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!
Hi Bret.
I have used your spreadsheet for many years and like it very much. I do have some suggestions to make it THE BEST AND AWESOMEST (yes, my made up word, I know!) free AM schedule program EVER.
1. Let us enter a start date for loan payments.
2. Calculate the principal and interest by the tax year, giving the annual totals paid as of Dec 31.
3. Ask for the balloon date.
4. Coordinate the balloon date with various calendars (outlook, google, etc.)
5. Let the user select a reminder date for the balloon date to either find the cash, or coordinate with the lender for an extension.
These changes would all be the icing on the cake to your already fabulous calculator. THANKS for such an awesome free tool.
Thanks for the suggestions, Carol. If I ever get time to make some modifications, I will consider your input. I appreciate the feedback!
Hi, your calculator works great for what I was looking for because it allows me to make 9 paymants a year. My only problem is I can’t enter 9 payments a year into the spread sheet. I finance the loan for 5 years so its a total of 45 payments. In the spread sheet if I enter 3.75years I get 45 payments but the payment are not the same amount because its a shorter period is there any way you can make it so the spread sheet does 9 months a year like the calculator can? I really appreciate any help you can give me on this. Thank you!! Anne
Bret, I am a bankruptcy lawyer in Utah and I have been using your amortization calculator for years and years and years. It’s the perfect tool for me to easily determine my clients’ payment amount in a chapter 13 bankruptcy. I just wanted to tell you yet another way in which your calculator is being used. Thank you very much for providing this free service.
Hi Bret.
I just want to say thanks for your fantastic calculator. It’s so flexible and easy to use – it makes me wonder why so many others are so unwieldy.
I’ve been using it for years, usually on a monthly basis, and I sent you a “virtual thanks” through the ether every time. I thought it was time to send you thanks in text!
By the way, I live just up the road from the 12 Apostles featured in your blog banner, and it brings a smile to my face to see them featured here. (Some have fallen into the ocean over time, so there has been some attrition of the numbers.)
Thanks again for providing this fabulous tool – and even better that you give it to us all for free!
Hi, and thanks for the kind words! I am continually surprised (and gratified) to find that the calculator has fans around the world. Thanks for taking the time to write.
I have heard others comment that the 12 are reduced in number these days, but the ocean is relentless: even stone must give way to it eventually. Someday I hope to see the remaining Apostles in person.