NPER

MS Excel Spreadsheet

See Also

Returns the number of periods for an investment based on periodic, constant payments and a constant interest rate.

Syntax

NPER(rate, pmt, pv, fv, type)

For a more complete description of the arguments in NPER and for more information about annuity functions, see PV.

Rate    is the interest rate per period.

Pmt    is the payment made each period; it cannot change over the life of the annuity. Typically, pmt contains principal and interest but no other fees or taxes.

Pv    is the present value, or the lump-sum amount that a series of future payments is worth right now.

Fv    is 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).

Type    is the number 0 or 1 and indicates when payments are due.

Set type equal to If payments are due
0 or omitted At the end of the period
1 At the beginning of the period
Example

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank spreadsheet.

ShowHow?

Data Description
12% Annual interest rate
-100 Payment made each period
-1000 Present value
10000 Future value
1 Payment is due at the beginning of the period (see above)
Formula Description (Result)
=NPER(A2/12, A3, A4, A5, 1) Periods for the investment with the above terms (60)
=NPER(A2/12, A3, A4, A5) Periods for the investment with the above terms, except payments are made at the beginning of the period (60)
=NPER(A2/12, A3, A4) Periods for the investment with the above terms, except with a future value of 0 (-9.578)