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MS Excel: NPV Function (WS, VBA)

In Microsoft Excel, the NPV function returns the net present value of an investment.

Syntax

The syntax for the NPV function is:

NPV( discount_rate, value1, [value2, ... value_n] )

discount_rate is the discount rate for the period.

value1, value2, ... value_n are the future payments and income for the investment (ie: cash flows). There can be up to 29 values entered.

Note

Microsoft Excel's NPV function does not account for the intial cash outlay, or may account for it improperly depending on the version of Excel. However, there is a workaround.

This workaround requires that you NOT include the initial investment in the future payments/income for the investment (ie: value1, value2, ... value_n), but instead, you need to subtract from the result of the NPV function, the amount of the initial investment.

The workaround formula is also different depending on whether the cash flows occur at the end of the period (EOP) or at the beginning of the period (BOP).

If the cash flows occur at the end of the period (EOP), you would use the following formula:

=NPV( discount_rate, value1, value2, ... value_n ) - Initial Investment

If the cash flows occur at the beginning of the period (BOP), you would use the following formula:

=NPV( discount_rate, value2, ... value_n ) - Initial Investment + value1

Applies To

Type of Function

Worksheet Function Example

Let's take a look at an example to how you would use the NPV function in a worksheet:

This first example returns a net present value of $3,457.19. It assumes that you pay $7,500 as an initial investment . You then receive the following income for the first four years (EOP): $3,000, $5,000, $1,200, and $4,000. An annual discount rate of 8% is used.

=NPV(8%,  3000, 5000, 1200, 4000) - 7500

This next example returns a net present value of $8,660.77. It assumes that you pay $10,000 as an initial investment. You then receive the following income for the first three years (BOP): $3,400, $6,500, and $10,000. An annual discount rate of 5% is used.

=NPV(5%,  6500, 10000) - 10000 + 3400

VBA Function Example

The NPV function can also be used in VBA code as demonstrated by the following example:

This example returns a net present value of $3,457.19. It assumes that you pay $7,500 as an initial investment . You then receive the following income for the first four years (EOP): $3,000, $5,000, $1,200, and $4,000. An annual discount rate of 8% is used.

The VBA code would be:

Dim LNumber As Double
Static Values(4) As Double

Values(0) = 3000
Values(1) = 5000
Values(2) = 1200
Values(3) = 4000

LNumber = Npv(0.08, Values()) - 7500

In this example, the variable called LNumber would now contain the value of $3,457.19.