FV in Excel: Calculate a Future Balance With Consistent Cash-Flow Signs

=FV(rate, nper, pmt, [pv], [type])

rate is interest per period, nper the number of periods, and pmt the constant periodic payment. pv is the initial present value, defaulting to zero. type is zero or omitted for end-of-period payments and one for beginning-of-period payments.

The reference labels pmt required but permits it to be omitted when pv is supplied. For clarity, use an explicit zero payment for a lump-sum-only calculation. Cash paid out is negative and cash received positive, consistently from one person’s perspective. Thus deposits are negative and the future amount available to receive is positive.

Keep rate and nper in matching units. A nominal annual rate of 12% with monthly compounding gives 12%/12 per month. That division is not a universal conversion for an effective annual rate, whose monthly equivalent would use a twelfth root.

Put 1% in B2, 12 in B3, −100 in B4, −1000 in B5 and 0 in B6. Use =FV(B2,B3,B4,B5,B6) in B8. The independent target is 2395.07533145.

The total contributed is 1000+12*100=2200, leaving modeled growth of 195.07533145. This difference is arithmetic within a fixed-rate model, not a promised return or an allowance for taxes or fees.

To check the end-payment calculation without FV, start a separate positive-balance column at 1000. For each of twelve rows multiply the previous balance by 1.01, then add 100. The last balance targets the same result. This recurrence makes the order of interest and payment explicit.

Change type to 1 while leaving the other inputs unchanged. The independent target becomes 2407.75783446. Every regular deposit earns one additional period of interest, so the payment-stream part grows by another factor of 1.01.

The initial 1000 still earns twelve periods of interest. Do not multiply the entire end-payment future value by 1.01, because that would also add an unintended extra period to the initial deposit.

For the beginning-payment recurrence, add 100 to the current balance and then apply 1.01 in each of twelve rows. The final balance again matches the independent formula expectation.

=FV(1%,12,0,-1000,0) models only the initial deposit. =FV(1%,12,-100,0,0) models only the regular end deposits. Their independent values are 1126.82503013 and 1268.25030132, which sum to the full result.

This decomposition helps audit a workbook that combines an opening balance and a recurring plan. It also shows why omitting pv changes the calculation: an omitted pv is zero, not an inferred opening balance from neighboring cells.

Microsoft’s example =FV(6%/12,10,-200,-500,1) has independent target 2581.40337406, displayed as 2581.40. It uses ten monthly periods, not ten years, and payments at the beginning of each period.

At zero interest, the independent balance identity is fv=-(pv+pmt*nper). Applying it to the first example gives 2200. Payment timing then makes no difference because no interest accrues between payments.

Check cash-flow signs before applying ABS to an unexpected negative result. Reversing all cash-flow signs reverses the answer while leaving its magnitude unchanged; reversing only one changes the economics of the model.

FV assumes a constant rate and payment. Uneven deposits or varying rates require a period-by-period model rather than silently averaging inputs. The dedicated reference does not enumerate every invalid-input error or fractional-period coercion, and those native behaviors were not tested.

Keep full calculated balances during the recurrence. Rounding each period to cents can create a different schedule from an unrounded financial formula. State any rounding rule explicitly when comparing with a real statement.

• Current documentation: the dedicated Microsoft reference 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.
• Introduced: the first introduction version/build is not established by the dedicated reference used here.
• Last functioning version: unknown; a current help listing is not a last-working-build test.
• Evidence checked: October 15, 2026. Official documentation was freshly retrieved; examples were independently calculated. No native Excel, Mac or web-client execution was performed.

• Microsoft FV reference.
• Microsoft function catalog and introduction-marker explanation.
• Editorial testing standards.

Examples use English function names and comma separators. Expected numbers are rounded independent mathematical calculations; documented error expectations are labeled as such. They are not captured Excel output. All illustrative data and policies are fictional.