XIRR Cash Flow Return Calculator
XIRR is the right way to measure the annualized return on an investment when the cash flows land on irregular dates: an initial outlay, a few top-ups, a dividend here and there, and a final sale. Because real-world deposits and withdrawals rarely fall on neat annual boundaries, the plain IRR distorts the answer. XIRR uses the exact calendar gaps between flows and an Actual/365 year to find the single rate that makes every dated cash flow net to zero today. Paste your dated cash flows below, use a negative amount for money you pay out and a positive amount for money you receive, and this calculator returns the annualized XIRR.
XIRR formula
Find rate r such that:
0 = sum of CF_i / (1 + r)^(d_i / 365)
where d_i = days between flow i and the first flow
Solved iteratively by Newton-Raphson
The first cash flow date is the reference (day 0). Each later flow is discounted by the exact number of elapsed calendar days over 365. The rate that drives the sum to zero is the annualized XIRR.
Tips for accurate XIRR
- Include the initial investment as a negative amount on the date you paid it.
- Enter every interim deposit and withdrawal on its actual date.
- Include the final value (sale proceeds or current balance) as a positive amount on the valuation date.
- You need at least one negative and one positive cash flow or the rate is undefined.
- Adjust the rate guess if a result fails to converge for unusual cash-flow shapes.
XIRR: frequently asked questions
What is XIRR?
XIRR is the internal rate of return for a series of cash flows that occur on irregular dates. Unlike the standard IRR, which assumes equally spaced periods, XIRR weights each cash flow by the exact number of days from the first flow, then solves for the single annual rate that makes the net present value zero.
How is XIRR calculated?
XIRR finds the rate r that solves the sum over all cash flows of CF divided by (1 + r) raised to (days since first flow divided by 365), set equal to zero. There is no closed-form solution, so it is found numerically with an iterative method such as Newton-Raphson, the same approach spreadsheets use.
What is the difference between IRR and XIRR?
IRR assumes every cash flow is one period apart, so it suits regular annual or monthly schedules. XIRR uses the actual calendar dates and a 365-day year, so it correctly handles deposits and withdrawals made on arbitrary dates. For irregular timing, XIRR is the accurate measure.
Why does my XIRR need at least one negative and one positive cash flow?
An internal rate of return is the rate at which money paid out is exactly recovered by money received. If all cash flows have the same sign, there is no rate that balances them and XIRR is undefined. You need at least one outflow (negative) and one inflow (positive).
What day-count does this calculator use?
It uses Actual/365, the same convention as the common spreadsheet XIRR function: the exact number of calendar days between each cash flow and the first flow, divided by 365. This makes the result directly comparable to a spreadsheet XIRR over the same dated cash flows.
Official sources
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Investor.gov: Compound interest and return concepts.
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Investor.gov: Investing glossary.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 17 June 2026. See our methodology.