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.