XIRR Calculator

How to Use This Calculator

1. Enter each cash flow amount (negative = money out / investment, positive = money in / return) and the corresponding day number from the start (Day 0 = initial investment date).
2. Read the XIRR (annualized return) instantly.
3. Use Multiple Cash Flows (5) tab for more complex investment scenarios.
4. Use Compare XIRR vs IRR tab to see how timing affects the return calculation.
5. Professional tier shows MOIC (multiple on invested capital) and hold period alongside XIRR.

Formula

Example

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is XIRR and how is it different from IRR? ▼
  XIRR (Extended Internal Rate of Return) is a financial metric that calculates the annualized return of an investment when cash flows occur at irregular time intervals. Standard IRR (Internal Rate of Return) assumes cash flows occur at perfectly equal intervals — typically annually. XIRR relaxes this assumption by accepting a specific date (or number of days) for each cash flow, making it applicable to real-world investments where money flows in and out on unpredictable schedules. Both metrics find the discount rate r that makes the Net Present Value (NPV) of all cash flows equal to zero: Σ CF_i / (1 + r)^(t_i / 365) = 0, where t_i is the number of days from the start date. XIRR uses fractional years (days/365) in the exponent; regular IRR uses integer periods. The result is always an annual rate, making investments with different time horizons directly comparable. XIRR is implemented in Excel as =XIRR(values, dates) and is the standard metric in private equity, real estate investment analysis, and any context where cash flow timing matters. For regular annual cash flows, XIRR and IRR give identical results.
• When should I use XIRR instead of IRR for investment analysis? ▼
  Use XIRR whenever your investment's cash flows do not fall at exactly equal intervals. The most important cases: private equity and venture capital (capital calls at varying times, distributions when portfolio companies are sold — rarely annually), real estate (rental income monthly, refinancing mid-hold, sale at end), dividend reinvestment portfolios (quarterly dividends, occasional lump-sum additions), real estate crowdfunding and REITs (quarterly distributions, irregular redemptions), personal investment portfolios (contributions and withdrawals whenever convenient), and business valuations with uneven cash projections. If you use IRR in any of these contexts and the cash flows are genuinely irregular, you will get an incorrect answer — IRR would assume all intervals between cash flows are equal periods, misallocating the time value of money. The distortion can be significant: if a large cash flow arrives 3 months early instead of at year 1, IRR treats it as arriving at year 1 and understates the actual return. XIRR accounts for the extra 9 months of compounding correctly. In practice, XIRR should be the default choice for any investment analysis with known dates; IRR is appropriate only in simplified academic examples with perfect annual timing.
• Why are real-world cash flows usually irregular? ▼
  Real-world investment cash flows are irregular because business and financial events do not occur on a fixed schedule tied to calendar years. In private equity, portfolio companies are acquired opportunistically (whenever a seller is ready and valuation is attractive), capital is deployed over months or years rather than all upfront, and exits happen when market conditions are favorable — often 3-7 years into the hold but not necessarily on an anniversary date. In real estate, rent is collected monthly, unexpected repairs reduce cash flow in specific months, refinancing occurs when rates are favorable, and properties sell when a buyer is found, not at a planned year-end date. In stock investing, dividends are declared quarterly, additional shares are purchased when cash is available or prices dip, and positions are liquidated for various reasons at unpredictable times. In project finance, construction draws occur as milestones are reached, revenue starts when the facility begins operating, and debt service follows a predetermined amortization schedule that starts at closing. Even in theoretically regular bond investments, if you buy mid-year, the first coupon arrives in less than 6 months, making the cash flow timing irregular from your holding period perspective. IRR's assumption of equal periods is a simplification that works acceptably only for back-of-envelope estimates; XIRR is always the correct tool when dates are known.
• How does XIRR account for the time value of money differently? ▼
  XIRR uses continuous fractional-year compounding based on actual elapsed days: each cash flow CF_i is discounted by (1 + r)^(days_i / 365), where days_i is the number of days from the reference date to that cash flow. This means that a cash flow received 90 days from now is discounted by (1 + r)^(90/365) — the correct fractional year. Standard IRR would discount the first cash flow by (1 + r)^1 if it is labeled as period 1, regardless of whether it actually arrives in 3 months or 18 months. The time value implication is significant: money received sooner is more valuable (it can be reinvested earlier), and money received later is worth less. XIRR correctly captures this by using exact day counts. If you invest $10,000 today and receive $12,000 back in 90 days, XIRR = (12000/10000)^(365/90) − 1 ≈ 105% annualized — a spectacular 90-day return correctly annualized. Standard IRR would need you to specify whether this is a period-0 and period-1 cash flow (implying annual return of 20%) or something else, and there is no correct way to map 90 days to IRR periods. XIRR handles this naturally with the date-based discounting.
• What's the difference between money-weighted return (XIRR) and time-weighted return? ▼
  XIRR is a money-weighted return (MWR), also called the dollar-weighted return or internal rate of return. Time-weighted return (TWR) is a different metric that eliminates the effect of the timing and size of cash flows. The key difference: MWR/XIRR measures the actual return experienced by a specific investor with their specific contribution and withdrawal timing; TWR measures the performance of the investment manager independent of when the investor put money in or took it out. Example: a fund returns +50% in year 1 and −50% in year 2. TWR = (1.5 × 0.5) − 1 = −25% over two years. An investor who put in $1,000 at start and added $10,000 after year 1 (before the −50% drop) has MWR much worse than −25%, because most of their money was invested during the loss year. TWR is the standard for evaluating portfolio manager skill, published in fund performance reports and required by Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS). XIRR/MWR is the right metric for evaluating a specific investor's actual experience with a specific series of cash flows — the return on their actual invested capital given when they invested it. Private equity funds report IRR/XIRR (MWR) because the fund controls cash flow timing, making MWR a fair performance measure.

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