If they ask to express the present value as a positive number that is what
you do if you get a negative result from PMT, if you use a negative value
for the present value you would get a positive PMT value or do I
misunderstand you?
Regardless, if you want a positive result from the PMT function you can
change the PV to a negative value.


--


Regards,

Peo Sjoblom

Excel 95 - Excel 2007
Northwest Excel Solutions
www.nwexcelsolutions.com



"Don" wrote in message
oups.com...
Peo,

I purchased some testing software from Transcender for this purpose.
One of the questions reads, "create a PMT function in cell D15.
Express the present value as a positive number."
That is why I was asking. I understanding what you are saying. But
when the formula normaly computes, it reads as ($1,253.47), which reads
(presents) as a negative number.

Thanks for the quick reply! I look forward to hearing from you again.

Thanks,
Don
Peo Sjoblom wrote:
What kind of MOS are you taking? There are hardly any formulas in the
specialist MOS exam (I took one in 2004)
Btw, why would you convert it to a positive since PMT stands for payments
and from a cash flow it is negative
so if there was such a question the negative value would be correct?


--


Regards,

Peo Sjoblom

Excel 95 - Excel 2007
Northwest Excel Solutions
www.nwexcelsolutions.com



"Don" wrote in message
oups.com...
When using the payment function in Excel, I notice that the result of
my formula is always a negative number. I have seen two different ways
to crrect this:
One is to put a (-) in the Pv (Present Value) field, before clicking
on the cell that holds the present value.
The other is to put a (-) in front of the equation, like this: = -
PMT(A2/12,A3,A1).
They both give me the desired result. But I was wondering which one is
considered the "proper" way to do it? I am considering taking a MOS
test in Excel (down the road) and I can't find any "official" (ie
Microsoft) documentation that lays this out.

If anyone could give me a reference, or your best idea on how this
would be done, I would appreciate it.
Thanks for taking the time...
Don