ROI Calculator
Calculate return on investment for any project, campaign or asset — net profit, ROI percentage, annualized ROI and the return earned per unit invested.
Inputs
Report details (optional — appears on the PDF report)
Results
Formula
- Net profit = total return − total cost
- Total cost = investment cost + additional costs
- t = investment period in years
How It Works
ROI expresses profit as a percentage of everything you spent, which makes projects of different sizes directly comparable. All costs — the original investment plus any ongoing or incidental costs — belong in the denominator.
Because a 50% ROI earned over one year is far better than the same 50% over five, the annualized figure converts the total ROI into a compounded per-year rate.
Worked Example
Given: Investment ₹500,000, additional costs ₹25,000, total return ₹750,000, over 3 years
Total cost = 500,000 + 25,000 = ₹525,000 · Net profit = 750,000 − 525,000 = ₹225,000
ROI = 225,000 / 525,000 × 100 = 42.86%
Annualized ROI = (1.4286)1/3 − 1 ≈ 12.63% p.a.
Engineering Notes
- ROI ignores the timing of cash flows within the period; use NPV or IRR for staged projects.
- Leaving out indirect costs (labour, downtime, maintenance) inflates ROI misleadingly.
- ROI does not account for risk — a higher ROI may simply mean a riskier project.
- For marketing spend, ROI and ROAS differ: ROAS uses revenue, ROI uses profit.
FAQ
What is a good ROI?
It depends entirely on the sector and risk; always compare against alternatives with a similar risk profile.
Can ROI be negative?
Yes — when the return is less than total cost, ROI is negative and the project lost money.
Why annualize?
Because the same total ROI is far more attractive when earned in less time.
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This calculator uses established formulas and standard calculation methods to provide reliable results for planning, estimation and reference.