NOMINAL Function (LibreOffice Calc)

=NOMINAL(EffectiveRate; NPerY)

There are no optional arguments and no defaults. The semicolon (;) is the separator used in the native-tested English-language Calc formulas. The displayed decimal separator and localized function names can vary with the installed locale; Calc can be configured to show English function names. See LibreOffice’s Formula options.

Official basis: LibreOffice Help, Financial Functions Part Two — NOMINAL, accessed 2026-10-13; OASIS OpenFormula 1.4, §6.12.28 NOMINAL, published 2025-10-06 and checked 2026-10-13.

Enter this into an empty Calc cell:

=NOMINAL(13.5%;12)

Native-tested value: 0.12730316695904165, or 12.7303166959% when formatted as a percentage. LibreOffice’s own example rounds this to 12.73%. The first argument is the effective annual rate; the second means twelve compounding periods per year. You do not divide 13.5% by twelve first, because that changes the meaning of the input.

This result is lower than 13.5% because earning interest on previously earned interest makes the effective annual rate greater than the stated nominal rate at positive interest and more than one compounding period. A 13.5% nominal annual rate compounded monthly would instead produce a higher effective rate; those are opposite conversion directions.

Reproducible cell-reference example

On a sheet named WorkedExamples, place the following values:

With D5 set to Percent format and six decimal places, it displays approximately 12.730317%. The formula and its cell references, as well as the literal-argument version above, were each executed in Calc 25.2.3.2. The historical workbook records this exact cell-reference example.

These outputs are stored in the test evidence as actual formula-cell values; displayed rounding in Calc may differ from the underlying number.

Precision matters: For the last example, Calc returned 0.052500319868356016. Formatting it as 5.25% hides the difference. If you need to compare rates closely, compare the raw values or use more decimal places; don’t copy a displayed rounded percentage back into a subsequent calculation.

Compare compounding frequencies without changing the effective rate

In B6, enter 8%; in C6, enter 4; then use =NOMINAL(B6;C6) in D6. The native result is 0.0777061876331 (about 7.770619%). To build a sensitivity table, keep the effective annual rate in a single cell, and put the integer frequencies 1, 2, 4, 12 and 365 into adjacent rows; calculate NOMINAL($B$2;C5) for each row after adjusting references to your layout. Only the two specific cell-reference examples above were independently executed; the generic expansion is a documented spreadsheet workflow, not a separate native test claim.

Let E be the effective annual rate, m the whole number of compounding periods annually, and j the nominal annual rate. OpenFormula defines the relationship:

E = (1 + j/m)^m - 1
j = m * ((1 + E)^(1/m) - 1)

For example, with E = 0.08 and m = 4:

j = 4 * ((1 + 0.08)^(1/4) - 1)
  ≈ 0.0777061876331

The equivalent Calc expression =4*((1+8%)^(1/4)-1) is a useful independent algebraic check, not a replacement for NOMINAL’s own input validation. The native NOMINAL(8%;4) output and a separate Python calculation based on this equation agreed within numerical tolerance.

For a transparent audit of a rate quote, record three fields together: the effective annual rate, the nominal annual rate, and the compounding periods per year. A pair of percentages without the period count is ambiguous.

1. Convert an advertised effective rate to a nominal quarterly rate

An investment reports an effective annual return of 9%, compounded quarterly in the model. Use:

=NOMINAL(9%;4)

Native-tested result: 0.0871127234586 (about 8.711272% nominal annually). Dividing that nominal rate by four gives the model’s nominal periodic rate. This is a conversion of a compounding model, not proof that a particular advertised rate incorporates fees, taxes, or variable interest.

2. Compare the nominal rates for the same effective return

For an effective annual return of 9%, native Calc 25.2.3.2 returned:

The decrease in nominal rate does not imply the effective returns have changed: all four rows were constructed to imply the same effective annual 9% rate under their respective compounding conventions.

3. Work backward from an effective financing rate

If a financing disclosure specifies a 10% effective annual financing rate and monthly compounding, =NOMINAL(10%;12) returns roughly 9.568969% nominal annually in the tested version. This is a mathematical conversion only: actual annual percentage rate (APR) definitions can incorporate legal disclosure rules, fees, and timing different from this two-argument compound-interest formula. Don’t label a mathematical nominal rate a statutory APR without verifying the applicable definition.

4. Check a small rate without losing precision

For an effective annual rate of 0.01%, =NOMINAL(0.01%;12) returned approximately 0.00009999541696 as a decimal (about 0.00999954%). For tiny rates, using many displayed decimal places can be important; formatting to two decimal percent places makes these different rates look identical.

• NOMINAL: effective annual rate → nominal annual rate, with an explicit compounding frequency.
• EFFECT: reverse direction (nominal → effective) in LibreOffice’s documented financial-function family; formula relationship is E = (1+j/m)^m - 1.
• NOMINAL_ADD: separately named Calc compatibility function. Official LibreOffice Help labels _ADD / _EXCEL2003 variants as following older Excel compatibility behavior and recommends suffixless names for standards-oriented calculations. NOMINAL_ADD(13.5%;12) produced the same numeric result in the tested 25.2.3.2 installation. That single agreement does not establish identical behavior for all inputs.

Installation-specific caution: The tested Calc 25.2.3.2 instance returned #NAME? for =EFFECT(NOMINAL(8%;12);12), despite official Help documenting EFFECT. This is preserved as a diagnostic observation, not a claim that all LibreOffice editions lack EFFECT. You can validate the rate conversion without relying on that name by applying the displayed algebraic equation. NOMINAL and NOMINAL_ADD Help and EFFECT Help; OASIS OpenFormula 1.4; reviewed 2026-10-13.

Validation boundaries: The table describes actual observed Calc 25.2.3.2 behavior for the displayed formulas. OASIS OpenFormula specifies a positive rate and an integer, positive period count, but does not promise Calc’s observed coercion/truncation for fractional values. Numeric-looking text and Boolean inputs can behave differently by locale or release; clean imported data before calculating. For routine comparisons, check whether the calculated value is positive and whether the period count is a whole number before calling NOMINAL.

The same mathematical NOMINAL concept is documented by Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. This verifies documented availability and related syntax, not identical error codes, argument coercion, saved-file interoperability, or numerical behavior; neither application was executed for this guide. Excel and Sheets often use commas in their English formula examples; the formulas above use semicolons as entered in the tested LibreOffice locale. _ADD is a LibreOffice-specific compatibility name, not an interchangeable universal spelling. For ODF files, OpenFormula uses the unqualified NOMINAL function defined in §6.12.28.

The native evidence covers a Linux installation of Calc 25.2.3.2. The online Help page displayed 26.8, so the tests do not certify the behavior of 26.8, Windows or macOS builds, nor all international locales.

• EFFECT — convert nominal to effective annual rates.
• RATE — solve for an interest rate from cash flows.
• FV — future value of an annuity.
• NPER — count fixed payment periods.

Other names are not substitutes for NOMINAL’s rate-conversion calculation.

1. LibreOffice Help, Financial Functions Part Two — NOMINAL and NOMINAL_ADD, online Help displaying 26.8, consulted 2026-10-13: https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/scalc/01/04060119.html . Supports the name, two required arguments, official 13.5%/12 example, and _ADD compatibility note.
2. OASIS OpenDocument 1.4, Part 4 OpenFormula, OASIS Standard dated 2025-10-06, §6.12.28 NOMINAL and §6.12.19 EFFECT, consulted 2026-10-13: https://docs.oasis-open.org/office/OpenDocument/v1.4/os/part4-formula/OpenDocument-v1.4-os-part4-formula.html . Supports the mathematical conversion and positive-rate/integer-compounding constraints.
3. LibreOffice Calc Guide 26.2, Chapter 16 — Formula options, consulted 2026-10-13: https://books.libreoffice.org/en/CG262/CG26216-SettingUpCustomizing.html . Supports configuration of formula notation and English function names.
4. Microsoft Excel NOMINAL reference, consulted 2026-10-13: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/functions/nominal-function . Documentation-only comparison.
5. Google Sheets NOMINAL reference, consulted 2026-10-13: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093234 . Documentation-only comparison.

Test limitation: Historical tests cover Calc 25.2.3.2 on Linux only. The saved workbook corroborates 63 numerical cases across NOMINAL/NPER and 19 diagnostics; the literal numerical cases were independently recomputed. This does not establish identical behavior in another release or spreadsheet application.