ROI Calculator
Work out the return on an investment from what you put in and what it was worth at the end, as a simple ROI and, if you enter the years held, as an annual return.
Your investment
The values filled in are an example. Replace them with your own.
Everything you put in: the purchase price plus costs such as fees or setup.
What the investment is worth or returned at the end, including any money it paid out.
Needed only for the annual return. Use decimals for part years, such as 0.5 for six months.
ROI (simple)
35.00%
Annual return
16.19%
Net gain
$1,750.00
How it's worked out
- Amount invested
- $5,000.00
- Final value
- $6,750.00
- Net gain (final value − amount invested)
- $1,750.00
- ROI (net gain ÷ amount invested × 100)
- 35.00%
- Annual return ((final ÷ invested)^(1 ÷ years) − 1)
- 16.19%
ROI is a simple return: it doesn't take into account how long the money was invested. The annual return spreads it over the years held as a yearly rate, compounded. Money is rounded to the cent and percentages to two decimal places.
How ROI and Annual Return Are Calculated
Definitions
OpenStax's Contemporary Mathematics, section 6.7 gives the formula for return on investment as ROI = (FV − P) ÷ P, where P is the starting value and FV is the value at the end, and notes that “this formula does not take into account how long the investment took to reach its current value.” To account for time, the same section uses the annual return: “annual return = (FV/P)^(1/t) − 1, where t = the number of years.”
Source opened and quoted on October 29, 2026.
Formulas the calculator uses
- Net gain = final value − amount invested
- ROI (simple) = net gain ÷ amount invested × 100. It's the same whether the money was invested for a month or ten years.
- Annual return (annualized) = ((final value ÷ amount invested)^(1 ÷ years) − 1) × 100: the yearly rate that, compounded once a year, grows the amount invested to the final value.
Worked examples
- The example filled in above: $5,000.00 invested is worth $6,750.00 after 2 years. Net gain $1,750.00; ROI $1,750 ÷ $5,000 = 35.00%; annual return 1.35^(1/2) − 1 = 16.19%.
- OpenStax's bond example: $3,000 invested in a bond paying $165 a year for 4 years, $660 in all, so the final value is $3,660. ROI $660 ÷ $3,000 = 22.00%; annual return 1.22^(1/4) − 1 = 5.10%. The calculator gives the same.
Rounding and limits
Money amounts are rounded to the cent and percentages to two decimal places. The amount invested and the final value can be $0 to $1,000,000,000,000; the years held can be above 0 and up to 1,000. Negative numbers and values above these limits show a message, and a percentage beyond ±1,000,000,000% shows as too large.
What ROI leaves out
Neither figure accounts for when money went in or came out during the period, or for what the same money could have earned elsewhere. Use your full cost as the amount invested, and include any payments the investment made in the final value.
Related tools: the break-even calculator and the profit margin calculator. More background: what is return on investment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Keep the Numbers Behind Your ROI
Record what your business spends in Billed with each receipt attached, and filter the Income vs Expense report by date range to see income against spending for the period you're measuring.
No credit card required.