The IRR calculator, internal rate of return, finds the yearly rate that makes NPV zero. With 10000 up front and inflows of 3000, 3500, 4000, and 4500, IRR is about 17.09%, above an 8% hurdle. Simple payback lands after year 3; that is recovery time, not a stand-in for the rate.
IRR is the rate where NPV = 0. The 10000 and four-inflow example is about 17.09%. With several sign changes, check NPV.
Enter the initial investment and each year’s cash flow, then Calculate. The main result is IRR - the project’s annual rate.
IRR, the internal rate of return, asks what yearly rate a cash-flow series implies. You type the initial investment as a positive number and the calculator places it in year 0 as an outflow. In later years you type inflows as plus and extra outlays as minus. We search for a rate r such that the sum of CF_t / (1+r)^t = 0. Periods are full years.
First card: 10000 and 3000, 3500, 4000, 4500. IRR about 17.09%, above 8%. Simple payback lands after year 3, discounted payback at 8% after year 4. Second: 50000 and five inflows of 12000, last 18000, hurdle 10%. IRR about 9.42%, below the hurdle. The third has a −2000 in year 2 and IRR about 4.54% at a 12% hurdle; that is a multi-sign warning.
Type Initial investment / cost as a positive number. Required return (% / year) is optional. Add cash-flow rows with the Add year button. Click Calculate and read IRR first. Payback and NPV at the hurdle are context.
NPV next door shows the same series in money at a typed discount rate: the same 10000 and the same four inflows yield about 2261 at 8%. CAGR needs only a start and an end, with no mid flows. Rate of return is two-point as well.
IRR does not show scale: 17% on 10000 is different money than 17% on a million. With several sign changes the root may not be unique. Then lean on NPV, not on the percent alone.
Type 10000, an 8% hurdle, and four years 3000, 3500, 4000, 4500. Check about 17.09%. Then open NPV with the same numbers.
IRR is the yearly rate that makes this series NPV zero. With 10000 up front and 3000, 3500, 4000, 4500, IRR is about 17.09%, above an 8% hurdle.
IRR ≈ 17.09%
Required return: 8%
Simple payback: after year 3
Discounted payback @ 8%: after year 4
IRR clears the 8% required return. Payback figures speak to recovery time - not IRR substitutes. NPV at 8% shows in the result cards.
IRR ≈ 9.42%
Required return: 10%
IRR (≈ 9.42%) stays below the 10% required return - the project misses that percentage bar; NPV at 10% will be negative.
IRR ≈ 4.54%
Required return: 12%
The negative year-2 flow adds another sign change - a cue that IRR may not be unique; check full NPV.
Multiple-sign-change warning
One numerical IRR root is shown
Interleaved inflows and outflows can leave more than one NPV = 0 root. Decide with NPV, not IRR alone.
With multiple sign changes in the cash flows, do not decide on IRR alone - check NPV.
About 17.09% a year. At an 8% hurdle, simple payback is after year 3 and discounted payback after year 4.
Yes. The same series at 8% has a positive NPV, about 2261 on the NPV page.
IRR about 9.42%, below 10%. NPV at 10% will be negative.
Another sign change. In the third example IRR is about 4.54% at 12% and may not be the only root. Check NPV.
IRR is a rate. NPV is money at a chosen rate. One series, two views.
No. It says when cumulative cash returns to zero, with or without discounting. That is time, not a rate.
The label asks for a cost. The model applies the minus in year 0. Do not type −10000 if the calculator expects 10000.
No. Periods are full years. This page does not compute a monthly IRR.
CAGR has one start and one end. IRR reads each year, so a deposit or a withdrawal enters the formula.
No. Scale is hidden. That is what NPV at a chosen rate is for.
IRR finds the rate where NPV drops to zero. It is a sketch from your cash flows.
Page updated in 2026.
