How can I use the NPV function in Google Sheets to calculate the present value of a series of cash flows?

Calculates the net present value of an investment based on a series of periodic cash flows and a discount rate.

Sample Usage

NPV(0.08,200,250,300)

NPV(A2,A3,A4,A5)

Syntax

NPV(discount, cashflow1, [cashflow2, ...])

• discount – The discount rate of the investment over one period.

• cashflow1 – The first future cash flow.

• cashflow2, ... – [ OPTIONAL ] – Additional future cash flows.

Notes

• NPV is similar to PV except that NPV allows variable-value cash flows.

• Each cashflow argument should be positive if it represents income from the perspective of the owner of the investment (e.g. coupons) or negative if it represents payments (e.g. loan repayment).

• Each cashflow argument may be either a value, a reference to a value, or a range containing values. Cashflows are considered in the order they are referenced.

• IRR under the same conditions calculates the internal rate of return for which the net present value is zero.

• If the cash flows of an investment are irregularly spaced, use XNPV instead.

See Also

XNPV: Calculates the net present value of an investment based on a specified series of potentially irregularly spaced cash flows and a discount rate.

XIRR: Calculates the internal rate of return of an investment based on a specified series of potentially irregularly spaced cash flows.

PV: Calculates the present value of an annuity investment based on constant-amount periodic payments and a constant interest rate.

MIRR: Calculates the modified internal rate of return on an investment based on a series of periodic cash flows and the difference between the interest rate paid on financing versus the return received on reinvested income.

IRR: Calculates the internal rate of return on an investment based on a series of periodic cash flows.

Examples

[wpcc-iframe height=”300″ src=”https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0As3tAuweYU9QdFJySGJlamRMc2pVbVllem82TzF0S3c&output=html” width=”500″]