XIRR Calculator
XIRR (Extended Internal Rate of Return) is the annualised return on an investment when money goes in and out on irregular dates — exactly the case a simple CAGR can't handle. If you've added to a SIP, made top-ups, or taken partial redemptions on different days, XIRR weights every cash flow by its own timing to give you one true annual rate. Use this XIRR calculator to enter each amount and its date, then see your annualised return, total invested and net gain instantly.
Mark money you put in as Invested and money you got back (redemptions, dividends, sale proceeds) as Received. Dates can be any gap apart.
- Total Invested
- ₹1,50,000
- Total Received
- ₹2,00,000
XIRR (annualised)
15.08%
Net Gain: ₹50,000
- Invested75%
- Gain25%
Formula
0 = Σ Cᵢ ÷ (1 + XIRR)^(dᵢ ÷ 365)
- Cᵢ
- Each cash flow — negative when you invest, positive when you receive money back.
- dᵢ
- The number of days between cash flow i and the first cash flow.
- XIRR
- The annual rate that makes the discounted cash flows sum to zero.
There is no closed-form solution for XIRR — the rate is found by iteration (Newton-Raphson, with a bisection fallback for stability). This calculator uses the same actual/365 day-count convention as Excel's XIRR function, so the results match.
Worked example
Suppose you invested ₹50,000 on 1 April for three years running, then redeemed the whole holding for ₹2,00,000 on 1 April 2025. You put in ₹1,50,000 in total and got ₹2,00,000 back, but because the instalments went in on different dates, a plain CAGR would be misleading. What is your XIRR?
- 1 Apr 2022 — Invested
- ₹50,000
- 1 Apr 2023 — Invested
- ₹50,000
- 1 Apr 2024 — Invested
- ₹50,000
- 1 Apr 2025 — Received
- ₹2,00,000
The XIRR works out to about 15.08% per year. Your total gain is ₹50,000 on ₹1,50,000 invested — a 33.33% absolute return — but spread across the actual dates the money was at work, the true annualised return is 15.08%. That single figure lets you compare this investment fairly against any other.
How the XIRR calculator works
Add a row for every cash flow in your investment: the date, the amount, and whether it was money you Invested (paid in) or Received (got back). You can add as many rows as you need and the dates can be any distance apart. The calculator converts each entry into a dated cash flow and solves for the single annual rate that makes them balance — that rate is your XIRR. Totals for invested capital, money received and net gain update as you type.
Why XIRR matters for real investments
Almost no real investment is a clean lump sum in and a lump sum out. You start a SIP, top it up in a good year, maybe pause it, then redeem part of it to fund a goal. Each of those moves happens on its own date, and the timing changes your real return. CAGR ignores timing entirely, so it can flatter or understate what you actually earned. XIRR is the honest number: it’s the same method mutual fund statements and portfolio trackers use to report your personal rate of return.
XIRR vs CAGR vs absolute return
- Absolute return is the total percentage gain, ignoring time — useful for a headline, useless for comparison.
- CAGR annualises a single-entry, single-exit investment. Reach for the CAGR calculator when there’s just one investment and one final value.
- XIRR annualises multiple cash flows on irregular dates. It’s the generalisation of CAGR — in fact, for a single buy and a single sell exactly one year apart, XIRR and CAGR give the same answer.
A note on accuracy
This calculator uses the actual/365 day-count convention and the same iterative solver approach as spreadsheet XIRR functions, so your results line up with Excel and Google Sheets. When a set of cash flows has no mathematically valid rate — for instance, if everything is an investment with nothing received back — the calculator tells you what to add instead of showing a misleading figure.
Frequently asked questions
What is XIRR and how is it different from CAGR?
XIRR is the annualised return on a series of cash flows that happen on different, irregular dates. CAGR assumes a single investment and a single final value, so it can't handle instalments or partial withdrawals. XIRR discounts every cash flow by its own date, which is why it's the right measure for SIPs, top-ups and staggered redemptions.
When should I use XIRR instead of a SIP calculator?
Use a SIP calculator to project the future value of fixed, regular monthly instalments at an assumed return. Use XIRR to measure the actual return you earned on real, irregular cash flows that have already happened — for example a SIP with top-ups, extra one-time investments, or partial redemptions on dates that don't line up neatly.
Why do I need to enter both investments and redemptions?
XIRR is the rate that balances money paid in against money received back, so a valid rate only exists when there is at least one outflow (Invested) and one inflow (Received). If every cash flow is the same direction, no internal rate of return can be calculated and the calculator will ask you to add the missing side.
Is a higher XIRR always better?
A higher XIRR means a better annualised return, but compare it against the risk you took and over the same kind of time horizon. A short, lucky holding can show a very high XIRR that isn't repeatable, while a steady long-term investment with a moderate XIRR may be the better outcome. Always read XIRR alongside the amount invested and the period involved.
Does the order I enter the cash flows matter?
No. You can add the rows in any order — the calculator sorts them by date internally and measures every gap from the earliest date. What matters is that each row has the correct date, amount and direction (Invested or Received).
Can XIRR be negative?
Yes. If you received back less than you invested once timing is accounted for, the XIRR is negative, showing the annual rate at which the investment lost value. The calculator handles losses and near-total wipeouts without breaking.