— Investment
XIRR Calculator
Find the true annualized return on a portfolio with messy, real-world dates — uneven investments, top-ups and withdrawals.
XIRR (annualized return)
12.28%
- Total invested
- $300,000
- Current / received value
- $380,000
- Absolute return
- 26.67%
- Holding period
- 3 yrs
— Cash flow ledger
| Date | Cash flow | Present value at XIRR |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-01-01 | $-100,000 | $-100,000 |
| 2023-01-01 | $-100,000 | $-89,065.05 |
| 2024-01-01 | $-100,000 | $-79,325.83 |
| 2025-01-01 | $380,000 | $268,390.88 |
— How it works
Solve r in Σ CFₖ ÷ (1 + r)^((dₖ − d₀)/365) = 0 (investments negative, redemptions and current value positive)
What XIRR measures, and why it is the honest number
XIRR — the extended internal rate of return — is the single annualized rate that makes all your cash flows balance, accounting for exactly when each one happened. It is the money-weighted return: money invested for longer, or when the portfolio was larger, counts for more. For any real portfolio — a SIP topped up unevenly, a lump sum added mid-year, a partial withdrawal — XIRR is the correct measure of performance, and the one your fund statement quotes.
It is different in kind from the other calculators here. They project a future value from an assumed rate; this one works from the actual dated flows you have already made and solves for the rate. There is no formula to rearrange — the equation can only be solved by iteration, which is what happens live as you edit the ledger below.
Filling in the ledger
Add one row per cash flow. Tag money you put in as “Invested” and money that came back — redemptions, dividends taken as cash — as “Received”. Crucially, your portfolio’s value today is itself a “Received” row, dated today: it represents the cash you would get if you sold up now. Without that final value the return is undefined, because the money is still in play.
Enter amounts as positive numbers; the Invested/Received tag handles the sign for you (investments are outflows, receipts are inflows). Dates can be in any order — they are sorted automatically — and may be as irregular as your real history.
Worked example — three yearly investments and today’s value: Invested $100,000 on 1 Jan 2022, 2023 and 2024 ($300,000 in total). Received $380,000 on 1 Jan 2025 — your current portfolio value, entered as a Received row. The absolute return is 26.7%, but spread over the dates the XIRR is about 12.3% a year.
XIRR vs absolute return, and the present-value table
The absolute return — total gain over total invested — ignores time, so it flatters a long hold and understates a quick one. XIRR converts the same gain into a per-year rate, which is why the two figures differ and why XIRR is the one to compare across investments. For the special case of a single investment and a single later value, XIRR is exactly the CAGR.
The ledger below doubles as a proof: each row shows its present value discounted back at the solved XIRR. By definition those present values sum to zero — that balance is what “solving for the rate” means, and seeing it reconcile is a good check that the inputs make sense.
When the answer will not compute
XIRR needs at least one outflow and one inflow — without both, there is no rate that balances the flows, and the result shows a dash. Very unusual flow patterns (several large withdrawals interleaved with investments) can in theory admit more than one mathematically valid rate; the solver returns the economically sensible one near your guess. If a result looks wrong, check the dates and signs first — a mistyped redemption is the usual culprit.
— Reader questions
What is the difference between XIRR and CAGR?
CAGR assumes a single amount invested once and grown to a single later value. XIRR generalises that to many cash flows on different dates, weighting each by how long it was invested. For one investment and one withdrawal the two are identical; for a real SIP with uneven contributions, XIRR is the correct figure and CAGR cannot be applied directly.
How do I enter my current portfolio value?
As the final row: tag it “Received” and date it today. It stands for the cash you would realise by selling now, and the calculation needs it to close out the return — otherwise the money is still invested and no rate can be computed.
Do I have to type negative numbers?
No. Enter every amount as a positive number and use the Invested / Received tag on each row; the calculator applies the correct sign (investments are outflows, receipts are inflows) for you.
Why is my XIRR so different from my absolute return?
Absolute return ignores time — it is just total gain over total invested. XIRR turns that gain into an annual rate, so a 27% gain over three years becomes roughly 12% a year. The longer your money was invested, the larger the gap between the two.
Why does the result show a dash?
XIRR can only be solved when there is at least one investment (outflow) and one later receipt or current value (inflow). If every row is the same type, or there is only one row, no annualized rate exists and the calculator shows a dash until you add the missing side.
What day-count basis should I use?
Actual/365 is the standard for XIRR and the right choice for almost everyone — it is what spreadsheet XIRR functions and fund houses use. Actual/360 is offered only for the rare cases that follow a money-market convention.