You have just graduated from college and before beginning your first professional job, you would like to purchase a new smartphone. You have the option to purchase the new phone in one payment or make monthly payments by taking advantage of a 36-month flex payment plan. The payment plan charges an APR of 1.75% for the service. Prior to making your payment decision, you would like to make a worksheet to calculate the monthly payment for Consumer Reports’ top three smartphones for young professionals.
1. Start a new Excel workbook, save it as SmartPhone_LastFirst, and then rename Sheet1 to FlexPay.
2. Type Flex Pay Calculator in cell A1. Apply bold, 20 pt font size. Blue, Accent 1, font color.
3. Type Inputs in cell A2. Apply Thick Outside Borders to the range A2:C2.
4. Type APR and # of payments in the range A3:A4, and adjust the column width as needed.
5. Type 1.75%, in cell B3 and 36 in cell B4. Type Outputs in cell A6, Select the range A6:C6, and apply Thick Outside Borders.
6. Type Model in cell A7, Price in cell B7, and Payment in cell C7. Next enter the price information listed below in the range A8:B10. Adjust the column width as needed and apply Currency Number Format to the range B8:C10.
Example Table
Model Price
iPhone 949.00
Samsung Galaxy 799.00
Google Pixel 650.00
7. Use the PMT function in cell C8 to calculate the monthly flex payment for the first option. Be sure to use the appropriate absolute, relative, or mixed cell references. Next use the fill handle to copy the function down, completing the range C8:C10.
8. Type Highest payment, Average payment, and Lowest payment in the range A12:A14. Resize column A as needed.
9. Use the MAX function in cell B12 to calculate the highest flex payment, in cell B13 use the AVERAGE function to calculate the average flex payment, and in cell B14 use the MIN function to calculate the lowest flex payment.
10. Insert a footer with your name on the left side, the sheet name in the center, and the file name code on the right side of the worksheet.
11. Save and close the workbook.
