Calculation window
The calculation window lets you enter rates, compounding frequencies, payment amounts, periods, etc. and perform financial calculations.
| Calculation button |
This button lets you quickly select a calculation as an alternative to using the Calculation menu.
| Previous and next buttons |
These buttons let you select the previous and the next calculation in the list of calculations.
Input
Input depends on the selected calculation and can include number fields, date fields and pop-up menus.
The active field is framed, all keyboard input is directed to it and edit commands act on it.
To activate an inactive input field click it. To activate the next (previous) field, press tab (shift-tab).
Number fields will always accept digits (0-9), and in some cases the decimal point and the thousands separators that are set in the Numbers pane of the International System Preferences.
Date fields will only accept dates in the format set in the Date pane of the International System Preferences. You can use a slash ("/"), a dash ("-") or a period as separators.
Input ranges
Values that are out of range are displayed with an orange background.
When Help tags
are shown, they tell you what range of values are accepted by the active field.
To enable or disable Help tags, select Show / Hide Help Tags in the Help menu.
To view the Help tag for a field, leave the pointer hovering over it.
| Reset button |
The Reset button lets you clear all input fields and reset the pop-up menus to their default value.
Help button
Click the Help button to
open the FinKit Help page describing the current calculation.
Command-click
the Help button to open the FinKit Help with the table of contents page.
Results
FinKit automatically calculates the results as soon as all input fields contain valid values.
The results (and the details if they are shown) can be saved to a tab-delimited text file by choosing the Save Calculation Results command in the File menu. Alternatively, you can save results directly as Word or Excel files.
Individual results can be copied by clicking them. Results are copied in the format chosen in the Copy tab of the Preferences dialog.
Details
For most calculations it is possible to show details like an amortization schedule or an overview of payments. You can toggle the display of details by selecting the Show / Hide Details command in the Calculation menu, or by clicking the disclosure triangle at the bottom of the window.
To select a single row in the Details table, click it. To select more contiguous rows, click a row and expand the selection by shift-clicking another row.
To add a non-contiguous row to a selection, command-click it.
Dates
Many of the calculations that involve periodic payments let you choose between date view and period view.
To toggle between the display of dates or periods, click the header of the first details column.
To set the start date for a date series, select the Start Date command in the Edit menu to open the Date Options dialog.
Related topics
| Edit menu |
| Calculation menu |
| Help menu |
| Copy preferences |
| File menu |