The Excel COUPPCD Function

Related Function:

COUPNCD

Function Description

The Excel Couppcd function returns the previous coupon date, before the settlement date for a security.

The syntax of the function is:

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

Where the arguments are as follows:

settlement

The settlement date of the security.

maturity

The maturity date of the security.

frequency

An integer, representing the number of coupon payments per year. This must have the value 1, 2, or 4, meaning:

1	-	Annually
2	-	Semi-Annually
4	-	Quarterly

[basis]

An optional integer argument that specifies the day count basis to be used.

This must be one of the following values:

Basis	Day Count Basis
0 (or omitted)	US (NASD) 30/360
1	actual/actual
2	actual/360
3	actual/365
4	European 30/360

The financial day count basis rules are explained on the Wikipedia Day Count Convention page

Note that the settlement and maturity dates should be input as either:

References to cells containing dates

Dates returned from formulas.

Warning: If you attempt to input these dates as text, there is a chance that Excel may misinterpret them due to different date systems, or date interpretation settings on your computer.

Excel Couppcd Function Example

In cell A3 of the following spreadsheet, the Excel Couppcd function is used to calculate the coupon date before the settlement date, for a security with settlement date 01-Jan-2011, maturity date 25-Oct-2012, and four coupon payments per year. The security uses the US (NASD) 30/360 day count basis.

Formulas:

	A
1	01-Jan-2011
2	25-Oct-2012
3	=COUPPCD( A1, A2, 4 )

Results:

	A
1	01-Jan-2011
2	25-Oct-2012
3	25-Oct-2010

Note that, in this example:

As recommended, the settlement and maturity arguments have been input as references to cells containing dates;
As the [basis] argument has been omitted, the function uses the default value 0 (denoting the US (NADS) 30/360 day count basis).

For further information on the Excel Couppcd function, see the Microsoft Office website.

Couppcd Function Errors

If you get an error from the Excel Couppcd Function, this is likely to be one of the following:

Common Errors

#NUM!

Occurs if either:

The supplied settlement date is ≥ maturity date;
The supplied frequency argument is a number that is not equal to 1, 2 or 4;
The supplied [basis] argument is a number that is not equal to 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4.

#VALUE!

Occurs if either:

The supplied settlement or the supplied maturity dates are not a valid Excel dates;
Any of the supplied arguments are non-numeric.

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