COUPNUM function

COUPNUM is an Excel function that calculates the number of coupon payments between the settlement date and the maturity date of a security.

Syntax

COUPNUM(settlement, maturity, frequency, [basis])

Arguments

settlement:The settlement date of the security.
maturity:The maturity date of the security.
frequency:The number of coupon payments per year. For example, for semi-annual payments, use 2.
[basis]:(Optional) An optional argument that specifies the day count basis to be used for calculating the number of days between dates. If omitted, Excel uses the default method.

How to use

You can use the COUPNUM function to determine the number of coupon payments for a bond or other fixed-income security. Here’s how to use it with some examples.

Example 1: Calculate the number of coupon payments for a semi-annual bond.

In this case, the function will return 2, as there are two semi-annual coupon payments between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023.

Example 2: Calculate the number of quarterly coupon payments for a bond with a custom day count basis.

Here, the function returns 2.25 because there are 2 full coupon payments plus a partial coupon payment (0.25) between March 1, 2023, and September 30, 2023, using the 30/360 day count basis.

Example 3: Determine the number of annual coupon payments for a bond without specifying the day count basis.

The function will return 5 because there are five annual coupon payments between June 15, 2023, and June 15, 2028.

Tomasz Decker is an Excel specialist, skilled in data analysis and financial modeling.