CUMPRINC Function in Microsoft Excel: Syntax, Examples & Troubleshooting

=CUMPRINC(rate, nper, pv, start_period, end_period, type)

All six arguments are required. rate is the interest rate per payment period; nper is the loan’s total number of payment periods; pv is the positive amount initially financed. start_period and end_period are inclusive payment numbers, beginning with 1. type is 0 for payments at period end or 1 for payments at period beginning. There is no omitted-type default in this function’s documented syntax.

For monthly payments, an annual nominal rate is normally supplied as annual-rate/12 and a term in years as years×12, provided those assumptions match the loan. The following example instead uses annual payments to keep the reconciliation visible. It assumes a fixed rate, equal payments and full repayment; it is not a model of fees, variable rates or irregular extra payments.

Enter 10% in B2 (annual rate), 2 in B3 (annual payments), 1000 in B4 (amount borrowed) and 0 in B5 (end-of-year timing). The independently calculated payment magnitude is 576.1904761905. For a positive loan received, Excel’s repayment cash flows are negative.

An independent amortization calculation uses payment = 1000×0.1/[1−(1.1)^−2]. Interest is opening balance×0.1; principal is payment minus interest. The two rows are:

Displayed values are rounded here; calculations retain full precision.

1. Enter =CUMPRINC(B2,B3,B4,1,2,B5) in D2.
2. Expected result: −1000, subject to normal floating-point display precision.
3. Compare the magnitude with the original loan in B4.

The two independently calculated principal portions are 476.19047619 and 523.80952381, summing to 1000. The extra 152.38095238 in total payments is interest, not additional principal.

=CUMPRINC(B2,B3,B4,1,1,0)
=CUMPRINC(B2,B3,B4,2,2,0)

Expected results are approximately −476.19047619 and −523.80952381. The second payment repays more principal because the interest charge on the lower balance is smaller, while the total payment stays level. Inclusive boundaries mean 1–1 selects the first payment.

If D3 holds the first-payment result, =B4+D3 is expected to return 523.80952381. Adding the negative repaid-principal figure to the original positive balance subtracts it correctly. Using B4-D3 would increase the balance and reverse the cash-flow logic.

For beginning-of-period timing, =CUMPRINC(10%,2,1000,1,1,1) is expected to be approximately −523.80952381. The first immediate payment contains no interest. The second principal amount is approximately −476.19047619, so the full 1,2,1 range still totals −1000.

When reporting a longer loan by year, partition payment numbers rather than resetting the model: for monthly payments use 1–12, then 13–24. An annual report can reconcile principal reduction to the change in loan balance, while a separate interest total explains the remainder of cash paid. This separation is useful even when the lender’s actual rounding requires an additional adjustment.

Microsoft documents #NUM! when rate, nper or pv is zero or negative; when start_period or end_period is less than 1; when start_period is greater than end_period; or when type is not 0 or 1. Notably, a zero-interest loan is outside this function’s documented domain even though a simple zero-interest payment schedule can be calculated directly.

Keep selected payment numbers inside the actual loan term. Do not rely on undocumented treatment of fractional or out-of-term periods. If the sign looks wrong, first consider the cash-flow viewpoint rather than negating the original positive pv, which would violate the documented input requirement.

A 10% entry is the numeric value 0.1. Entering 10 as rate means 1000% per period. Do not round each intermediate balance to match a displayed currency amount unless that rounding is part of the actual loan policy. These examples explain spreadsheet calculations; actual lender statements may include fees, timing rules and rounding conventions not represented here.

Microsoft’s reference checked on October 17, 2026 lists: Excel for Microsoft 365 Excel for Microsoft 365 for Mac Excel 2024 Excel 2024 for Mac Excel 2021 Excel 2021 for Mac Excel 2019 Excel 2016. This current support list does not establish the first release. The introduction version and last functioning version have not been established from the reviewed documentation. No retirement is asserted.

Example verification: Expected numerical results are independently calculated; text and shape expectations follow the documented contract. These examples have not been tested in Microsoft Excel. No screenshot or native execution is claimed.

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• Microsoft CUMPRINC reference, retrieved October 17, 2026.