calculation of future value between two dates

[manas123]

HELP please.

I am trying to find an easy / short way to calculate future value of a lump
sum amount between two dates.
The info I will have :-
1. Amount (say $1000 )
2. Start date of deposit (1st jan 2008)
3. Date to which future value is to be calculated to (1st may 2010)
4. Interest rate ( fixed 10%)
5. Compounded semiannualy.

How can I create a formulae to calculate this in one swoop ?

 

[Joe User]

How can I create a formulae to calculate this in one swoop ?

For an approximation:

=FV(10%/2, DATEDIF(DATE(2008,1,1),DATE(2010,5,1),"m")/6, 0, -1000)

That should be close. It might not be accurate because of the fractional
last semiannual period. But there are many ways to compute the interest
accrued for a fractional period; we don't know which one to use. Besides,
the accurate formula would not be "easy / short" ;-); and the difference is
less than $1 in this case, trying several method.


----- original message -----

 

[manas123]

HELP please.

I am trying to find an easy / short way to calculate future value of a lump
sum amount between two dates.
The info I will have :-
1. Amount (say $1000 )
2. Start date of deposit (1st jan 2008)
3. Date to which future value is to be calculated to (1st may 2010)
4. Interest rate ( fixed 10%)
5. Compounded semiannualy.

How can I create a formulae to calculate this in one swoop ?
Any other method that we can use to avoid fractional error even without using any excel function