XIRR Calculator
Find the true annualised return (XIRR) on money invested at different times — a starting lumpsum, optional monthly additions and a final value.
What is XIRR?
XIRR — extended internal rate of return — is the single annualised rate that accounts for the exact timing of every cash flow in an investment. Real investing is rarely one deposit and one exit: you start with a lumpsum, add money each month, maybe skip an instalment, and redeem on some unrelated date. XIRR weighs each rupee by how long it was actually invested and answers the only question that matters: what did all of this earn per year?
This calculator takes a starting investment, an optional monthly contribution and the final value you received, and reports the total you put in, the total you got back and the XIRR. It is the same measure mutual fund statements and portfolio trackers use to report your personal return.
The XIRR equation
Σ [ CFₖ ÷ (1 + r)^(dₖ ÷ 365) ] = 0 — solved for r
- CFₖ — each cash flow: negative when money goes in, positive when money comes back
- dₖ — days between the first flow and flow k (actual/365 day count)
- r — the annualised rate that makes all the discounted flows balance to zero: that is the XIRR
There is no closed-form answer — the rate is found numerically. This calculator places your initial amount at day zero, monthly contributions at month-end offsets and the final value at the end of the holding period, then solves with the same method verified against the standard Microsoft XIRR reference dataset.
How to use this calculator
- Enter the initial investment — the one-time amount you put in at the start. Set it to ₹0 if there was none.
- Add a monthly investment if you also contributed regularly (a SIP, for instance); leave it at ₹0 for a pure lumpsum.
- Set the holding period in years.
- Enter the final value received — what the investment was worth, or what you redeemed, at the end.
The results panel shows total invested, total received and the XIRR — your true annualised return across all those flows.
A worked example
₹1,00,000 upfront plus ₹5,000 every month for 3 years, redeemed for ₹3,50,000:
- Total invested: ₹1,00,000 + 36 × ₹5,000 = ₹2,80,000
- Total received: ₹3,50,000 — a gain of ₹70,000
- XIRR: 11.42% a year
The absolute gain is 25%, but the monthly instalments were invested for far less than 3 years each — XIRR accounts for that. For comparison, a single ₹1,00,000 growing to ₹1,50,000 over 3 years works out to an XIRR of 14.47%, exactly its CAGR.
XIRR vs CAGR — and what a negative XIRR means
CAGR can only describe two flows: one amount in, one amount out. The moment your money moves at irregular times — SIP instalments, top-ups, partial withdrawals — CAGR either cannot be computed or quietly misleads, because it ignores when each rupee entered. XIRR is built for exactly those irregular flows. When there really are only two flows, the two measures agree: ₹1,00,000 to ₹1,50,000 in 3 years is 14.47% by either method.
XIRR can also be negative, and that is useful information: ₹1,00,000 that shrinks to ₹80,000 over 2 years has an XIRR of −10.56% a year — the investment lost roughly a tenth of its value annually. Market-linked returns vary; a past XIRR describes what happened, not what the next period will deliver.
CAGR handles exactly two cash flows — one investment and one exit. XIRR handles any number of flows on any dates, weighting each rupee by the time it was invested. With only two flows the results are identical: ₹1,00,000 growing to ₹1,50,000 in 3 years is 14.47% by both measures.
Broad Indian equity has historically delivered roughly 10–14% annualised over long periods, against bank FDs at about 6.5–7%. An XIRR in that band over 5+ years is in line with history — but equity returns are market-linked and not guaranteed.
Yes. A negative XIRR means the investment lost value on an annualised basis: ₹1,00,000 becoming ₹80,000 over 2 years is an XIRR of −10.56% a year. It is common over short windows in equity even when long-run returns are positive.
Because most instalments have been invested for well under the full period. In the example above, ₹70,000 of gain on ₹2,80,000 looks like 25%, but the money was deployed gradually — so the fair annualised figure is 11.42%, not 25% ÷ 3 years.
For equity mutual funds and listed shares, long-term gains (held over 12 months) above ₹1,25,000 a year are taxed at 12.5%, and short-term gains at 20%. Most debt fund gains are taxed at your slab rate. These are the rates currently in force and can be revised in a future Finance Act.
This widget keeps the shape simple: one starting amount, an optional fixed monthly contribution and one final value. Monthly flows are placed at month-end offsets. For fully irregular flow sets, a spreadsheet XIRR over your exact dates gives the same class of answer.