ROI calculator
Total return tells you how much you made. The annualised rate tells you whether it was any good: 40% over six years is worse than 15% over two, and only the compound annual growth rate shows it.
- Annualised return (CAGR)
- 11.87 %
- Profit after costs
- $4,000
- Money multiple
- 1.40
- Final value
- $14,000
- Years to double at this rate
- 6.2 years
The formula
ROI = (returned − invested − costs) / invested. CAGR = (final / initial)^(1/years) − 1. Doubling time = ln 2 / ln(1 + CAGR).
Worked example
10,000 becoming 14,000 over three years with no costs: 40% total return, but 11.87% a year. At that rate money doubles in just over six years.
How to use it
- 1Put every cost in the costs field — fees, commissions, taxes paid along the way — or the return is overstated.
- 2Use the actual holding period, including part years as decimals: eighteen months is 1.5.
- 3Compare the annualised figure between investments, never the total.
Questions people ask
ROI or CAGR?
ROI for a single completed deal, CAGR whenever you are comparing investments held for different lengths of time. CAGR is what fund factsheets quote.
Does this account for money added along the way?
No. CAGR assumes one amount in and one amount out. For regular contributions the internal rate of return is the right measure, and a spreadsheet's IRR function is the usual tool.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-20