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
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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.
Denise says:
I used your calculator to setup a personal loan, however the loan payments have not been met at the agreed upon amounts and/or time. Is there a different one that you can suggest to calculate the missed and late payments as well as the short payments?
Karl says:
Yes, in fact, there is. Please see the loan payoff calculator. This calculator allows users to track payments for any amount on the date they are paid. Scroll down the page and there’s a tutorial.
Stacy says:
Hi Karl,
Client wants the following terms: five year term, interest only payments of $4,000 per month balloon on 60th month, simple interest, 365 day year. Need to solve for the interest rate. Your interest only calculator won’t let me do that. Do you suggest another calculator?
Thanks!
Karl says:
Hi Stacy, you’re right. The calculator won’t calculate an interest rate for interest-only loans. But, we can still get the job done, as you suggested, but using another calculator.
Here’s what you should do. Since you didn’t mention the loan amount, I’ll assume it’s $750,000. On the percentage calculator page use calculator #1. Since you want an annual interest rate, we first calculate the annual interest total, i.e. $48,000. Using calculator #1, we find that $48,000 is 6.4% of $750,000.
Go back to the amortization schedule and plug in the numbers:
Loan Amount?: $750,000.00
Number of Payments?: 60
Annual Interest Rate?: 6.4000%
Payment Amount?: 0
Amortization Method: Interest Only
And you get a perfect schedule of 59 monthly interest-only payments of $4,000, with a final balloon for payment #60 of $754,000 (principal and interest).
Hope this helps.
Erica says:
Hi there!
Client is wanting 5% interest to start on 1/1/21. first payment starts 2/1/22. $30,000.00 amortized over 10 balloon in 5. I have all of the other steps but the thing that i cant get right is that is it showing 1:1 twice. like the first payment is due on 1/1/21 AND 2/1/22. I’m sure i’m doing something wrong. any suggestions?
Karl says:
Hello, no, you are not doing anything wrong. I see now that I must have recently introduced a small bug. That first row, rather than showing ‘1:1’, it should be showing ‘Loan:’. I’ll get that fixed when the next release is ready – in a week or so.
There is a way around this. Look at the ‘Print Preview.’ You can use that instead of the ‘Calc’ button.
Also, the schedule will print correctly, with ‘Loan:’.
Karl says:
I received your follow-up email with a screenshot and question. I had not noticed that the first payment was 13 months after the loan date and not just 1 month.
The amount you see in row 1 is because this particular loan has a long first period. (A long first period happens when the loan is originated and the first payment is longer than the scheduled payment frequency.)
Click on the "Settings" button. Then click on "Long/Short Period Options."
Then under "If initial cash flow period is longer than the payment frequency:, " you’ll see 4 options for how you can account for the additional interest that is due because of this extra-long first period.
Normally, I would suggest how a user can fill in the calculation, but I’m not sure that I understand the terms of your loan. Do you want the payment calculated based on a 10-year amortization but there will be a balloon payment due in 5 years (balloon due at payment #60)? The calculator can handle that. If you want all the payments to be level except for the final balloon, then you’ll want to set the long period option to "amortize". Note, however, that will mean the level payment is somewhat larger than might be expected for a 30,000 loan @ 5%. The reason is, the extra interest has to be accounted for. (Of course, you could set the long period interest to "none" to cancel it out.)
DeKoter, Thole, Dawson & Rockman, P.L.C. says:
I need interest calculated from the loan date to the first payment date. How do I do that?
Karl says:
The interest is always calculated between all dates unless a user has selected the no-interest option. There is nothing extra you need to do.
However, there are options as to how you can show the first-period interest. Click on "Settings" and see "Long/Short Period options." for controlling where and how the interest is shown on the schedule. FYI: A long period is when the time between the loan date and the payment date is longer than the scheduled payment frequency. After you look at the options, ask if you have any questions. If you do have questions, tell me what the 2 dates are.
Jenny says:
First, this calculator is very, very helpful. The last time I used it, there was an option to calculate based on recurring extra payments. I don’t see that option now. Has it gone away or am I just missing it? Thank you!
Karl says:
This amortization schedule never had the ability to add extra payments (I almost never remove features).
Perhaps you were using this loan calculator, or perhaps this extra payment calculator?
Both of the above will create amortization schedules.
Please let me know if they don’t meet your needs since there are still others I could suggest.
Jenny says:
Oh yes, thank you, it was the loan calculator! Whew!
Lorie Mason says:
Good Morning,
I need to calculate a payment plan for a zero interest loan. When I use your calculator it automatically changes the zero to a low interest rate. Is there a way to fix this?
Thanks, Lorie
Karl says:
Yes. 🙂 Since a "0" tells the calculator what to calculate, you will need to make one more setting. Click on "Amortization Method" and select "No Interest."
Cheryl C. says:
I ran a schedule with a fixed rate, fixed payment, fixed day of month payment is due and it all looks normal except for one month out of 15 total months that shows a much higher amount going to principal. If the payments are due on the same day of each month, why would there be a large variance for just the one month?
Karl says:
"The devil is in the details," as it is said.
And I don’t have enough details to know for sure, but my guess is, you’ve selected one of the compounding periods which uses an exact number of days for calculating interest – either daily or simple compounding. And in that case, if the month has fewer days (particularly Feb.), the interest will be less and thus more of the payment will go to the principal.
Is that’s what is happening? If not, please tell me your inputs and give me 2 payment examples.
Cheryl C says:
Yep! After I hit send on the question I realized it was the short month, reducing the number of accrual days.
Thanks!
Bonnie Fenstermaker says:
I would like to be able to put in monthly tax payment, homeowners ins. and a HOA monthly payment. Is this possible?
Karl says:
The Ultimate Mortgage Calculator will allow you to enter taxes and insurance. Unfortunately, it does not support HOA fees.
Bonnie says:
Karl –
I am trying to help a client of mine who has 4 different loan scenarios. I was able to take care of the 1st one using your loan calculator, thank you! But the remaining 3 are leaving me stumped. Loan #2 has a month in which a payment was skipped and there are also monthly taxes coming out as well. Loan #3 & #4 are for the same people but for different properties. I know the beginning balance, loan term as well as the payments. These ones also include tax payments, a fire dept. fee as well as homeowners ins. payment. And to make things more difficult…Loan #4 has 2 notes on it. The first note was from Jan. thru Aug. of 2020 and the second note was for the remaining months of 2020. with the same payments. Will any of your calculators do these for me? This is all new to me so I am feeling rather overwhelmed at this point! HELP!!!
Karl says:
The Ultimate Financial Calculator has support for missed or skipped payments. If you try it, scroll down the page to the tutorials. There’s one about missed payments. This calculator would also support your #4 case – as I understand it – two different loan advances. None of my calculators have provisions for supporting fire department fees or HOA fees.
If you try the above calculator and have questions, just ask.
Sheila Holley says:
How do I insert an extra payment on a contract for deed to the Amortization Schedule.?
$775,000 CD
4 year term/48 payments
$4160 payments
Additional $75,000 paid on March 31, 2022
Balloon Payment?
Sure appreciate your help on this one!
Karl says:
This amortization calculator doesn’t support such a feature.
You’ll need to use this financial calculator. Once on that page, scroll down to the tutorials. Check out #1 for an overview, and then there’s a tutorial about extra payments.