Accurate Amortization Calculator
Introduction to Amortization
Create a printable amortization schedule that includes payment dates and annual subtotals. This schedule shows how much interest and principal you will pay over the life of the loan. The calculator can solve for an unknown payment amount, loan amount, interest rate, or loan term.
- What is an amortization schedule?
- An amortization schedule is a loan summary that details each payment, including how much goes toward principal and how much toward interest. It often also includes the scheduled or actual payment dates, as well as yearly subtotals.
- How do I create an amortization schedule?
- Leave all inputs and settings at their default values, then:
- Enter the Loan Amount.
- Enter the expected Number of Payments.
- Set the anticipated closing date and first payment due date.
- Enter the expected Annual Interest Rate.
- Set Payment Amount to 0.
(This tells the calculator to solve for the payment amount.) - Click either or .
- Leave all inputs and settings at their default values, then:
That’s it. These steps are all you need to follow to generate your schedule.
What if the terms of your loan are different from the calculator’s default settings?
Keep reading. The sections below explain each available option in more detail. More…
Create an amortization schedule with user-specified dates.
To set your preferred currency and date format, click the “$ : MM/DD/YYYY” link in the lower right corner of any calculator.
Information
Watch on YouTube
Useful Details —
They Will Help You Get What You Need
First — You must enter a zero (0) in any field where you want the calculator to solve for a value.
Why is this necessary?
The calculator is designed to generate a schedule based on the loan terms you specify. The payment amount can be any value, as long as both the lender and borrower agree. There is no universal “correct” payment. If the calculator always solved for the prior unknown, this feature would not be possible.
TIP — Use the amortization schedule to verify the periodic interest charges. These interest amounts are the key values borrowers should double-check.
Four values you must always set:
- Loan Amount — The total amount borrowed, also referred to as the principal. This value does not include interest.
- Number of Payments (term) — The length of the loan, measured in payment periods. This value is affected by the Payment Frequency setting. For example, for a 15-year loan with biweekly payments, enter 390 as the number of payments.
(390 biweekly payments = 15 years) - Annual Interest Rate — The nominal (quoted) interest rate for the loan.
- Payment Amount — The amount due on each payment date. For a standard amortizing loan, this value includes both principal and interest.
Set one of the values above to 0 if you want the calculator to solve for it.
Two dates that are critical to an accurate amortization schedule
If you only need an estimated schedule, you may skip this section.
For a schedule that is accurate down to the penny—including correct calculation of stub period interest—it is worth taking a few moments to understand the available date settings.
- Loan Closing Date — This is the date the loan funds become available. It is also called the origination date, loan date, or start date.
- First Payment Due — For leases, this may be the same as the closing date. For other loans, payments typically begin after the borrower receives the funds.
Important — Entering actual dates may result in interest and payment calculations that differ from those of other calculators.
That is by design.
However, if you want your results to match those from other calculators, then set the "Loan Date" and "First Payment Due" so that the time between them equals one full period, based on the "Payment Frequency" setting.
Example: If the "Loan Closing Date" is April 10th and the "Payment Frequency" is "Monthly," then set the "First Payment Due" to May 10th—if you want to estimate interest based on one full month.
More details about stub period options, including odd-day and irregular-period interest.
Four loan options you likely do not need to change
- Payment Period or Frequency — How often should payments be scheduled? The calculator supports 11 options, including biweekly, monthly, and semiannual (commonly used for bond coupon schedules). Payment dates are calculated starting from the first payment due date—not the closing date.
- Compounding Period or Frequency — In most cases, the compounding frequency should match the payment frequency. This results in simple periodic interest. Selecting Exact/Simple calculates interest based on exact day counts using a simple interest method.
- Points — One point equals 1% of the loan amount. Points are commonly applied to U.S. mortgages.Learn more about points, fees, and APR support.
- Amortization Method — Leave this set to normal unless you have a specific reason to change it.See all nine amortization methods.
Five loan settings you may want to adjust
These options are available by clicking Settings.
- 360 / 365 / 366 — Days-per-year setting. Also called the day count convention, this affects interest calculations when you select a day-based compounding method (e.g., daily, exact/simple, or continuous), or when the loan includes an irregular first period. The 366-day option applies in leap years. Otherwise, 365 is used.
- Payment & Initial Period Interest Options — Controls how interest is calculated and displayed when the first period (from closing date to first payment) is longer or shorter than the standard interval.More details and examples.
- Last Period Rounding Options — Because payments and interest are rounded to the nearest cent (e.g., $345.0457 is rounded to $345.05), most loans require a rounding adjustment in the final period. A note on the schedule will show the exact adjustment.
- Points, Charges, & APR Options —Learn more about loan schedules with points, fees, and APR options.
- Year-End Month — Sets the month after which year-end and running totals are calculated. This is helpful for businesses with a fiscal year that does not match the calendar year.
FAQs — Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I calculate how much I can borrow?
- Set the Loan Amount to 0.
- Enter the Number of Payments.
- Enter the Annual Interest Rate.
- Enter the expected or target Payment Amount.
- Click or .
- How do I calculate how long it will take to pay off a loan?
- Enter the Loan Amount.
- Set the Number of Payments to 0.
- Enter the Annual Interest Rate.
- Enter the expected or target Payment Amount.
- Click or .
- What interest rate allows me to pay $500 a month?
- Enter the Loan Amount.
- Enter the Number of Payments.
- Set the Annual Interest Rate to 0.
- Enter $500 as the Payment Amount.
- Click or .
Printing the Payment Schedule
Printing works from any type of device. For example, you can print a clean, well-formatted schedule directly from a smartphone to a wireless printer.(This functionality was tested on various iPhone models printing to an HP LaserJet Pro.)
Do not use your browser’s built-in Print menu option.
Always print from the "Print Preview…" window. This screen includes a print button, along with export buttons for .docx and .xlsx formats.
If you're using a modern browser, you can also print to a PDF. For example, in Chrome, open the browser menu (three vertical dots), choose Print…, then click Change… and select Save as PDF. Other browsers offer similar functionality.
If you encounter printing issues, please let us know which browser and version you're using. While we test across several browsers, we are unable to test with all printer models (unless you’d like to donate one!).
(Chrome, Edge, and Firefox all offer a “Save to PDF” option in their print menus.)
How do I create Excel (.xlsx) or Word (.docx) amortization schedules?
From the Print Preview screen (after the title page), you'll see options to export the full amortization schedule as either an Excel (.xlsx) or Word (.docx) file. When exporting to Excel, the schedule is saved as unformatted data. Dates and numbers are preserved as true Excel date and number values—not text—so you can apply your own formatting.
When exporting to Word, the schedule is formatted for readability. You can edit the document freely, adding notes or customizing fonts, styles, and layout as needed. (In our opinion, the Word export is more visually refined than the version printed directly using the print button.)
Beyond Basic Amortization Schedules
Need more options?
Explore seven additional loan amortization calculators
- Mortgage Calculator — estimate future home value and compare it to the total mortgage cost
- Extra Payment Calculator — apply lump-sum or recurring extra payments with a full amortization schedule
- Loan Calculator — includes support for date-based calculations in a mobile-friendly layout
- Auto Loan Calculator — evaluate the full cost of vehicle ownership
- Biweekly Calculator — compare a biweekly schedule to a standard monthly repayment in a single view
- Ultimate Financial Calculator — build schedules with skipped payments, rate changes, and more advanced conditions
- Loan Payoff Calculator — track regular or irregular payments on any date
We hope you find this to be a comprehensive amortization tool. If you need help with a specific scenario or aren't sure how to achieve your result, feel free to leave a question in the comments section below.
Teresa Johnson says:
When I try to print from the Print View button, it says I have printed my maxium amount of schedules. It wants me to go to another site and sign up for a subscription. Is the correct?
Karl says:
For unlimited printing, file saving and exporting to .xlsx and .doxc files, a person must subscribe to the site.
Click on the subscription button at the top of the page.
It is not taking you to another site.
jlb1943 says:
I have a subscription dated June 2023 and I am unable to print
Karl says:
Did you log in?
If so, did you click on the link on the page you see after the login?
If you see advertisements, you are in the wrong section of the website. There is a section of the website for subscribers that does not have 3rd party advertisements.
WalkerLaw says:
We just subscribed to Ultimate Financial Calculator, Invoice #FCCF1F19EC on January 8, 2024 for the Walker Law Office, P. C.
I cannot print my amortization schedule as it tells me that I have reached the maximum and need to subscribe. I had closed and reopened the amortization schedule and re-entered my information.
How do I get it to let me print?
Karl says:
If you subscribed to the Ultimate Financial Calculator, please use that calculator to create your amortization schedule.
Please review the email you were sent with the subscription.
Please review the subscription options on the subscription page.
Please see the note above the amortization schedule calculator that tell you what product to subscribe to in order to have unlimited printing with the Amortization Schedule Calculator.
Nicole says:
We provided a loan in the amount of $150,000. The loan date was 11/30/23. Interest at 5% began accruing though first payment date is not until 4/1/24 (at earliest but may change to 5/1/24) and no money was collected at that time. Payment amount will be at least $4000/month. Do you have a form that will show interest accruing monthly and allows me to change the payment amount (if more is paid than $4000/mo) as the loan is paid?
Karl says:
Yes.
Please use the Ultimate Financial Calculator.
To get started with using it, please see these tutorials and/or this YouTube channel.
Kat says:
I need to create a schedule that has equal payments. What setting do I need to adjust for that? Every time I try, the last payment is different than the rest.
Karl says:
Did you see the rounding options under settings? Those may help.
But, amortization may require an adjustment with the last payment. Nothing can be done about that. It is a mathematical problem. The interest for any given period doesn’t (usually) work out to an exact penny, but payments can only be made to the penny. What if interest is actually $248.536? What do we do with the extra 0.006 cents? It leads to a rounding adjustment at the end.
That’s why the schedule has a rounding message in the footer.
Karl says:
On the other hand, the amount you are seeing should be very small.
If not, you need to give me all the details. The details are important. Do you have a long or short first period? How are you handling that? Look at the interest options under settings.
camilo.villa@qkapital.com says:
Good morning.
How do I insert the tab on my company’s website for employees?
Karl says:
I’ll reply to your email about the possibility of adding the calculator to your website.
Robert says:
When setting up a schedule, if you choose a payment frequency other than Monthly, it always goes back to Monthly. For example, choosing by-weekly jumps back to Monthly and displays as if you chose Monthly
Karl says:
What amortization method do you have set? If you have it set to Canadian, then it will set the calculator to monthly payments and semiannual compounding.
If you want biweekly payments and say, semiannual compounding then set the amortization method to normal.
Does that help?
Ken says:
I thought I remembered a feature with UFC that we could add notes/comments associated with schedule line items.
Is there some way to add comments/annotations?
Thanks
Karl says:
Yes, there is.
You first have to be on a row that has a “1” in the “#” column since comments are tied to individual cash flows. If there’s not a “1” then click “expand”.
Click on “Cash Flow Options” in the right most column. That opens a window. Pick the “Comments” tab and enter your comment.
Save.
And you can then click on “Collapse” if you don’t want all individual payment (cash flow rows).
(I hope you know you were not on the Ultimate Financial Calculator” page when you posted your question. The Amortization Schedule (a different calculator) does not have a comment feature.)
Ken says:
Thank you, I’d just forgotten where/how to open the comment dialog.
Yes, I just found “some” suggestion/question box & I guess the Amortization Schedule is where I was. 🙂