How to write
Price = €450,000- Variable with an amount
Notary: Price * 2%- Label – one-word labels become variables
200 + 19% · 200 - 10%- Add or subtract a percentage → 238 / 180
10% of 200- Percentage of a value → 20 · also “what is 10% of 200?”
10% on 200 · 10% off 200- Markup / discount → 220 / 180
$119 is 19% on what- Work backwards, e.g. net from gross → $100 · “20 is 10% of what” → 200
20 is what % of 200- Share as a percentage → 10% · “50 to 75 is what %” → 50% · “0.35 as %”
180 is what % less than 200- Discount or markup as a percentage → 10% · also “more than”
450k · $1.2M · 2 billion- Large numbers – k, thousand, M, million, bn, billion, trillion
1/3 to 2 dp · $490 rounded to nearest hundred- Rounding in words – also “rounded up to nearest 5”, “to 2 significant figures”
average · count- Average or count of the block – with a list: “median of 10, 30 and 20”
if sales > 10k then €500 else 0- Condition – also “€500 if sales > 10k”, “unless”, “and”/“or”, “is greater than”
3 is $4.50, what is 5- Rule of three → $7.50 · “3 is to 6 as 9 is to what” → 18
√81 · log 64 base 4 · 5!- Roots, logarithms, factorial; constants pi, e, tau, phi
today + 3 months · 2026-12-24 - today- Date arithmetic – “days until 2026-12-24”, “years between 1980-10-05 and today”, “in 3 weeks”
interest days from 2026-01-31 to 2026-03-31- German 30/360 day count – “interest on €10,000 from 2026-01-01 to 2026-07-01 at 3%”
IRR(-70,000, 12,000, …) · NPV(10%, …)- Internal rate of return and net present value – with dates: XIRR, XNPV
7 mod 3 · 2 to the power of 10- Remainder (“7 % 3” works too) and powers (“2 ^ 10”, “2 ** 10”)
100 USD in EUR · $50 to €- Currency conversion (ECB daily rates) – € $ £ ¥, ISO codes like CHF, or euro/dollar
€50 + 20 USD- Mixed currencies are converted into the left one
sum- Sum of the current block (up to the last blank line or heading)
previous * 12- Result of the previous line · also “prev”, “ans”
PMT(3.5% / 12, 360, -300,000)- Excel functions: PMT, FV, PV, NPER, RATE, EFFECT – arguments separated by “, ”
ANNUITY(300,000, 3.5%, 2%, 12)- Monthly payment from interest rate + initial repayment, as banks calculate it
# Heading · // Comment · ---- Structure and notes; “---” separates blocks for the sum
$999 (incl. shipping)- Text in parentheses or quotes is ignored
All functions
Search and insert them in the notepad with Ctrl + Space or via “Functions”. Separate arguments with a comma and a space (“, ”) – “f(12,180)” reads as 12180. Case doesn't matter.
Finance
PMT(rate, periods, pv, [fv], [type])Payment per periodRegular payment that pays off a loan or saves up to a target amount (Excel: PMT). Money paid out is negative, money received positive.
- rate – interest rate per period, e.g. 3.6% / 12 for monthly payments
- periods – number of payments, e.g. 30 * 12
- pv – amount today, e.g. -loan
- fv (optional, default 0) – balance left after the last payment
- type (optional, default 0) – 0 = payment at the end of the period, 1 = at the beginning
Example: PMT(3.6% / 12, 30 * 12, -400,000) · also pmt
FV(rate, periods, payment, [pv], [type])Future valueValue of an investment or loan after all periods (Excel: FV), e.g. the final balance of a savings plan.
- rate – interest rate per period
- periods – number of periods
- payment – payment per period, paid in = negative
- pv (optional, default 0) – starting amount, paid in = negative
- type (optional, default 0) – 0 = payment at the end of the period, 1 = at the beginning
Example: FV(5% / 12, 20 * 12, -200, -10,000) · also fv
PV(rate, periods, payment, [fv], [type])Present valueWhat future payments are worth today (Excel: PV), e.g. how large a loan a monthly payment can afford.
- rate – interest rate per period
- periods – number of periods
- payment – payment per period
- fv (optional, default 0) – amount after the last period
- type (optional, default 0) – 0 = payment at the end of the period, 1 = at the beginning
Example: PV(3.6% / 12, 30 * 12, -1,500) · also pv
NPER(rate, payment, pv, [fv], [type])Number of periodsHow many payments are needed, e.g. until a loan is paid off (Excel: NPER).
- rate – interest rate per period
- payment – payment per period, paid = negative
- pv – amount today, e.g. the loan
- fv (optional, default 0) – target amount after the last period
- type (optional, default 0) – 0 = payment at the end of the period, 1 = at the beginning
Example: NPER(3.6% / 12, -2,000, 400,000) / 12 · also nper
RATE(periods, payment, pv, [fv], [type])Interest rate per periodThe interest rate that matches term, payment and amount (Excel: RATE). Times 12 gives the annual rate for monthly payments.
- periods – number of periods
- payment – payment per period, paid = negative
- pv – amount today
- fv (optional, default 0) – amount after the last period
- type (optional, default 0) – 0 = payment at the end of the period, 1 = at the beginning
Example: RATE(30 * 12, -1,800, 400,000) * 12 · also rate
ANNUITY(loan, rate, repayment, [payments per year])Payment from rate and repaymentPayment of an annuity loan from the nominal interest rate and the initial repayment rate, as banks typically quote it.
- loan – loan amount
- rate – nominal interest rate per year
- repayment – initial repayment rate per year
- payments per year (optional, default 12) – 12 = monthly, 4 = quarterly, 1 = yearly
Example: ANNUITY(400,000, 3.6%, 2%) · also annuityPayment
EFFECT(nominal rate, [periods per year])Effective annual rateConverts a nominal rate compounded several times a year into the effective annual rate (APY).
- nominal rate – nominal annual rate
- periods per year (optional, default 12) – compounding periods per year
Example: EFFECT(3.6%) · also effectiveRate
NPV(rate, payments …)Net present valuePresent value of regular payments at the end of each period (Excel: NPV – the first payment is already discounted).
- rate – discount rate per period
- payments – payments of periods 1, 2, …
Example: NPV(10%, -€10,000, €3,000, €4,200, €6,800) · also npv, NBW
IRR(payments …)Internal rate of returnReturn of regular payments (Excel: IRR). The first payment is usually the (negative) investment.
- payments – payments at equal intervals, at least one negative and one positive
Example: IRR(-70,000, 12,000, 15,000, 18,000, 21,000, 26,000) · also irr, IKV
XIRR(amount, date …)Internal rate of return with datesAnnual return of payments on any days (Excel: XIRR). Give amount and date alternately.
- amount, date – pairs of payment and date, e.g. -10,000, 2026-01-01
Example: XIRR(-10,000, 2025-01-01, 4,000, 2026-01-01, 7,000, 2026-07-01) · also xirr, XINTZINSFUSS
XNPV(rate, amount, date …)Net present value with datesPresent value of payments on any days, discounted to the first date (Excel: XNPV).
- rate – annual discount rate
- amount, date – pairs of payment and date
Example: XNPV(5%, -10,000, 2025-01-01, 4,000, 2026-01-01, 7,000, 2026-07-01) · also xnpv, XKAPITALWERT
NOMINAL(effective rate, [periods per year])Nominal annual rateConverts an effective annual rate back into the nominal rate compounded several times a year.
- effective rate – effective annual rate
- periods per year (optional, default 12) – compounding periods per year
Example: NOMINAL(3.66%) · also nominalRate
German taxes
incomeTax(income, [joint], [year])German income tax (§ 32a EStG)German income tax on taxable income, 2024–2026 rates. In words: “income tax on €50,000 married”.
- income – taxable income per year
- joint (optional, default 0) – 1 = joint assessment (income splitting)
- year (optional, default 2026) – tax year, e.g. 2025
Example: incomeTax(€50,000) · also EINKOMMENSTEUER
solidaritySurcharge(incomeTax, [joint], [year])Solidarity surcharge5.5% of the income tax above the exemption limit (2026: €20,350, joint €40,700), with a phase-in zone.
- incomeTax – assessed income tax
- joint (optional, default 0) – 1 = joint assessment
- year (optional, default 2026) – tax year
Example: solidaritySurcharge(€30,000) · also SOLI
churchTax(incomeTax, [rate])Church tax9% of the income tax, 8% in Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg.
- incomeTax – assessed income tax
- rate (optional, default 9 %) – 9% or 8%
Example: churchTax(€10,000, 8%) · also KIRCHENSTEUER
taxRate(income, [joint], [year])Average and marginal tax ratetaxRate: income tax divided by taxable income. marginalTaxRate: tax on each additional euro. In words: “tax rate for €60,000”, “marginal tax rate for €60,000”.
- income – taxable income
- joint (optional, default 0) – 1 = joint assessment
- year (optional, default 2026) – tax year
Example: taxRate(€60,000) · also marginalTaxRate, STEUERSATZ, GRENZSTEUERSATZ
capitalGainsTax(gains, [allowance], [churchTaxRate])German capital gains tax25% flat tax on investment income above the saver’s allowance, including solidarity surcharge and optionally church tax.
- gains – investment income per year
- allowance (optional, default 1.000 €) – saver’s allowance: €1,000, married €2,000
- churchTaxRate (optional, default 0) – 0, 8% or 9%
Example: capitalGainsTax(€5,000) · also ABGELTUNGSTEUER
Summary
SUM(values …)SumAdds up all values. Without parentheses, “sum” totals the current block.
- values – any number of numbers or variables, separated by commas
Example: SUM(120, 80, 45.50) · also sum
AVERAGE(values …)AverageArithmetic mean of all values.
- values – any number of numbers or variables
Example: AVERAGE(1,200, 1,350, 1,180) · also avg
MEDIAN(values …)MedianThe middle value of the sorted values – robust against outliers.
- values – any number of numbers or variables
Example: MEDIAN(1,200, 1,350, 4,000) · also median
STDEV(values …)Standard deviationSample standard deviation (like STDEV.S in Excel), at least two values.
- values – any number of numbers or variables
Example: STDEV(20, 30, 40) · also stdev
COUNT(values …)CountNumber of values, or the rows of a table.
- values – numbers, variables or a table
Example: COUNT(3, 5, 8) · also count
MIN(values …)Smallest valueThe smallest of the given values.
- values – any number of numbers or variables
Example: MIN(3.6%, 3.9%, 3.4%) · also min
MAX(values …)Largest valueThe largest of the given values.
- values – any number of numbers or variables
Example: MAX(0, 2,500 - 3,100) · also max
Math
ROUND(number, [digits])RoundRounds half away from zero to the given number of decimal places.
- number – the value to round
- digits (optional, default 0) – decimal places; negative rounds to tens, hundreds …
Example: ROUND(1,234.567, 2) · also round
ABS(number)Absolute valueThe value without its sign, handy for negative payments.
- number – any value
Example: ABS(-1,817.94) · also abs
SQRT(number)Square rootThe square root of a non-negative number.
- number – non-negative value
Example: SQRT(144) · also sqrt
pow(base, exponent)PowerBase raised to the exponent, the same as base ^ exponent.
- base – the number raised to a power
- exponent – the power
Example: pow(1.05, 10)
floor(number)Round downRounds down to the next smaller whole number.
- number – any value
Example: floor(7.8)
ceil(number)Round upRounds up to the next larger whole number.
- number – any value
Example: ceil(7.2)
clamp(number, min, max)ClampKeeps a value between a lower and an upper limit.
- number – the value to limit
- min – lower limit
- max – upper limit
Example: clamp(12%, 0%, 10%)
exp(x)Exponential functione to the power of x, e.g. for continuous compounding.
- x – exponent
Example: exp(0.05)
ln(x)Natural logarithmLogarithm to base e.
- x – positive value
Example: ln(2) / ln(1.05)
log10(x)Common logarithmLogarithm to base 10.
- x – positive value
Example: log10(1,000)
LOG(number, [base])LogarithmLogarithm to any base (without a base: 10). In words: “log 64 base 4” or “81 is 9 to what power”.
- number – positive value
- base (optional, default 10) – base of the logarithm
Example: LOG(64, 4) · also log
log2(x)Binary logarithmLogarithm to base 2.
- x – positive value
Example: log2(1,024)
root(number, n)n-th rootThe n-th root of a number. In words: “3rd root of 27”, “cube root of 27”, “square root of 81” or “√81”.
- number – the radicand
- n – degree of the root, e.g. 3 for the cube root
Example: root(1.5, 10)
CBRT(number)Cube rootThe third root of a number.
- number – any value
Example: CBRT(27) · also cbrt
FACT(n)Factorialn! = 1 · 2 · … · n, also written “5!” or “factorial of 5”.
- n – whole number ≥ 0
Example: FACT(5) · also fact
GCD(numbers …)Greatest common divisorThe greatest common divisor of whole numbers, also “gcd of 12 and 18”.
- numbers – whole numbers
Example: GCD(12, 18) · also gcd
LCM(numbers …)Least common multipleThe least common multiple of whole numbers, also “lcm of 4 and 6”.
- numbers – whole numbers
Example: LCM(4, 6) · also lcm
sin(x)TrigonometrySine, cosine, tangent and their inverses in radians (pi = 180°).
- x – angle in radians
Example: sin(pi / 6) · also cos, tan, asin, acos, atan
All calculator functions are available too, e.g. savingsPlan(…) or loanPlan(…).