I need to create a formula for total interest?

[Guest]

I need to create a payment function to display a positive number and a
formula for the total interest. It's 5% rate, time 3, loan 12,000. Also how
do I do status? what lookup funtion?

 

[Don Guillett]

Look in the help index for INT and other financial functions.

 

[Don Guillett]

I meant FV (future value)
FV
See Also

Returns the future value of an investment based on periodic, constant
payments and a constant interest rate.

Syntax

FV(rate,nper,pmt,pv,type)

For a more complete description of the arguments in FV and for more
information on annuity functions, see PV.

Rate is the interest rate per period.

Nper is the total number of payment periods in an annuity.

Pmt is the payment made each period; it cannot change over the life of the
annuity. Typically, pmt contains principal and interest but no other fees or
taxes. If pmt is omitted, you must include the pv argument.

Pv is the present value, or the lump-sum amount that a series of future
payments is worth right now. If pv is omitted, it is assumed to be 0 (zero),
and you must include the pmt argument.

Type is the number 0 or 1 and indicates when payments are due. If type is
omitted, it is assumed to be 0.

 

[joeu2004]

I need to create a payment function to display a positive number and a
formula for the total interest. It's 5% rate, time 3, loan 12,000.

You have omitted some details. Does "time 3" mean 3 years? And what
is the payment frequency: monthly? And what jurisdiction: US (non-
Canadian)? With those assumptions, the following approximates total
interest:

=3*12*pmt(5%/12, 3*12, -12000) - 12000

I say "approximate" because the devil is in the details. First,
PMT(...) should be rounded, at least to the smallest coin of the realm
(cents in the US); but really, it is however the lender chooses to
round, which is arbitrary. Consequently, the final payment is usually
different, which alters the amount of interest accrued in the last
period.

PS: The formula above is the same result that -ICUMPMT(...) gives.

Also how do I do status? what lookup funtion?

What is "status"?