ROI Calculator

Work out return on investment as a percentage, plus the yearly rate when you enter the years held. Free.

Amount invested (cost)

Final value (what you got back)

Include any income earned along the way, minus any extra costs.

Time held, in years (optional)

Add this to see the yearly rate.

Enter the amount invested and the final value.

About This Tool

NinjaFunction's ROI Calculator shows the return on an investment from the amount you put in and what you got back. It gives the profit or loss, the ROI as a percentage and, if you enter how long you held it, the annualised ROI so investments of different lengths can be compared. Your figures stay in your browser.

🔑 How to Use

Enter the amount invested, including fees and any extra money you added.
Enter the final value, which is what you got back plus any income received.
Add the years you held it if you want the yearly rate.
Read the ROI, the profit or loss, and the annualised ROI.

💡 Pro Tips

✔ Always compare on the same time frame. Two investments with the same ROI are not equal if one took three times as long.
✔ Count your own time if it was a business project. An ROI that ignores your hours looks better than the real result.
✔ Use the annualised figure to compare against a fixed deposit or an index fund.
✔ For growth between two values without income in between, the CAGR Calculator gives the same yearly rate.

The Formula, Step by Step

Step	Calculation	Example
Gain	Final value − Cost	15,000 − 10,000 = 5,000
ROI	Gain ÷ Cost × 100	5,000 ÷ 10,000 × 100 = 50%
Annualised ROI	(Final ÷ Cost)^(1 ÷ Years) − 1	(1.5)^(1÷3) − 1 = 14.47%

Why the Time Period Changes Everything

Plain ROI says nothing about how long you waited, and that is the weakness people overlook. Take 10,000 growing to 15,000. If that happened in one year the return is 50% a year. In three years it is about 14.5% a year. In ten years it is about 4.1% a year.

The annualised figure turns all three into a rate per year, so you can set them against each other, or against what a bank deposit would have paid. The calculation assumes steady growth, which real investments never have, so treat it as an average, not a promise.

Using ROI for Business Decisions

Marketing: spend 5,000 on an advertising campaign that brings in 8,000 of profit before the ad cost, and the ROI is 60%. Check that the final value is profit from the campaign, not sales.
Equipment: a machine that costs 200,000 and saves 60,000 a year has a simple yearly return of 30%, before running costs and repairs.
Property: include stamp duty, agent fees and maintenance in the cost, and rent received in the final value.
Training and hiring: hard to measure, but the same idea applies. Put a rough value on the extra output, and be honest about it.

Where ROI Falls Short

It ignores the time value of money. For projects with cash flowing in over many years, use NPV and IRR instead.
It ignores risk. A 30% ROI on a risky venture is not the same as 30% on a government bond.
It depends on what you count. Two people can calculate very different ROIs for the same project by choosing different costs.
It does not tell you the size. A 100% return on 100 is less useful than a 10% return on 1,000,000.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you calculate ROI?

Subtract the cost from the final value to get the gain, divide the gain by the cost, and multiply by 100. If you put in 10,000 and end up with 15,000, the gain is 5,000 and the ROI is 50%.

Is a 50% ROI good?

It depends entirely on how long it took. 50% in one year is excellent. 50% over ten years is only about 4.1% a year, which a savings account might beat. This is why the tool also shows the annualised figure when you enter the years.

What should I count as the cost?

Everything you paid to get the investment: the purchase price, fees, commission, repairs and any extra money you put in later. Leaving costs out is the most common reason an ROI looks better than it really was.

What should I count as the final value?

What you got back, including income you earned along the way, such as rent or dividends. Take away selling costs and any tax you will owe if you want the figure after those.

Can ROI be negative?

Yes. If you sell for less than the cost, the gain is negative and so is the ROI. A result of -20% means you lost a fifth of your money.

How is ROI different from profit margin?

Margin compares profit with sales. ROI compares profit with the money you put in. A shop can have a thin margin and still a high ROI if it turns its stock over quickly.

CAGR Calculator

NinjaFunction's CAGR Calculator gives the steady yearly growth rate that takes a value from its start to its end over a number of years. It also shows the total growth and the growth multiple. Use it for investments, sales, subscribers or any figure that grows. It runs in your browser.

NPV & IRR Calculator

NinjaFunction's NPV and IRR Calculator helps you judge a project or investment. Enter a discount rate and a list of cash flows, starting with the investment, and see the net present value, the internal rate of return, the payback period and the discounted payback period. It runs in your browser and stores nothing.

Profit Margin & Markup Calculator

NinjaFunction's Profit Margin and Markup Calculator turns a price and a cost into the profit, the margin and the markup, finds the selling price needed for a target margin or markup, and works out gross, operating and net margin from a simple income statement. It explains why margin and markup are not the same. Everything runs in your browser.

Break-Even Calculator

NinjaFunction's Break-Even Calculator shows how many units you must sell to cover your fixed and variable costs. Enter fixed costs, price and variable cost per unit to get the break-even units, the break-even revenue and the contribution margin, add a profit goal to see the units needed for it, and read the result on a chart. Nothing is uploaded.