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Finance & Investment · Returns

Absolute Return & ROI Calculator

Calculate the absolute return (ROI) on any investment — shares, mutual funds, gold, property or a business project — including dividends or rent received and costs paid, plus the annualised return if you enter how long you held it.

Your inputs

Quick start — try a typical case

₹ 1 lakh

₹ 1.45 lakh

years

Enter it to also see the annualised return. Leave 0 to skip.

Your result Live

Absolute Return (ROI)

45.00%

Profit of ₹45,000 on ₹1,00,000

Profit
₹45,000
Total Received (value + income)
₹1,45,000
Total Put In (invested + costs)
₹1,00,000
Annualised Return (over 3 years)
13.19%
Value Multiple
1.45×
  • Your money back · 69%₹1,00,000
  • Profit · 31%₹45,000

How this is calculated

ROI = (Value + Income − Invested − Costs) ÷ (Invested + Costs) · Annualised = (Value + Income) ÷ (Invested + Costs))^(1/t) − 1

Income
Dividends, interest or rent received while holding
Costs
Brokerage, fees and other charges
t
Holding period in years

Absolute return answers 'how much did my money grow in total?'. It ignores how long that took, so a 45 % return over 3 years and over 10 years look the same — enter the holding period to see the annualised (CAGR) return, which makes them comparable.

Assumptions & sources

  • Income is added at face value at the end; it is not assumed to have been reinvested.
  • All money was invested at the start. For several purchases or withdrawals at different times, use the XIRR Calculator.
  • Taxes are not deducted unless you include them in costs.
  1. 1Investments (Bodie, Kane & Marcus), chapters on returns, compounding and the time value of money — McGraw-Hill
  2. 2Investor education material — SEBI — Securities and Exchange Board of India

Calculator ID FIN-RET-ABS-001 · version 1.0.0

Common questions

Is ROI the same as absolute return?

Yes — both measure total gain relative to what you put in. Including income and costs makes it a 'total return' that reflects what you actually earned.

Why should I include costs?

Brokerage, stamp duty, fund loads and other charges reduce what you really earn. Leaving them out overstates the return, especially on short holdings.

When is the annualised figure misleading?

For holdings shorter than a year, annualising multiplies a short-term result (a 10 % gain in 2 months becomes 77 % a year), which is rarely repeatable.