Editorial standards & methodology

PayoffSchedule.com exists to give people accurate, easy-to-understand loan math — and to let them download the result. This page explains who is behind the site, how our calculators work, where our numbers come from, and how we keep them correct. Our calculators and guides are written and maintained by the PayoffSchedule Editorial Team.

Who we are

PayoffSchedule.com is an independent website built and maintained by a small team with a background in software engineering and personal finance. We are not a lender, bank, or licensed financial adviser, and we don't sell loans. We build tools. Because the information here touches your money, we hold it to a high bar for accuracy and transparency — see our disclaimer for the legal details.

How our calculators work

Every tool on the site runs on a single, shared amortization engine. The math is the standard loan-amortization model used by lenders:

• Your fixed payment is derived from the loan amount, the periodic interest rate (annual rate ÷ payments per year), and the number of payments.
• Each period, interest is charged on the current balance; the rest of the payment reduces principal. Extra payments go entirely to principal.
• Biweekly plans are modeled as 26 half-payments per year (the equivalent of 13 monthly payments).

We test this engine against known, hand-verifiable results with an automated test suite (33 cases at the time of writing) covering standard mortgages, auto loans, 0% loans, extra payments, lump sums, and biweekly schedules. We also guarantee an exact $0.00 final balance — a quality detail many free tools get wrong by leaving a stray rounding cent.

Our sources

Where our guides reference rules or figures, we rely on primary, authoritative sources such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the IRS, and federal statutes (for example, the Homeowners Protection Act for PMI rules). Calculations are illustrative and use the figures you enter; they are not quotes from any specific lender.

Accuracy & corrections

If you spot a result that looks wrong, please tell us — include the loan amount, rate, term, and any extra payments so we can reproduce it. Email contact@payoffschedule.com. We investigate reported errors promptly and fix confirmed issues.

Keeping content current

Loan math itself doesn't change, but tax brackets, PMI thresholds, and typical rates do. We review time-sensitive content at least annually and update it as rules change, noting the "last updated" date on our guides.

Editorial independence

The site is supported by advertising and may include affiliate links to lenders or financial products. Those relationships never influence our calculators or written guidance — the math is the math, and our recommendations (where we make any) are based on sound personal-finance principles, not on who pays us. Advertising and affiliate disclosures are on our disclaimer page.

Questions about our methods? Contact us.