Tools · Investment / ROI

Investment return calculator

Whether a project clears the bar you actually set — not a generic one. Includes what happens if the benefits come in lower than you hoped, which is the part most business cases quietly skip.

The project

What is it? Just for your own notesUp-front investment ($)Benefit per year ($)Cost saved or extra profit — not extra revenueOngoing cost per year ($)Licences, maintenance, the person who runs itHow many years will it last?Your hurdle rate (%)The return this has to beat to be worth doing. If you have never set one, 15–20% is a normal bar.

Runs entirely in your browser

Clears your bar comfortablyAt 22.8%, this returns well above the 18% you said it had to beat. Payback lands at 2.8 years and it is worth $5,035 in today’s money.

Net benefit / year

$16,000

Payback

2.8 yrs

NPV at 18%

$5,035

Return (IRR)

22.8%

Total return over 5 yrs

77.8%

Lifetime net

$35,000

If it underdelivers

If the benefit lands 20% below plan — which happens more often than not — payback stretches to 3.5 years, the return falls to 13% and net present value becomes -$4,972. That no longer clears your 18% bar. Worth deciding now whether you would still want it in that case.

This answers the arithmetic. If you want to know why the benefit number looks the way it does — and whether it will hold — that’s a conversation, and it costs you nothing.

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