XIRR vs CAGR: which return belongs to your investment?
Understand when a single starting value is enough, when dated cash flows matter, and why a missing final valuation changes the answer.
Read the guideIRR & XIRR calculator
Measure returns when money moves in and out.
Annualised XIRR
11.57%
Total invested / paid out₹1,00,000
Total received₹1,40,000
Net cash surplus / deficit₹40,000
Cash-flow entries5
Period covered4 years
For illustration only. Read the assumptions below for the full picture.
Estimates, not promises. Explore different scenarios.
A closer look.
| Timing | Cash flow (INR) |
|---|---|
| 2021-01-01 | -₹1,00,000 |
| 2022-01-01 | ₹20,000 |
| 2023-01-01 | ₹20,000 |
| 2024-01-01 | ₹20,000 |
| 2025-01-01 | ₹80,000 |
Understand your result.
Measure annualised return from several cash flows. Use XIRR for actual dates, or IRR for flows at equal yearly intervals. Enter investments as negative and receipts as positive.
The result is the discount rate that balances the entered cash flows. Include a final investment valuation as a positive flow if you are measuring a still-open holding.
A worked example.
Using this calculator’s default inputs, annualised xirr is 11.57%. This is an illustration of the stated formula, not a forecast.
See the example inputs
| Cash-flow timing | Dated cash flows — XIRR |
|---|---|
| Dated cash flows in INR | 2021-01-01, -100000 2022-01-01, 20000 2023-01-01, 20000 2024-01-01, 20000 2025-01-01, 80000 |
A common mistake to avoid
Leaving out the final market value and interpreting an incomplete cash-flow series as the total investment return.
Questions you might have.
Why are some cash flows rejected?
Multiple sign changes can produce multiple IRRs. This implementation rejects those sequences rather than presenting a potentially ambiguous single answer.
Is the XIRR year exactly 365 days?
Yes. Dates are measured by actual elapsed days divided by 365, matching the stated calculation convention.
Prepared by INDwise · Calculation checks: 29 October 2026 · How we check the maths · Report a correction
How we calculate it
Solve Σ cash flow / (1+r)^time = 0. IRR uses equally spaced years; XIRR uses actual days from the first date divided by 365.
Assumptions & things to know
Conventional cash flows with one sign change only. More complex patterns can have multiple IRRs and are rejected rather than returning a misleading single rate. XIRR sorts dates and combines same-date flows for solving. Taxes and fees should be included as cash outflows if relevant. Supported return range: −99.9999% to 1,000,000%.
Microsoft — XIRR methodologySource references checked 29 October 2026. Rates and rules may change.
Your privacy & sharing
Your financial inputs are used only within this page. Saved calculators use this browser’s local storage. Sharing creates a link with the entered values, so anyone with that link can see those values. A downloaded summary stays on your device.