Finance

Bond Equivalent Yield (BEY) Calculator

Convert between effective annual yield and bond-equivalent yield (semi-annual).

Formulas:
BEY = 2 × [(1 + EAY)^0.5 − 1]
EAY = (1 + BEY/2)² − 1
T-Bill BEY = (Face − Price) / Price × (365/Days)

What is Bond Equivalent Yield?

BEY is a convention that annualizes yields by simply doubling the semi-annual rate (no compounding). It's the standard way US bonds quote yields because most pay coupons semi-annually.

BEY vs EAY

BEY slightly understates the true annual return because it doesn't compound the two semi-annual payments. A BEY of 5.5% has an EAY of 5.576%. The difference grows with higher rates.