 24 (2 years * 12 months)
• present_value: 10000 (the loan amount)

3. Press Enter, and Google Sheets will calculate the monthly payment for the loan. The result will be displayed as a negative number since it represents a payment (an outflow of money).

If you want to display the result as a positive number, you can use the ABS function to get the absolute value:

=ABS(PMT(5%/12, 24, 10000))

That's it! Now you know how to use the PMT function in Google Sheets to calculate loan or investment payments.