XIRR

XIRR is the annualised return on a portfolio that has had money flowing in and out at irregular dates — the real-world shape of almost every investor's journey. Unlike CAGR, which assumes exactly one inflow and one outflow, XIRR handles every SIP instalment, lump-sum top-up, dividend reinvestment, switch, and partial redemption as a separate dated cashflow. It is the single most accurate measure of what your money has actually earned.

Mathematically, XIRR is the discount rate that makes the net present value of all cashflows equal to zero — solved iteratively by spreadsheets. In Excel or Google Sheets, =XIRR(values, dates) does the work. Example: a ₹10,000 monthly SIP for 5 years in a fund with a final value of ₹7,80,000 often returns an XIRR of ~12%, even though the simple "total gain ÷ total investment" math would suggest a very different number.

XIRR works only when there is at least one negative cashflow (investment) and one positive cashflow (withdrawal or current value). SEBI does not mandate XIRR disclosure on factsheets, but serious portfolio trackers like Kuvera, Groww, and CAMS Consolidated Account Statement use it by default.

Pair XIRR with our SIP and lump-sum calculators to project forward, then track the realised XIRR against your original assumption.