The settlement date specifies the date the bond is settled

The settlement date specifies the date the bond is settled, or purchased. The maturity date specifies the date

the bond matures, or expires. You may enter these date arguments either as text strings enclosed in quotation

marks or as serial date values.

The frequency argument gives the number of coupon payments made each year: you specify 1 to indicate an annual

coupon, 2 to indicate a semiannual coupon, and 4 to indicate a quarterly coupon.

The basis argument specifies the number of days in the month and year assumed for the date calculations. You

specify the basis as 0 for the US (or NASD) version of 30 days in a month and 360 days in a year; as 1 for the

actual number of days in the month and actual number of days; 2 for the actual number of days in the month but

360 days in a year; 3 for the actual number of days in the month and 365 days in a year; and 4 for the European

version of 30 days in a month and 360 days in a year.

NOTE Excel uses only the integer portion of the arguments you supply to the add-in coupon date functions. If

you enter an argument with decimal values, Excel truncates the argument to just its integer component.

Common Bond Coupon Date Function Errors

The coupon date functions return an error value in several predictable cases:

? If you use an invalid date, Excel returns #VALUE.

? If you use a frequency argument other than 1, 2, or 4, Excel returns #NUM.

? If you use a day-count-basis switch other than 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4, Excel returns #NUM.

? If the settlement day follows the maturity date, Excel returns #NUM.

Using the COUPDAYBS Function

The COUPDAYBS function calculates the number of days from the last coupon payment date to the settlement date

given the settlement date, maturity date, coupon frequency, and basis. It uses the following syntax:

COUPDAYBS (settlement, maturity, frequency,basis)

For example, suppose you want to calculate the number of days from the last coupon payment date to the

settlement date in the following situation: Someone purchases a 10-year bond on November 26, 2000, with a

maturity date of April 30, 2008. The bond pays coupons twice a year based on the US, or NASD, assumption. To

make this calculation, you use the following formula:

COUPDAYBS ("11/26/2000","4/30/2008",2,0)

The function returns the value 26.

Using the COUPDAYS Function

The COUPDAYS function calculates the number of days in the coupon period that includes the settlement date

given the settlement date, the maturity date, the coupon frequency, and the day count basis. It uses the

following syntax:

COUPDAYS (settlement, maturity, frequency, basis)

For example, suppose you want to calculate the number of days in the coupon payment in the following situation:

Someone purchases a 10-year bond on November 26, 2000, with a maturity date of April 30, 2008. The bond pays

its coupon twice a year based on the US, or NASD, assumption. To make this calculation, you use the following

formula:

=COUPDAYS("11/26/2000","4/30/2008",2,0)

The function returns the value 180.