How to Calculate Compound Interest for Excel 2003

1. Title cell A1 'Principal,' cell A2 'Compounding Periods,' cell A3 'Yearly Rate,' cell A4 'Time Period,' cell A5 'Periodic Rate' and cell A6 'Total Interest.'
2. Enter the value for the amount of money you started with in cell B1, the number of times interest compounds each year in cell B2, the yearly interest rate in cell B3 and the number of years you will leave the money in the account in cell B4.
3. Enter the formula '=B3/(B2*100)' in cell B5 to calculate the periodic interest rate. You have to divide by 100 to convert from a percentage to a decimal.
4. Enter the formula '=B1*(1 B5)^(B2*B4)-B1' in cell B6 to find the total interest. Once you have entered the formula, the total interest for your specified time period will be displayed.