ForHosting KIT · Developer Utilities

Time value of money calculator

The time value of money is the idea that a dollar in hand today is not the same as a dollar promised later, because money that is invested can earn a return and money that arrives later must be discounted back.

● BetaFree · in your browser

Run — free How it works & API

Use it from WebAPIEmailTelegramApp soon

Students, planners, and product teams meet the same two closed forms again and again: future value equals the known principal times one plus the annual rate divided by compounding frequency, raised to frequency times years; present value is that same principal divided by the same growth factor. This time value of money calculator accepts a lump-sum principal, a nominal annual percent, compounding periods per year, a time horizon in years, and a mode that selects present or future, then returns the computed value. It does not amortize a loan, discount a stream of cash flows, invert a rate, or schedule extra deposits. The same pure arithmetic powers the free browser widget and the API path at $0.002 per successful request, so a worksheet, a coaching session, and an automated test never disagree on the rounded figure.

How to use it

Enter your values in the form above. The tool checks them before calculating and shows the result on the same page.

Check your inputs

Use the labels and units shown next to each field. If something is missing or outside the allowed range, the page points to the field to fix.

Use it again or automate it

Use the browser tool for individual checks and the API when you need the same capability in an automated workflow.

What you can do with it

Get an answer now

Enter one set of values and see the result without building a spreadsheet or script.

Compare scenarios

Change one value at a time and rerun the calculation to understand what affects the result.

Automate repeated work

Use the API when the same calculation needs to run inside your product or workflow.

FAQ

How do I use this capability?

Complete the fields above and run it on this page. The form highlights anything that needs attention.

For developers — API access

Everything on this page is available programmatically. This section is for teams who want to wire it into their own systems; everyone else can just use the tool above.

API endpoint

POSThttps://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/time-value-of-money

Prefer to automate it? One authenticated POST creates the task; the result comes back by webhook or a signed link. The same capability also runs here on the web, by email and from Telegram — and soon from our app too.

Call it from your stack

curl -X POST https://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/time-value-of-money \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $KIT_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"mode":"future","principal":1000,"rate":5,"frequency":12,"years":10}'

const res = await fetch("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/time-value-of-money", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.KIT_KEY}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "mode": "future",
    "principal": 1000,
    "rate": 5,
    "frequency": 12,
    "years": 10
  })
});
const { task_id } = await res.json();

import os, requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/time-value-of-money",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['KIT_KEY']}"},
    json={
    "mode": "future",
    "principal": 1000,
    "rate": 5,
    "frequency": 12,
    "years": 10
},
)
task_id = res.json()["task_id"]

<?php
$res = file_get_contents("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/time-value-of-money", false, stream_context_create([
  "http" => [
    "method"  => "POST",
    "header"  => "Authorization: Bearer " . getenv("KIT_KEY") . "\r\nContent-Type: application/json",
    "content" => '{"mode":"future","principal":1000,"rate":5,"frequency":12,"years":10}',
  ],
]));
$task = json_decode($res, true);

body := bytes.NewBufferString(`{"mode":"future","principal":1000,"rate":5,"frequency":12,"years":10}`)
req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/time-value-of-money", body)
req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+os.Getenv("KIT_KEY"))
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

Example request

{
  "mode": "future",
  "principal": 1000,
  "rate": 5,
  "frequency": 12,
  "years": 10
}

Example response

{
  "task_id": "tsk_a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6",
  "type": "fin.time_value_of_money",
  "status": "queued",
  "_links": {
    "result": "/tasks/tsk_…/result"
  }
}

The API is asynchronous: the call returns a task_id immediately and the result arrives by webhook. Polling is capped at 1 req/s per task.

Pricing

Per request$0.002

Published price — no tokens, no invented credits. A failed task is never charged.

Errors

HTTP	Code	Meaning
`401`	`unauthorized`	Missing or invalid API key.
`402`	`insufficient_balance`	Your balance doesn't cover the task price.
`404`	`unknown_type`	That task type doesn't exist.
`429`	`rate_limited`	Too many requests. Use the webhook instead of polling.

Read the full KIT documentation →