Free calculator
Present value calculator
Find what a future amount, or a series of payments, is worth today. The calculator shows the formula with your numbers, a payment-by-payment schedule, and a table you can paste into Excel.
Future amount
The return you could earn elsewhere, or your cost of capital.
From today’s value to the future amount
| Year | Opening value | Interest | Closing value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7,472.58 | 448.35 | |
| 2 | 7,920.94 | 475.26 | |
| 3 | 8,396.19 | 503.77 | |
| 4 | 8,899.96 | 534.00 | |
| 5 | 9,433.96 | 566.04 |
The present value formula
FV is the future amount, r the rate per period and n the number of periods. $10,000 received in five years, discounted at 6% a year:
With more than one compounding period a year, divide the annual rate by the periods per year and multiply the years by the same number. Monthly: 10,000 ÷ (1 + 6% ÷ 12)^60 = $7,413.72.
Present value of a series of payments
Equal payments at the end of each period are an ordinary annuity:
i is the rate per payment period and n the number of payments. $500 a month for 60 months at 6% a year (0.5% a month) is worth $25,862.78 today. If payments come at the start of each period, an annuity due, multiply by (1 + i): $25,992.09.
Growing payments and a final lump sum
With growth, the calculator discounts each payment on its own and adds them up, which is also how it handles a balloon or face value with the last payment. A 10-year bond paying a 4% coupon twice a year on $1,000 face value, priced to yield 5%, is worth $922.05: $311.78 for the coupons and $610.27 for the face value.
For printed factor tables, see the present value tables.
Present value in Excel
For the $500-a-month example, =PV(6%/12, 60, -500) returns $25,862.78. Excel treats money paid out as negative, so enter the payment as −500 to get a positive present value. Set type to 1 for payments at the start of each period.
Present value: questions
- What is present value?
- What a future amount is worth today, given a rate of return you could earn in the meantime. At 6% a year, $10,000 received in five years is worth $7,472.58 today, because $7,472.58 invested at 6% grows to $10,000 in five years.
- What discount rate should I use?
- The return you give up by waiting: a required rate of return, a cost of capital, or the interest rate on comparable debt. Some uses fix the rate for you; under ASC 842, for example, a lessee uses the rate implicit in the lease when it can be determined, otherwise its incremental borrowing rate.
- What's the difference between an ordinary annuity and an annuity due?
- Timing. An ordinary annuity pays at the end of each period; an annuity due pays at the start, so each payment is discounted one period less. $500 a month for five years at 6% is worth $25,862.78 paid at month-end and $25,992.09 paid at the start of each month.
- How does compounding change present value?
- More frequent compounding means more growth, so a lower present value. $10,000 in five years at 6% is worth $7,472.58 with annual compounding and $7,413.72 with monthly compounding.
- What's the difference between present value and net present value?
- Present value discounts future cash flows to today. Net present value subtracts what you pay today, so it tells you whether an investment beats the discount rate. The NPV calculator handles uneven cash flows, IRR and payback.
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Sources
Official documents read on October 29, 2026. Vendor facts are sourced on each listing.