NPV and IRR calculator
Enter a cash flow for each period and a discount rate. The profile shows what the NPV does as the rate moves, and where it crosses zero is the IRR.
Period 0 is today and is never discounted. Every later period is discounted once per period, so period 3 at 10% is divided by 1.10 three times.
Your cash flows
Money out is negative, money in is positive.
Paste a column straight from a spreadsheet into any amount box and it fills the rows below it.
The rate per period, not per year, unless your periods are years.
Showing the standard project example at 10% per period.
NPV = sum of CF / (1 + r)^tEach term above prints to the cent. The total keeps full precision until it prints, so the terms can add to a cent either side of it on purpose.
NPV profile
NPV at every rate from 0% to 30%. Where the curve crosses zero is the IRR.
Period by period
Every period discounted once, then added up. The last cumulative figure is the NPV. The discount factors are the ones in the present value tables.
| Period | Cash flow | Discount factor | Discounted cash flow | Cumulative discounted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | -$50,000.00 | 1.0000 | -$50,000.00 | -$50,000.00 |
| 1 | $15,000.00 | 0.9091 | $13,636.36 | -$36,363.64 |
| 2 | $15,000.00 | 0.8264 | $12,396.69 | -$23,966.94 |
| 3 | $15,000.00 | 0.7513 | $11,269.72 | -$12,697.22 |
| 4 | $15,000.00 | 0.6830 | $10,245.20 | -$2,452.02 |
| 5 | $15,000.00 | 0.6209 | $9,313.82 | $6,861.80 |
Cumulative turns positive in period 5. Discounted payback lands inside it, at 4.26 periods.
Notes on reading this
The rate is per period. If your periods are quarters, use the quarterly rate, not the annual one.
Payback is a check, not a decision. It ignores the discount rate and everything that happens after the money is back.
More than one sign change means more than one IRR is possible. The profile shows every crossing, which a single IRR figure cannot.