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ACCRINT

The ACCRINT function calculates the accrued interest of a security that pays periodic interest. It is commonly used in financial analysis to determine the amount of interest earned but not yet paid on a security. The function takes into account the issue date, first payment date, settlement date, rate, redemption value, and frequency of interest payments. The result is the accrued interest at the settlement date.

Usage

Use the ACCRINT formula with the syntax shown below, it has 6 required parameters and 1 optional parameter:

=ACCRINT(issue, first_payment, settlement, rate, redemption, frequency, [day_count_convention])
Parameters:
  1. issue (required):
    The date the security was issued, in the format of a date, datetime or serial number.
  2. first_payment (required):
    The date of the first interest payment, in the format of a date, datetime or serial number.
  3. settlement (required):
    The date of the security's settlement, in the format of a date, datetime or serial number.
  4. rate (required):
    The interest rate of the security.
  5. redemption (required):
    The redemption value of the security.
  6. frequency (required):
    The number of interest payments per year.
  7. day_count_convention (optional):
    An optional parameter that specifies the day count convention to use. If omitted, the US (NASD) 30/360 day count convention is used by default.

Examples

Here are a few example use cases that explain how to use the ACCRINT formula in Google Sheets.

Calculating accrued interest

One of the most common uses of ACCRINT is to calculate accrued interest on a bond or other security. By providing the issue date, first payment date, settlement date, interest rate, redemption value, and frequency of interest payments, the function can accurately calculate the amount of interest earned but not yet paid on the security.

Comparing securities

Investors and financial analysts may use ACCRINT to compare the accrued interest of different securities. By calculating the accrued interest for several securities using the same inputs, analysts can determine which securities are earning the most interest over a given period.

Forecasting interest income

Investors may use ACCRINT to forecast their future interest income. By specifying a future settlement date and using expected interest rates and redemption values, investors can use the function to estimate how much interest they will earn on a security over a given period.

Common Mistakes

ACCRINT not working? Here are some common mistakes people make when using the ACCRINT Google Sheets Formula:

Incorrect input order

One of the most common mistakes when using ACCRINT is inputting the arguments in the wrong order which can cause the formula to return incorrect results. Make sure to follow the correct order of the arguments listed in the syntax.

Incorrect date format

ACCRINT requires that dates be entered in a specific format. Make sure to enter the dates using the DATE function, and ensure that the dates are not formatted as text.

Incorrect rate

The rate argument in ACCRINT should be entered as a decimal, not a percentage. For example, if the annual rate is 5%, the rate argument should be entered as 0.05.

Wrong day count convention

If you are using a day count convention that is different from the default value, make sure to specify it in the formula. The default value is 0, which means that the actual number of days between the dates will be used.

Incorrect frequency

The frequency argument in ACCRINT should be entered as a number that corresponds to the number of coupon payments per year. For example, if there are semi-annual coupon payments, the frequency argument should be 2.

Related Formulas

The following functions are similar to ACCRINT or are often used with it in a formula:

  • ACCRINTM

    The ACCRINTM function calculates the accrued interest for a security that pays interest at maturity. It returns the accrued interest between the issue date and the maturity date of a security. This function is most commonly used in financial analysis for bonds and other debt securities.

  • COUPDAYBS

    The COUPDAYBS function calculates the number of days from the beginning of the coupon period to the settlement date for a security that pays periodic interest. It is commonly used in financial calculations to determine the accrued interest between the last coupon payment and the settlement date.

  • COUPDAYS

    The COUPDAYS function returns the number of days in the coupon period that contains the settlement date. This function is commonly used in financial analysis to calculate the number of days between two dates for interest rate calculations.

  • COUPDAYSNC

    The COUPDAYSNC function calculates the number of days from the settlement date to the next coupon date, based on a specified frequency and day count convention. This function is commonly used in financial analysis to calculate the accrued interest on a bond between the settlement date and the next coupon date.

  • COUPNCD

    The COUPNCD function calculates the next coupon date after the settlement date for a security with periodic interest payments. It is commonly used in finance to determine the next coupon payment date for bonds and other fixed income securities.

Learn More

You can learn more about the ACCRINT Google Sheets function on Google Support.