PMT function not working for me!

[AccessGuruCarl]

Please Help....

When asked if I could do this, I found the PMT worksheet function in excel and thought it was a no brainer...

What am I doing wrong....
Here is the formula I'm using, straight from ms help.

=PMT(C3,C4,C5)

Calculates the payment for a loan based on constant payments and a fixed interest rate.

Here are my example figures...
cell C3 = Loan Rate ie. 5.625 formated as number w/3 decimals

cell C4 = # of payments ie. 180 or 360 (months)

cell C5 = Loan amount or principal. ie. 60,720 formatted as currency.

Monthly Payment should be $500.17 for 180 months

My result is ($367,031.25) in red font!

When I change the Loan Rate to 0.0563, the result is ($3,670.51) in red font again!!!

I just need the principle and interest payment for the month. Which when properly calculated the amount is $500.17

HELP!

Thanks.

AccessGuruCarl
Programmers helping programmers
you can't find a better site.

 

[BlueHorizon]

Hi,
First, if you are trying to calculate a monthly payment using an annual interest rate, you must divide the cell containing the interest rate by 12, i.e., C3/12, as part of the formula.
Second, it shows in red because a payment is considered a debit to an account. One easy way to change that is to add a minus sign (-) between the equal and the PMT in the formula bar, i.e., =-PMT(C3/12,c4,c5).
Hope this helps,



Best,
Blue Horizon

 

[AccessGuruCarl]

Thanks,

That did it...

AccessGuruCarl
Programmers helping programmers
you can't find a better site.