Present Value Interest Factor - PVIF

A factor that can be used to simplify the calculation for finding the present value of a series of values. PVIFs can be presented in the form of a table with PVIF values seperated by respective period and interest rate combinations.



The 'r' represents the discount interest rate, and the 't' represents the number of periods.

Using the PVIF works best when you are attempting to discount one value in the future. For example, assume you are going to receive $5,000 in four years time, with the current discount interest rate being 8%. Using the standard present value formula the calculation would be $5,000 / (1+.08)⁴ .

This would result in a present value of approximately $3,675.15. By using a PVIF table, an individual can identify the factor for this calculation being 0.73503 (calculated: 1/(1.08^4)). They can then multiply the $5,000 by 0.73503, which results in $3675.15 as well. This is another way to come to the same answer as the standard present value formula, but becomes a useful technique when you are comparing or dealing with a large number of values.