XIRR Calculator

An XIRR calculator finds the annual rate of return for cash flows that happen on irregular dates. It solves 0 = Σ P / (1 + r)^(days / 365) for r, exactly like Excel's XIRR function, where days counts from the first cash flow. The examples below show how the rate is found, how it compares with IRR and CAGR on the same money, and where an annualized figure can mislead.

XIRR is the money-weighted return: each dollar counts for as long as it was invested. For cash flows spaced exactly 365 days apart the IRR Calculator gives the same answer, and for a single start and end value the CAGR Calculator does. Use this page whenever the dates are uneven.

The XIRR and XNPV formulas

P_i is each cash flow, d_i its date and d₁ the first date. Money you put in is negative; money you take out, including the current value treated as if you sold today, is positive. Microsoft's documentation states that all payments are discounted on a 365-day year. The first date only sets the reference point: moving it scales the XNPV but never changes the XIRR. Because r sits in an exponent there is no algebraic solution, so the calculator starts Newton's method at Excel's default guess of 10% and falls back to bisection if Newton fails.

Worked example 1: a 401(k) with irregular contributions

A saver's 401(k) statement shows nine deposits on uneven dates: payroll contributions, a bonus deferral in March 2024, a pause during a leave in spring 2025 and a larger deposit in June 2026. They total $32,500, and the balance on September 30, 2026 is $37,525. The gain of $5,025 is a simple return of 15.46%, but that ignores time: the first $2,500 was invested for 958 days and the last $6,000 for only 92.

XIRR settles it at 9.97% per year. Weighted by dollars, the deposits were invested for an average of 1.48 years of the 2.62-year span, so the annual rate sits well below the simple return but far above the 5.63% you get by pretending all $32,500 went in on February 15, 2024. At an 8% hurdle rate the XNPV is +$839.79, so the account beat 8%. This is the calculator's default example.

The cash-flow schedule with discount factors

Every row of the 401(k) example, discounted at the XIRR and at the 8% hurdle rate. At the XIRR the present values add up to zero, which is the definition of the rate; at 8% they add up to the XNPV.

Years = days ÷ 365. Factor = (1 + 0.099657)^−years. Present values use the unrounded factors, so multiplying the four-decimal factor can differ by a cent.

Worked example 2: one deposit, one final value

With a single deposit and a single final value, XIRR is a CAGR measured in 365-day years. $10,000 invested on June 1, 2023 and worth $13,000 on June 1, 2026 spans 1,096 days, because the period includes February 29, 2024: that is 3.0027 years. XIRR = 1.3^{365 / 1,096} − 1 = 9.13%, while the textbook CAGR over exactly three years, 1.3^1/3 − 1, is 9.14%. Neither is wrong; they use different day counts, and the 365-day convention is the one Excel and this calculator share.

Money-weighted vs time-weighted return

Funds report a time-weighted return, which chains the return of each sub-period and ignores when investors added money. Your XIRR is money-weighted: it depends on how much of your money was invested during the good and the bad stretches. An investor deposits $10,000 on December 31, 2024. By June 30, 2025 the account is up 20%, to $12,000, and the investor adds $20,000. The second half brings a 10% loss, leaving $28,800 on December 31, 2025.

The time-weighted return is 1.20 × 0.90 − 1 = 8.00%, yet the investor ends with $28,800 on $30,000 of deposits, an XIRR of −5.93%. Reverse the two half-year returns and the same deposits end at $34,800, an XIRR of 24.57%, while the time-weighted return stays 8.00%. That gap is why a 401(k) statement's personal rate of return can differ from its funds' published returns. Under the Department of Labor's participant disclosure rule, plans report each investment's average annual total return for 1-, 5- and 10-year periods, the compounded rate that grows an initial investment to its ending value: a fund-level figure, not your money-weighted result.

How precise do the dates need to be?

You rarely need every paycheck. To test the shortcuts, take a 401(k) that received $400 every other Friday from January 3, 2025 to September 25, 2026 (46 deposits, $18,400) and grew at exactly 8.00% a year, reaching $19,699.46 on September 30, 2026. Each row below adds that final value to the deposits as listed:

Totals dated in the middle of each month or quarter land within a few hundredths of a point. Dating them at the end of the period makes the money look invested for less time and inflates the result; dating them at the start does the opposite.

How to use this calculator

1. Enter each cash flow with its date and amount. Deposits, purchases and contributions are negative; withdrawals, cash dividends and sale proceeds are positive.
2. Add the current value as the last positive row, dated the day of the valuation.
3. Rows can be in any order. For long statements, paste date and amount columns into the paste box; formats such as 2/15/2024 and ($2,500.00) work.
4. Set a discount rate to see the XNPV. A positive XNPV means the cash flows beat that rate.
5. On a phone, use the ± button to make an amount negative.

The comparison card puts the simple return, the CAGR on totals and the =IRR() result next to the XIRR, and the schedule lists every discount factor.

XIRR in Excel and Google Sheets

In Excel, put the amounts in one column and the dates in the next and enter =XIRR(values, dates). An optional third argument is the guess, 10% by default; Excel iterates until the result is accurate within 0.000001 percent and returns #NUM! if it finds no result after 100 tries. Google Sheets uses =XIRR(cashflow_amounts, cashflow_dates, [rate_guess]) and points to IRR for cash flows at regular intervals. =XNPV(rate, values, dates) uses the same convention.

To check this calculator, load the "Excel's help example" preset. Microsoft's documentation lists −$10,000 on January 1, 2008 followed by four receipts and reports an XIRR of 0.373362535; the calculator returns 37.34%, and at a 9% rate its XNPV of $2,086.65 matches the XNPV help page.

Who this calculator is for

401(k), IRA and brokerage account holders who want one number for what their money actually earned; real estate and private investors with irregular distributions; anyone checking a statement's personal rate of return against their own records; and finance students verifying spreadsheet work. To project future contributions instead, use the 401(k) Calculator or the Investment Calculator.

Key terms

• Cash flow: money moving into the investment (negative) or out of it (positive).
• XNPV: the sum of all cash flows discounted to the first date at a chosen rate.
• XIRR: the rate at which the XNPV is zero.
• Money-weighted return: a return that depends on the size and timing of your own cash flows.
• Time-weighted return: a return that chains sub-period results and ignores cash-flow timing.
• Hurdle rate: the return you require; a positive XNPV at that rate means you beat it.

What changes your XIRR

• Timing of large deposits: money added before a strong stretch lifts the XIRR; money added before a drop lowers it.
• Front-loading: a worker who contributes the 2026 limit of $24,500 early in the year has more money exposed to the first months' returns than one who spreads it out. Their XIRRs differ whenever returns are uneven through the year, although the fund's return is the same for both. The 2026 catch-up for ages 50 and over is $8,000, or $11,250 at ages 60 to 63.
• Employer match: including it measures the account; leaving it out measures your own money and raises the XIRR.
• Fees: they are already inside the balance, so XIRR is net of them. In the Department of Labor's example, $25,000 growing for 35 years at a 7% average return reaches $227,000 with 0.5% in fees but only $163,000 with 1.5%, a 28% smaller balance.
• The valuation date: the same final value dated a month later spreads the gain over one more month.

Limitations

Cash flows that change direction more than once can have several valid rates. A project that costs $1,000, pays $3,600 a year later and needs $3,150 of cleanup a year after that has two, 50% and 110%, and some patterns have none at all. The calculator flags both cases; judge such investments by their XNPV at your hurdle rate. XIRR also annualizes short periods aggressively, ignores taxes unless you enter after-tax amounts, and says nothing about risk: two accounts with the same XIRR can have had very different rides.

Related calculators

• For evenly spaced yearly cash flows, use the IRR Calculator; for the present value of a periodic series, the NPV Calculator.
• For one starting value and one ending value, use the CAGR Calculator or the Rate of Return Calculator.
• For support and resistance levels on a chart, use the Pivot Point Calculator.

Sources

• Microsoft Support, XIRR function: 365-day year, 10% default guess, 100 tries, #NUM! and #VALUE! conditions, example result 0.373362535.
• Microsoft Support, XNPV function: example result $2,086.65 at 9%.
• Google Docs Editors Help, XIRR.
• Internal Revenue Service, IR-2025-111 (November 13, 2025): 2026 401(k) limit $24,500, catch-up $8,000, $11,250 at ages 60 to 63.
• U.S. Department of Labor, EBSA, A Look at 401(k) Plan Fees.
• Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 29 CFR 2550.404a-5: average annual total return for 1-, 5- and 10-year periods.