Summary

The Excel TBILLPRICE function returns the price per $100 face value for a Treasury bill. Microsoft defines it as a price function based on the bill's settlement date, maturity date, and discount rate.

This matters because Treasury bills are commonly quoted on a discount basis rather than as a direct price. TBILLPRICE converts that discount quote into the actual amount paid per $100 of face value.

The function is therefore useful when a worksheet needs a bill price for comparison, reporting, or follow-on calculations rather than the quoted discount rate alone.

Syntax

=TBILLPRICE(settlement, maturity, discount)

settlement is the purchase date, maturity is the bill's maturity date, and discount is the quoted discount rate. Microsoft recommends using DATE to build valid dates instead of relying on text strings.

Microsoft also notes that Treasury bills must mature no more than one year after settlement for the function to be valid. If the dates or rate are invalid, the function returns an error.

Arguments

• settlement - The date the bill is purchased.
• maturity - The date the bill matures.
• discount - The quoted discount rate.

The result is always stated per $100 face value. That scaling should be preserved when the price is compared with other bill functions or translated into total transaction size.

TBILLPRICE vs Other Functions

TBILLPRICE belongs to the Treasury-bill function group, where each function solves a different unknown from the same set of market conventions.

Use TBILLPRICE when the unknown is the bill's purchase price, not its yield measure.

Using the TBILLPRICE Function

TBILLPRICE is often used at the start of a T-bill analysis. Once the discount rate and bill dates are known, the function produces the price paid today for each $100 that will be redeemed at maturity.

It is also useful in sensitivity analysis. Raising the discount rate lowers the price, which makes the relationship between quoted discount and purchase cost easy to see.

• Use DATE to build settlement and maturity values explicitly.
• Keep in mind that the output is scaled per $100 face value.
• Use the Treasury-bill function family consistently so price, discount, and yield are not mixed across conventions.

Example 1 - Standard Entry Price

This formula converts a 3% T-bill discount quote into a purchase price per $100 face value. The result is slightly below 100 because the investor buys the bill at a discount and receives the full face value at maturity.

=TBILLPRICE(DATE(2024,3,1),DATE(2024,6,1),0.03)

Example 2 - Higher Discount Price

Increasing the discount rate to 4.5% lowers the bill price further. This shows the inverse relationship between discount rate and price for Treasury bills.

=TBILLPRICE(DATE(2024,3,1),DATE(2024,6,1),0.045)

Example 3 - Value Floor Check

This comparison checks whether the price implied by the 3% discount quote is below 99.2 per $100 face value. It is a practical pattern for screening bills against a target entry level.

=TBILLPRICE(DATE(2024,3,1),DATE(2024,6,1),0.03)<99.2

Example 4 - Dollar Discount Impact

Subtracting the price from 100 converts the result into a dollar discount amount per $100 face value. That makes it easier to explain the bill's purchase discount in absolute rather than quoted terms.

=100-TBILLPRICE(DATE(2024,3,1),DATE(2024,6,1),0.03)

Conclusion Recap

• Summary: TBILLPRICE returns the price per $100 face value of a Treasury bill.
• Syntax: =TBILLPRICE(settlement,maturity,discount).
• Core setup: Use valid dates, a valid discount rate, and remember the result is per $100 face value.
• Best use: Treasury-bill pricing, entry-level analysis, and discount-to-price conversion.