Accurate Amortization Calculator
Introduction to Amortization
Create a printable amortization schedule with dates to see how much principal and interest you'll pay over time.
- Export to Excel/.xlsx and Word/.docx files.
- Calculate loan payment amount or other unknowns
- Supports 9 types of amortization.
- User can set loan closing date and first payment date independently.
- Automatically calculates prepaid interest
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
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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.
Stacy J. Murphy says:
Hello,
Do you have a single calculator for a loan that will have interest only payments for the first year, regular payments commencing after that, based on a 10 year amortization with a 5 year balloon payment?
Thank you.
Karl says:
Hi, sure do. Please see this calculator.
Scroll down the page for the tutorials. There’s one for the initial interest-only payments and a couple for the balloon payments.
Basically, and this will make more sense when you see the calculator, your first row will be for the loan amount, the 2nd row will be for the interest-only payments, the third row will be for the principal and interest regular payments and the fourth row will be for the one balloon payment.
Stacy says:
Hi Karl,
I am having a hard time with the UFC. It won’t take any data from me — defaulted at first to a 250K loan and then to a 32K loan and won’t let me backspace to delete or highlight and overwrite. Also, I looked tha the tutorials and I do not see how this calculator will give me both the one year interest only and the balloon at 5 years. Perhaps I am not sophisticated enough. Right now I am preparing a transaction and I am just showing two schedules — one for interest only and one for the balloon with a first payment pushed out one year.
Karl says:
So there are two difficulties here. The first with the data entry. All inputs for all calculators work the same way. The way I prefer to work is to tab to each input. The number will be selected. Just start type number (no commas or symbols) to change the number that is highlighted. If the number is highlighted, and you type a backspace, that will clear the entire number which is okay too. It just isn’t necessary.
The UFC will handle any cash flow, but there certainly is a learning curve, no doubt.
I suggest that you take it a step at a time. Read tutorial #1 for an overview. This tutorial presents the general concepts. When you read a tutorial, I suggest having the calculator open in a different browser next to the tutorial and go through each step at a time.
Then read the interest-only initial periods tutorial – #14.
Then there are two tutorials for loans with balloon payments – #7 and #8.
At a high level, the calculator works by building the cash flows. The first thing that happens is the loan – row 1. Then the 2nd row is the interest-only payments, etc as mentioned previously. To create the schedule, you’ll do it in a few steps, not one. After all, you have multiple unknowns (I assume). The calculator will calculate the interest amount for the interest-only payments. Then it will calculate the P&I payment based on a 10-year term. Then it will calculate the balloon based on 5 years of payments.
It will do what you want. If something isn’t clear, please ask specific questions about what’s not clear. (There’s not much sense in going into more detail here, I’ll just repeat what’s already written up in the tutorials.)
Stacy says:
Hello Karl,
Thanks for your reply. I use your calculators all the time, and have not had any difficulty with inputting the data or understanding the variables. There does seem to be a technical problem that I don’t believe is on my end. It simply will not let me put in a loan amount, and I never get to a screen with four rows as you describe. I am a bit disappointed, as it would be nice to have an elegant schedule showing both.
Thank you again.
Karl says:
Hi Stacy. Did you actually step through tutorial 1 as suggested? If so, what step gives you a problem? Are you saying the calculator does not allow you to do step 7a? If you just jump in and start by changing a few settings or numbers, that most likely will give you difficulties because the calculator does have certain built-in dependencies or rules that might not let you do what you want to do. Without knowing the specific steps you are taking, I can’t give you any guidance on why you don’t get to a screen with 4 rows. That calculator is a flexible tool. That’s why it will do what you need to do, but it does take some getting used to, and that’s why there are 25 step-by-step guides (and not that they cover everything either).
Karl says:
Once you look at the calculator, if you have any questions, just ask.
SueM says:
Hi Carl,
I need to create an amortization schedule for a business loan that has a daily repayment schedule, but only on business days (no holidays or weekends). Can I use one of yours?
Karl says:
Hi Sue, yes, you can create a loan with daily payments (on business days) with this calculator. This calculator allows users to have payments on any date. You’ll probably want to look into the "skip series" feature to automatically skip over weekend days.
SueM says:
Thank you for creating this! This is very helpful as it will cut down quite a bit of my time doing the calculations.
Karl says:
You’re welcome. And thanks for letting me know!
Deb says:
We are using your loan amortization schedule and we made a extra one-time payment. How do I take that payment into account and recalculate the interest and payments due. We want to keep the payment amount the same and early pay the loan.
Karl says:
This calculator will not accommodate an extra payment.
However, this loan calculator will. It has the same features including the ability to create an amortization schedule, plus a few more such as support for extra payments.
If this doesn’t give you enough flexibility, let me know. There are other calculators here which might.
Patricia L Sosbe says:
I need an amortization schedule for a no interest loan. No matter what I try, it calculates an interest rate.
Karl says:
Under "Amortization Method", set it to "No Interest". That setting is what tell the calculator not to calculate an interest rate.
Gaylynn Gylten says:
I am trying to do a balloon payment at the end – how do I enter it
Karl says:
If you want to specify the final balloon amount then use this balloon payment calculator. It will also create a printable amortization schedule and allow you to set dates.
Herbert Schultz says:
I am trying to construct a loan repayment schedule that will tell me what the first years repayment amount is using say the following information:
Loan amount = 100 000. repayable monthly in arrears
Term = 5 years
Interest Rate = 7% p.a.
Annuam Escalation = 10%
Calculate the first years’ monthly payment so that the loan is fully repaid in month 60.
The schedule should be flexible so that any of the input information can be amended ie the term reduced or extended. Interest rate amended to higher or lower than that quoted. And the escalation rate adjusted up or down.
The answer schould always come back to the first payment that needfs to be adjusted.
Thanks
Karl says:
You’ll need to use this financial calculator.
This calculator gives the user full control. Once on the page, scroll down to the tutorials. For one thing, I believe you’ll want to use the "Percent Step" series.
Once you give it a try, if you have any questions, you may ask them at the bottom of that page.
charles says:
how can I e-mail the schedule to another person?
Karl says:
From the print preview mode, click on PRINT again. This will open the browser’s printer configuration window. Select print to PDF and click save. (Chrome works this way anyway.) Then you can email the PDF.
Anne says:
I put in the top 6 values The first line of the schedule shows a payment of 89.88 (there was no payment). I have tried tweaking this to get that line removed, but I cannot. Why does it say there was a payment??
Loan $38,613.36, # Payments 60, Rate 5.99%, Payment amount $748.16, Loan date 07/28/20 1st Payment Due 09/11/20
Line 1: Loan 07/28/20 payment 89.88 interest 89.88 prin 0.00 balance 38,613.36
Karl says:
Ahh, you’ve discovered the feature that attracts a lot of users to this calculator – its accuracy and flexibility.
I’ll assume the payments are scheduled to occur monthly. If so, with the loan date 07/28/20 and the 1st payment on 09/11/20, you have what we call a "long first period." That is, the first period is longer than the other scheduled periods.
The question is, how do you, the user, want to account for the interest for the longer period? Under "Settings", -> "Long / Short Period Options" you’ll see several choices. The default is to pay the "extra" interest when the loan originates (that’s what my lender wanted when I took out a mortgage 28 years ago). Another option allows you to show the extra interest with the first payment. You’ll see 2 other choices too.
Hope this helps.
Tom Henderson says:
I am trying to set up an amortization for a $10,000.00 loan made on August 15, 2019, providing for quarterly payments over three years, with the first payment deferred to August 15, 2020. The information was input into the calculator, but the table generated provides for a payment of $303.01 on the origination date with the next payment to be made on the date provided for the first payment. There should, to my understanding, not be any payment on the origination date.
(This was generated for a loan to a nonprofit, where we agreed to defer the start of payments for a year with equal quarterly payments beginning on the first anniversary of the loan. I’m trying to get the calculations to match the amortization table prepared last year, which calls for quarterly payments of $915.69. Now I can’t find the calculator I used last August.)
Whatever help you can provide is appreciated.
Karl says:
A couple of things. First, you can use this calculator to recreate the amortization schedule you have. Instead of entering 0 for the payment amount, enter the payment amount you want and 0 for the number of payments.
The reason you see the payment on the origination date is there’s a long first period. The calculator defaults to having the borrower pay the extra interest at the origination. But the user has control over this.
Click on settings and check out the options for long/short period interest. My guess is, you’ll want to see it amortized to keep all payment level.
Stacy says:
I am trying to use your amortization calulator for a three year loan, 4.25% simple interest with no payments until maturity — just a single balloon payment after three years. No prepaid interest. When I set it for three years and one payment on the last day of the third year, the calculator wants to put in prepaid interest. Is there a different calculator I should try? Also, I want to use 365 day year. Your information says I can click settings to change it from the default 360 day year, but I can’t see where to click “settings.” Can you help?
Karl says:
This calculator will do what you want.
I’m not sure why you can’t see the "Settings" button. What type of device are you using? There’s a row of buttons with "Calc" on the left and "Help" on the right, and the "Settings" button is to the left of "Help."
For "Number of Payments" enter a "1." To control how and when the interest is due, under "Settings" select "Long / Short period options" and you’ll want to set it to "With First."
This should get you started. If you have other questions, just ask. I’m really interested about the "Settings" button problem you are having. Please let me know.
Marie says:
Good Afternoon,
I like all the options for calculators available on your site, thank you. I am refinancing my loan and am considering extra principal payments each month. Someone I know mentioned a new method I have not read about before and I would like to calculate it out if possible? I have a 15 year fixed loan at 2.49%. I am to pay the next month’s principal with the current month’s payment (principal & interest). So based on the amort. calculator I would pay $1066.11+735.63 in my first month. Then next month I am supposed to skip and pay the following month’s principal again. (Essentially I would like to pay off the loan in half the time, if possible, without being obligated to make the large monthly payment if I can’t). Not sure if there is a name for this kind of payment plan but is this something I can compute on one of the site’s calculators? Your help is appreciated! Thank you!
Karl says:
Thank you. I’m glad you are finding the calculators useful. You can do what you want to do with this financial calculator.
The calculator allows you to pay any amount on any date. I think what you’ll need to do is create the loan schedule as per the terms of the loan, then go an using that schedule, insert the extra payments you want to make.