How to read an amortization schedule
Each row is one payment. Reading left to right on the first row of the example above:
- Payment is the amount you pay that month, $1,264.14 here. It stays the same on a fixed-rate loan (unless you add extra payments).
- Interest is the lender's charge for that month: the balance times the monthly rate, so $1,083.33 on the first row.
- Principal is what is left of the payment after interest, $180.80, and it reduces the debt.
- Balance is what you still owe afterwards, $199,819.20 after payment 1 and $199,637.42 after payment 2.
Amounts are shown rounded to the cent but calculated at full precision, so subtracting two rounded figures can differ from the third by a cent. Lenders round each month's interest and payment to the cent, which is why a lender's table can differ from this one by a few cents over the life of the loan.
The interest column starts high and falls every month, and the principal column does the opposite. In this example principal does not overtake interest until payment 233 (about 19.4 years in). Across the first 12 payments, $12,934.18 of your money goes to interest (85.3% of what you pay) and only $2,235.45 reduces the balance. At the halfway point, payment 180, you have repaid just 27.4% of the amount borrowed. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes the same pattern for mortgages.1
The yearly summary at the top of the results adds the monthly rows up by calendar year, which is what you need for a tax-year or budgeting view. Because the first payment falls in November, the first and last years hold fewer than 12 payments.
Amortization schedule with extra payments
Tick "Add extra payments" in the form to put extra principal into the schedule: a fixed amount every month, an amount once a year in a month you choose, a single lump sum at a payment number you choose, or all three. The schedule gets an Extra column, the balance falls faster and the loan ends early, so the last row moves up. The table shows what different extras do to the example loan:
| Scenario | Total interest | Paid off in | Interest saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| No extra payment | $255,088.98 | 30 years | - |
| Extra $100 every month | $199,143.21 | 24 years, 5 months | $55,945.77 |
| Extra $200 every month | $165,012.20 | 20 years, 10 months | $90,076.78 |
| Extra $250 every month | $152,310.41 | 19 years, 5 months | $102,778.57 |
| One extra full payment a year ($1,264.14) | $194,720.23 | 24 years, 1 month | $60,368.75 |
| One-time $5,000 at payment 24 | $231,162.07 | 28 years, 2 months | $23,926.91 |
Extra $100 a month saves $55,945.77 and shortens the loan by 5 years, 7 months; an extra $200 a month saves $90,076.78 and shortens it by 9 years, 2 months. One extra full payment a year, which is what paying half your payment every two weeks amounts to, saves $60,368.75 and takes off 5 years, 11 months.2
Amortization schedule with a fixed monthly payment
Most schedules start from a term: choose 30 years and the calculator works out the payment. If you know what you pay each month instead, tick I know my monthly payment and enter it. The calculator then works out how many months the loan takes and builds the schedule for that fixed payment. On the example loan, paying $1,500.00 a month instead of the required $1,264.14 clears it in 19 years, 10 months (238 payments) and costs $155,680.41 in interest, $99,408.57 less than the 30-year schedule.
The payment has to be larger than the interest due in the first month, $1,083.33 here. A smaller payment would not reduce the balance, so the calculator asks for a bigger one instead of drawing a schedule. When payments are less than the interest due each month the balance grows rather than decreases, which is called negative amortization.1
How to make an amortization schedule in Excel or Google Sheets
The Download Excel button above gives you a workbook with the inputs at the top and formulas in every row, so you can change the rate or add extra payments and watch the schedule recalculate. It has exactly as many rows as your schedule, so if you make the loan longer a check in row 10 tells you to copy the last row down. If you would rather build it yourself, this is the whole method. The same formulas work in Google Sheets.
- Set up the inputs. In B1 type the loan amount (200000), in B2 the annual interest rate (6.5%), and in B3 the term in years (30).
- Work out the payment. In B4 enter
=-PMT($B$2/12,$B$3*12,$B$1). It returns $1,264.14. PMT gives a negative number for a positive loan amount, so the minus sign flips it, and the rate and number of periods must both be monthly.3 - Add the column headings. In row 6 put Payment #, Beginning balance, Payment, Interest, Principal and Ending balance in columns A to F.
- Write the first payment row (row 7). A7 is
1, B7 is=$B$1, C7 is=$B$4, D7 is=B7*$B$2/12, E7 is=C7-D7and F7 is=B7-E7. The row should read $1,264.14 payment, $1,083.33 interest, $180.80 principal and a balance of $199,819.20. - Write the second row (row 8). A8 is
=A7+1, B8 is=F7(last month's ending balance), and C8 to F8 are the same formulas as row 7, pointing at row 8. - Fill down. Select row 8 and drag the fill handle down to row 366 to get all 360 payments.
- Check the last row. The ending balance in the last row should be 0.00. A cent or two of difference is rounding if you round the interest column.
- Optional: add extra payments. Add a column G called Extra, change F7 to
=B7-E7-G7and C7 to=MIN($B$4,B7+D7)so the final payment never overpays, copy both down, and type any extra amounts into column G.
You can also take interest and principal straight from Excel's own functions instead of subtracting: interest in D7 as =-IPMT($B$2/12,A7,$B$3*12,$B$1) and principal in E7 as =-PPMT($B$2/12,A7,$B$3*12,$B$1). Both take the period number (column A), and both return negatives for a positive loan amount, hence the minus signs.3 The subtraction version is easier to extend with extra payments, because IPMT and PPMT assume the original payment plan.
Amortization schedules for common loan sizes
For a quick answer without typing, this table shows the payment and the total interest for some common mortgage amounts, at 6.5% and over 30 and 15 years. Using the same rate for both terms isolates the effect of the term: the 15-year loan on $200,000 costs $1,742.21 a month against $1,264.14 for 30 years, but saves $141,490.33 in interest.
| Loan amount | 30-year payment | 30-year interest | 15-year payment | 15-year interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $632.07 | $127,544.49 | $871.11 | $56,799.33 |
| $150,000 | $948.10 | $191,316.73 | $1,306.66 | $85,198.99 |
| $200,000 | $1,264.14 | $255,088.98 | $1,742.21 | $113,598.65 |
| $300,000 | $1,896.20 | $382,633.47 | $2,613.32 | $170,397.98 |
| $400,000 | $2,528.27 | $510,177.95 | $3,484.43 | $227,197.30 |
| $500,000 | $3,160.34 | $637,722.44 | $4,355.54 | $283,996.63 |
Monthly payment by loan amount and interest rate
The payment moves with the rate as well as the amount. This table gives principal and interest for a 30-year loan at other rates; a $400,000 loan at 7%, for example, is $2,661.21 a month and costs $558,035.59 in interest over the 30 years, or $3,595.31 a month over 15 years.
| Loan amount | 5% | 6% | 6.5% | 7% | 8% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $150,000 | $805.23 | $899.33 | $948.10 | $997.95 | $1,100.65 |
| $200,000 | $1,073.64 | $1,199.10 | $1,264.14 | $1,330.60 | $1,467.53 |
| $250,000 | $1,342.05 | $1,498.88 | $1,580.17 | $1,663.26 | $1,834.41 |
| $300,000 | $1,610.46 | $1,798.65 | $1,896.20 | $1,995.91 | $2,201.29 |
| $400,000 | $2,147.29 | $2,398.20 | $2,528.27 | $2,661.21 | $2,935.06 |
| $500,000 | $2,684.11 | $2,997.75 | $3,160.34 | $3,326.51 | $3,668.82 |
A 5-year amortization schedule
A shorter loan works the same way, only faster. This is a 5-year car loan, year by year. The monthly payment is $495.03 and the interest over the life of the loan is $4,701.80. Enter 25000, 7 and 5 years in the form above for the month-by-month version.
| Loan year | Total paid | Principal | Interest | Balance at year end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $5,940.36 | $4,327.45 | $1,612.91 | $20,672.55 |
| Year 2 | $5,940.36 | $4,640.28 | $1,300.08 | $16,032.27 |
| Year 3 | $5,940.36 | $4,975.73 | $964.63 | $11,056.54 |
| Year 4 | $5,940.36 | $5,335.42 | $604.94 | $5,721.12 |
| Year 5 | $5,940.36 | $5,721.12 | $219.24 | $0.00 |
Print or save the schedule
Print / Save as PDF opens your browser's print dialog with a print stylesheet that hides the form and keeps the summary, chart and tables. Choose "Save as PDF" as the printer to get a file. Download CSV gives one row per payment, with extra-principal and balloon columns when you use them, and opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers.
Frequently asked questions
What is an amortization schedule?
An amortization schedule is a table of every payment on a loan, split into interest and principal, with the balance left after each payment. It shows how a fixed payment gradually shifts from mostly interest to mostly principal until the balance reaches zero. It is also called an amortization table.
How much of my first payment is interest?
The first month's interest is the loan amount times the monthly rate (the annual rate divided by 12). On $200,000 at 6.5% that is $1,083.33 of a $1,264.14 payment, so only $180.80 reduces the balance.
How do I make an amortization schedule in Excel?
Work out the payment with =-PMT(rate/12, years*12, loan). Then make one row per payment: beginning balance, the payment, interest (balance times rate/12), principal (payment minus interest) and ending balance, and start each new row from the previous row's ending balance. Fill down for every payment. The step-by-step version with the exact formulas is above, and the Download Excel button gives you a finished workbook.
How do I add extra payments to an amortization schedule?
Use the "Add extra payments" option: every month, once a year or one time. In a spreadsheet, add an Extra column and subtract it from the ending balance. Either way the extra goes entirely to principal, so the loan ends sooner. Check that your lender applies extra money to principal and has no prepayment penalty.
What is a 5-year amortization schedule?
It is the schedule of a loan repaid over 5 years, or 60 payments. Common examples are car loans and some business loans. A $25,000 loan at 7% has a payment of $495.03 and costs $4,701.80 in interest; the year-by-year table above shows how it pays down.
Can I get a biweekly amortization schedule?
This calculator schedules monthly payments. Paying half your payment every two weeks makes 26 half payments a year, which is 13 full payments, so the closest equivalent here is one extra full payment a year (the "Use one extra full payment" button fills it in). A true biweekly schedule has 26 dated payments a year and differs slightly in the timing of interest.
Can I make a schedule for a loan I am already paying?
Yes. Use your current balance as the loan amount, your current rate, the number of payments left as the term, and the date of your next payment as the first payment date. The schedule then shows what remains.
Why does my bank's schedule differ from this one by a few cents?
Lenders round differently. Some round every payment to the cent and adjust only the final one, and some use a 365/360 day count that slightly changes the effective monthly rate. This calculator works each month from the exact remaining balance and forces the last row to zero, which matches most lenders within a few cents.
How do I make my own amortization schedule by hand?
Start with the loan amount as the balance. For each month, interest is the balance times the annual rate divided by 12, principal is the payment minus that interest, and the new balance is the old balance minus the principal; then repeat with the new balance. On $200,000 at 6.5% the payment is $1,264.14, so the first month is $1,083.33 interest and $180.80 principal, leaving a balance of $199,819.20. Repeat it 360 times, or build it in a spreadsheet with the steps above.
What is negative amortization?
Negative amortization is what happens when payments are less than the interest due each month: the balance grows rather than decreases, as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau puts it. A normal fixed-rate schedule never does this, because every payment covers the interest and pays some principal. If you enter a payment below the first month's interest ($1,083.33 on the example), this calculator tells you it is too low.
What happens if I pay an extra $200 a month on my 30-year mortgage?
On the example loan ($200,000 at 6.5% for 30 years), an extra $200 a month ends the loan after 250 payments, in 20 years, 10 months, and saves $90,076.78 in interest. The extra goes entirely to principal, so each month's interest is charged on a lower balance than it would be without it. Tick Add extra payments to try your own loan.
What is the monthly payment on a $400,000 loan at 7%?
Over 30 years the payment is $2,661.21 a month for principal and interest, and the total interest is $558,035.59. Over 15 years it is $3,595.31 a month. On a mortgage, property tax, insurance and PMI come on top; the mortgage amortization calculator adds them.
Can I make an amortization schedule from my monthly payment instead of the term?
Yes. Tick I know my monthly payment and enter the amount, and the calculator works out how many payments the loan takes. A fixed payment of $1,500.00 on the example loan means 238 payments, 19 years, 10 months. The payment has to be more than the first month's interest.
What is the amortization schedule for a $200,000 mortgage loan?
For $200,000 at 6.5% over 30 years the payment is $1,264.14 a month and the interest over the whole loan is $255,088.98. The full month-by-month table is above, with a yearly summary on top, and changing the rate or the term in the form redraws it for your loan.
What is the amortization schedule for a $300,000 mortgage loan?
For $300,000 at 6.5% over 30 years the payment is $1,896.20 a month and the interest over the loan is $382,633.47. Enter 300000 as the loan amount to see the whole table, and use the table of common loan sizes above for other amounts.
Is what I type sent anywhere?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and the numbers you enter are not sent to a server. We count page visits and button clicks with our own analytics on our own server, and those events carry no amounts or inputs.
Sources
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, How does paying down a mortgage work? (last reviewed May 28, 2024): early payments are mostly interest, later payments mostly principal. Also Mortgage key terms for the definitions of amortization and of a bi-weekly payment.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CFPB Files Suit Against Nationwide Biweekly for Luring Consumers with False Promises of Mortgage Savings (May 11, 2015): a paid biweekly program described as effectively making one additional monthly payment a year.
- Microsoft Support: PMT function, IPMT function and PPMT function: arguments, the sign convention, and using the monthly rate and number of months. Google Sheets has the same functions: PMT.
The schedule and every figure in the tables are calculated by this page's own code, which is checked against an independent implementation in the site's test suite.