ROI calculator
Calculate the return on an investment, in total and per year, including income received and costs paid.
What you sold it for, or what it is worth now
Optional, such as dividends or rent
Optional
ROI
50,0 %
Return on investment
Annualized ROI
14,5 %
Per year
Net gain
5.000
Received less invested
Multiple
1,50x
Received / invested
From amount invested to total received
- Invested10.000
- Capital gain4.000
- Income1.500
- Costs−500
- Total received15.000
Annualized ROI by holding period
The same total return, spread over different periods.
- 1 year50,0 %
- 2 years22,5 %
- 3 years14,5 %
- 5 years8,4 %
- 7 years6,0 %
- 10 years4,1 %
Income and costs are added to the total, whenever they happened. For a return that depends on timing, use the IRR and NPV calculator.
What is ROI?
ROI, or return on investment, measures how much you gained or lost compared with what you put in. It is written as a percentage, so you can compare investments of different sizes: a gain of 500 on 1.000 is a 50 % ROI.
ROI formula
ROI = (Total received − Amount invested) / Amount invested
Annualized ROI = (Total received / Amount invested)^(1 / Years) − 1
Total received is what you got back, plus any income, less any costs. Annualized ROI spreads the return over the years it took.
How to calculate ROI: an example
You invest 10.000 and sell for 14.000 three years later. Along the way you collect 1.500 of income and pay 500 of costs, so you receive 15.000 in total. The gain is 5.000, the ROI is 50 %, and the annualized ROI is 14,5 %.
How to calculate ROI in Excel
With the amount invested in B1, the total received in B2 and years in B3:
=(B2-B1)/B1
=(B2/B1)^(1/B3)-1
What is a good ROI?
It depends on how long it took and how much risk you ran. A 50 % ROI is 14,5 % a year if it takes three years, but only 4,1 % a year if it takes ten. That is why it pays to compare the annualized figure, not the total.
ROI and IRR: what is the difference?
ROI only looks at the total gain. IRR also takes into account when each payment happens, so money that comes back early counts for more. With regular cash flows along the way, use the IRR and NPV calculator.