Amortization Calculator – Bret's Blog (2024)

Posted on November 18, 2023

Calculator Web Page Redesign

This update is long overdue.

The world of web pages has grown smaller over the years. That is, web pages are increasingly geared toward hand-held devices like phones and tablets. The design I had for so long was still targeted at desktop screens.

I published a new responsive design of the amortization calculator pages which now scale better for smaller screen sizes. For now, the color scheme is mostly the same, and the calculations themselves should not be affected. I hope you’ll not notice any serious change in behavior.

But it’s always possible that I messed something up along the way, so if something breaks for you, or if some formatting seems particularly wonky, please let me know!

Posted on June 22, 2010June 22, 2010

The Latest Addition

Over the years, a lot of people have asked for calculator features like occasional extra principal reduction payments, tracking fees or late charges, summary of interest over a fiscal year. My pat response is “this kind of thing needs a spreadsheet or special-purpose software.”

Well, I’ve taken a little time to work up a basic amortization spreadsheet. It doesn’t have all the calculation options that the web calculator provides (it only calculates the payment, for example), but the amortization schedule it produces will allow one to track extra payments and fees, to include payments for insurance and taxes, and it provides a nice fiscal year summary of interest paid.

It took a few days of playing around with Excel to get it working mostly right, and it’s free for you to download and try, if you’re into that kind of thing. Maybe it will give you some ideas about how to build your own custom spreadsheet. But of course, use at your own risk! Please don’t base any high-finance decisions on the spreadsheet’s results until you’ve verified that it’s doing everything correctly. Like the web calculator, I consider this a planning tool only!

If you want to give it a shot, here’s a link to the spreadsheet. Enjoy!

Posted on June 14, 2010

Pushing the Limits

I’ve made a few more improvements to the calculator today. Since I added some comma separators to the output to improve the readability of larger numbers, I thought I should do something about the upper bound of the calculator. Before today, the calculator couldn’t amortize amounts larger than about 21.4million. This upper bound was imposed by the computer’s native word size and how I chose to round values to the nearest whole penny. By changing the rounding procedure, I have boosted that upper bound to under 10billion. Above this value, the calculator will silently start to lose resolution at the low end, but amortizing values in the 100s of millions should be possible now.

Posted on June 12, 2010

Identifying the cross-over point

I just can’t help myself: when I start to tweak things, I start coming up with more ideas for making things a little better or easier. Nothing dramatic, just little things.

Today’s idea was to make it easy to identify that point in the amortization schedule when the principal component of a payment first exceeds the interest component of a payment. Let’s call that the cross-over point. If you run an amortization schedule now, the cross-over point is highlighted in green. There may be schedules without a cross-over point (usually shorter term loans), in which case there’s no special highlighting.

Who knows what might come next, now that I’ve started tweaking. 🙂

Posted on June 11, 2010June 11, 2010

Small Improvements

It’s been a while since I’ve made any improvements to the calculator, but today I finished a few cosmetic upgrades. The Summary section has some nicer layout and formatting, and the addition of comma-separators should make larger numbers easier to read.

Posted on October 2, 2009October 2, 2009

Even more math…

Hi, folks. It has been quite a while since I’ve made any substantial additions to the site. I just added a new document with some new formulas for directly calculating the interest portion of any payment, and for calculating the total interest paid so far. If you’re into math, you might find the Interest Recurrence document mildly useful.

Posted on October 30, 2008October 30, 2008

A little Halloween treat

I added a little Halloween decoration to the calculator page, for some holiday variety. Thanks to Don Barnett for the cool pumpkin background.

Posted on October 17, 2008

Calculator Printing and Display tweaks

I’ve made some slight modifications to the schedule display: alternating rows of the table now have color bands to help identify rows more easily. In the process, I was also able to reduce (slightly) the amount of HTML that’s generated, allowing the schedule to download and render more quickly (though this is hardly an issue for most of us these days).

For people generating hard copies, I made some very minor tweaks as well. I don’t know if it makes things any better or not.

Posted on August 10, 2008August 10, 2008

Baubles and bangles and beads

Through trial and error I have played with the calculator’s web appearance. I think it looks more attractive, and I hope you do too. I would never claim to be a graphic designer, but I do what I can.

Credits:

Posted on August 8, 2008August 8, 2008

Printing Schedules (again)

Hi, folks. I’ve heard from a few of you who have said that you have difficulty printing schedules, or that schedules produce a lot of blank pages. I still haven’t experienced this problem myself because I can’t test every browser/printer combination available.

However, I have tried to make some changes to the HTML that the calculator produces. For those of you who had printing problems, please give the calculator a try now, and let me know if things have improved any (or if they’ve gotten worse, or if nothing has changed).

Thanks!

Amortization Calculator – Bret's Blog (2024)

FAQs

What is the easiest way to calculate amortization? ›

To calculate amortization, first multiply your principal balance by your interest rate. Next, divide that by 12 months to know your interest fee for your current month. Finally, subtract that interest fee from your total monthly payment. What remains is how much will go toward principal for that month.

How do you solve a loan amortization table? ›

Starting in month one, take the total amount of the loan and multiply it by the interest rate on the loan. Then for a loan with monthly repayments, divide the result by 12 to get your monthly interest. Subtract the interest from the total monthly payment, and the remaining amount is what goes toward principal.

What is mortgage amortization? ›

Mortgage amortization simply refers to the process of paying off your home loan in regular monthly payments over a fixed period of time. So if you get a mortgage with a 15-year term, it means the total cost of the loan will be spread out over 15 years.

How to create an amortization schedule? ›

How to create an amortization schedule in Excel
  1. Create column A labels. ...
  2. Enter loan information in column B. ...
  3. Calculate payments in cell B4. ...
  4. Create column headers inside row seven. ...
  5. Fill in the "Period" column. ...
  6. Fill in cells B8 to H8. ...
  7. Fill in cells B9 to H9. ...
  8. Fill out the rest of the schedule using the crosshairs.

What is the most commonly used method of amortization? ›

There are several ways to calculate the amortization of intangibles. The most common way to do so is by using the straight line method, which involves expensing the asset over a period of time.

What is the rule of 72 in amortization? ›

What is the Rule of 72? Here's how it works: Divide 72 by your expected annual interest rate (as a percentage, not a decimal). The answer is roughly the number of years it will take for your money to double. For example, if your investment earns 4 percent a year, it would take about 72 / 4 = 18 years to double.

What is the formula for calculating Amortisation? ›

You can use the equation: I=P*r*t, where I=Interest, P=principal, r=rate, and t=time.

How to calculate amortization cost? ›

How to calculate amortization for a loan
  1. Find the principal amount, interest rate and loan period. The first step in calculating your amortization is gathering information. ...
  2. Create your table. ...
  3. Calculate your monthly payment. ...
  4. Determine your second month's payment. ...
  5. Monitor your payment trends.
Jul 1, 2024

Is there an Excel formula for amortization? ›

Alternatively, we can use Excel's IPMT function, which has the following syntax: =IPMT(rate, per, nper, pv, [fv], [type]). Again, we are focused on the required arguments: Rate: The interest rate of the loan. Per: This is the period for which we want to find the interest and must be in the range from 1 to nper.

What is the most common mortgage amortization? ›

Amortization represents the life of your mortgage and an estimation of your total borrowing costs. The standard amortization period lasts 25 years, but you may find 35- or even 40-year options with certain lenders. A longer amortization period can mean lower monthly payments but more interest paid over time.

What is an example of amortization? ›

Example A: A business has a $10,000 software license, which it expects will come to an end in five years. Using the straight-line method, the amortization expense would be $2,000 per year for the next five years. At the end of five years, the carrying amount of the asset will be zero.

How do you beat mortgage amortization? ›

If you want to accelerate the payoff process, you can make biweekly mortgage payments or put extra sums toward principal reduction each month or whenever you like. This tactic can help you save on interest and potentially pay your loan offer sooner.

What is the rule of 78 in Excel? ›

The Rule of 78 formula is simple. Just multiply the amount of new revenue you expect to bring in each month by 78 to get your yearly sales forecast. A caveat to the Rule of 78 formula is that it assumes you'll gain just one new customer per month – and that every customer is paying the same monthly fee.

How to calculate amortised cost of a loan? ›

Amortised cost model
  1. (1)the amount at which the instrument was initially recognised;
  2. (2)MINUS any repayments of principal;
  3. (3)PLUS or MINUS cumulative amortisation, using the effective interest method, of the difference between the initial recognition amount and the maturity amount, and any fees or transaction costs;

What three things you would find on an amortization schedule? ›

Beginning balance: This is the principal balance you have at the beginning of each new month before you make a loan payment. Scheduled payment: This is your monthly loan payment. This number will be the same every month. Principal: This is the amount paid toward your principal with every payment.

Which three methods are used to calculate amortized cost? ›

There are generally three methods for performing amortized analysis: the aggregate method, the accounting method, and the potential method. All of these give correct answers; the choice of which to use depends on which is most convenient for a particular situation.

How do you calculate simple interest amortization? ›

Formula for calculating simple interest

You can calculate your total interest by using this formula: Principal loan amount x Interest rate x Loan term in years = Interest.

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