Internal rate of return for equal periods, as Excel IRR works it out
Estimates only, not financial advice. What you type stays on your device. Updated on 25 Oct 2026.IRR is the rate at which the present value of every cash flow adds up to zero, when the flows come at equal intervals: one a year or one a month. For −70,000 followed by 12,000, 15,000, 18,000, 21,000 and 26,000, the IRR is 8.66% a period, the same figure Excel returns.
Calculate is already set to "IRR (equal periods)", opening on the Excel example of −70,000 and five receipts.
Under "One period is" choose "A year" or "A month".
Enter the outlay as a negative "Amount (₹)" in row 0 and each later receipt as a positive amount; press "Add a row" for more.
Read the IRR per period with the gain, then press "Share result".
Enter the outlay as a negative number and each later receipt as a positive one.
XIRR is the annual return of money that goes in and comes out on different dates. It is the rate r at which every cash flow, discounted by (1 + r) raised to the number of days since the first date divided by 365, adds up to zero. That is exactly how Microsoft Excel's XIRR function defines it, and this calculator gives the same answer: Microsoft's own example of −10,000 on 1 January 2008 and four receipts to 1 April 2009 returns 37.34% here and in Excel.
Plain IRR. When the flows come at equal intervals and the dates do not matter, switch to IRR. It returns the rate per period, and for monthly periods also the yearly rate.
How it solves. Newton's method from a 10% guess, as Excel starts, and a bisection search when that fails. It needs at least one negative and one positive amount; if no rate balances the flows, it says so and tells you what to check. Some flows that change sign several times have more than one rate; the calculator shows the first it finds.
The rest of the article, and all 6 questions about XIRR Calculator, are on the XIRR Calculator page.
List each SIP instalment as a negative amount on the date it was debited, then add the current value of the holding as a positive amount dated today. XIRR finds the one yearly rate that makes all of them balance. Twelve monthly instalments of ₹5,000 worth ₹65,000 a year after the first give 15.67%.
Yes. The calculator uses Excel's definition: days between dates divided by 365, discounted from the first date. Microsoft's documented example, −10,000 on 1 Jan 2008 followed by 2,750, 4,250, 3,250 and 2,750 to 1 Apr 2009, returns 0.373362535 in Excel and 37.34% here.
XIRR needs at least one negative amount (money invested) and one positive amount (money received or the value today). With every amount of the same sign, or every flow on one date, no rate exists. Check that investments carry a minus sign and that the current value is included as a positive amount.
IRR assumes the cash flows come at equal intervals, one per period, and returns a rate per period. XIRR uses the actual date of each flow and returns a yearly rate. Use IRR for a project with yearly cash flows; use XIRR for investments made on irregular dates, such as mutual fund purchases.
Formula only: no rates or limits are read from an official source.
Still stuck? Ask about XIRR Calculator and anybody who knows can answer. No account needed.
Same job, other tools: ROI Calculator – Return on investment as a total percentage and as a yearly (annualised) rate · US Inflation Calculator – US inflation between any two years since 1913: price change, yearly rate and dollar value.
On the related tools: Step-up SIP Calculator – See how raising your SIP every year changes the final corpus.