Present Value Calculator

Enter the rate as a percent per period (6 for 6% a year, or 5/12 if you are compounding monthly). Payments and the lump sum are amounts you receive, entered as positive numbers. Numbers stay in your browser. The default is 1,000 a year for 5 years at 6%.

Quick answer: in Excel and Google Sheets:

=PV(rate,nper,pmt,[fv],[type])

For 1,000 received at the end of each of 5 years at 6%, that is =PV(0.06,5,-1000). The payment is negative so the present value comes out positive.

An annuity, a lump sum, and both

In Google Sheets on 12 November 2026, =PV(0.06,5,-1000) returned 4212.363785565716. A single 10,000 received in 5 years, with no annuity, is =PV(0.06,5,0,-10000), which returned 7472.58172866057.

Combining a payment and a lump sum — 200 a month for 36 months plus 10,000 at the end, at 5% a year compounded monthly — is =PV(0.05/12,36,-200,-10000), which returned 15282.902703258944. Divide the annual rate by 12 when the periods are months; leaving it at 5% would treat each month as a full 5%.

Type 0 (end of period) is the default on this page. Type 1, a payment at the beginning of each period, raises the present value of an annuity because each payment is discounted one period less.

Signs, and related calculators

The spreadsheet convention can look backwards: you put the money you receive as a negative argument so PV returns a positive “what is it worth today.” This calculator takes positive receipts and applies that sign for you. For uneven cash flows and a cost at time zero, use the NPV calculator. Growing a known present amount forward is the compound interest calculator. Solving for a loan installment from a principal is the loan payment calculator.

Questions that come up

What is the PV formula in Excel or Google Sheets?

Use =PV(rate, nper, pmt, [fv], [type]). Rate is the interest per period, nper is the number of periods, pmt is the regular payment, and fv is a future lump sum. Type is 0 for end-of-period payments (the default) or 1 for the beginning. Signs follow the usual cash-flow convention: money you receive is negative inside PV so the result comes out positive.

Is present value the same as NPV?

PV is the discounted value of a regular annuity, a future lump sum, or both, at a constant rate. NPV is for a list of uneven cash flows, and the initial cost should be subtracted outside the NPV function. Use the NPV calculator for that case.

How is this different from a loan payment or from compound interest?

A loan payment solves for PMT given a present principal. Compound interest (FV) grows a present amount forward. This page solves for the present amount given the future cash you will receive or pay.