Guide
A promissory note with a repayment schedule you can check line by line
A promissory note is a short written promise to repay a loan. It names the lender and the borrower, the amount, the interest, and when and how the money comes back, and both sign it. Lending to a friend, a relative or a small business without one invites misunderstandings about what was agreed. The tool below drafts the note and, for instalment loans, prints the full schedule so that nobody has to do the sums by hand.
The form
Enter the lender and the borrower with their addresses, the date of the note, a currency and the amount borrowed. Give the interest rate per year, with 0 for none. Choose how the loan is repaid: all at once on a due date, or in equal monthly instalments, in which case you set the number of instalments and the date of the first one. Three optional terms finish the form: whether the borrower may repay early without penalty, a late fee, and any security or collateral. The governing law completes the note.
The maths
For instalments, the monthly payment is the standard reducing-balance amount, the same method that ordinary loans use. The monthly rate is the yearly rate divided by 12. Each month the interest is the balance times that rate, the rest of the payment reduces the balance, and the last payment clears what remains. The note shows the instalment, the total repaid and the total interest, and the schedule lists each payment’s date, interest, principal and closing balance. A schedule shows up to 60 rows, so a loan with more instalments is cut off at five years.
A worked example
The first sample is a loan of £6,000 from Mira Patel to Dev Malhotra, dated 10 November 2026, at 4% a year over 12 monthly instalments starting on 10 December 2026. The instalment is £510.90, the total repaid is £6,130.79 and the interest is £130.79. Row 1 shows interest of £20 (6,000 × 4% ÷ 12), principal of £490.90 and a balance of £5,509.10. Row 2 shows interest of £18.36 and a balance of £5,016.56, and row 12, on 10 November 2027, shows interest of £1.70 and a balance of 0. Early repayment is allowed without penalty, the late fee is £10 after 10 days, and default applies after 15 days’ written notice. The second sample is a lump sum with security.
Writing a note that works
Be exact about who lends and who borrows, including full legal names. State the date of every payment, not just “monthly”. Say where payments are made, and how each payment is applied: the sample applies it to late fees first, then interest, then principal. Sign in front of witnesses where your country values that, and keep a payment log. If a loan is large or secured, use a formal loan agreement, and consider whether stamp duty applies.
Interest and the law
Many countries cap the interest that private lenders may charge, tax the interest the lender receives and treat loans between family members or to consumers in a special way. Some require stamping or registration. The tool applies the rate you type without checking any of that.
Limits
This is a general template, not legal advice. It does not collect payments, send reminders or deal with enforcement, and a signed note is evidence of a debt, not a guarantee that it will be repaid. Have it checked if the amount is large or the lender is a business.
Related tools
- Loan Calculator lets you try different rates and terms before you fix them in the note.
- Bill of Sale Generator documents the sale of an item, a separate transaction from a loan.
- Security Deposit Return Letter asks for money that is owed under a tenancy.
- Affidavit Format Generator records a sworn statement of fact.
Checked against the current version of the Promissory Note Generator on .