ROI calculator
Return on investment, with additional costs counted properly.
Fill in the fields and the result will appear here automatically.
Return on investment compares profit with everything the investment cost. Additional costs enter both the numerator and the denominator, because they are as much a part of the investment as the principal — counting them only against profit flatters the result.
How it works
Formula and logic
ROI = (received − invested − additional) ÷ (invested + additional) × 100.
Example
Received 130,000, invested 100,000 and additional cost 5,000: total 105,000, profit 25,000, ROI ≈ 23.81%. Zero received with costs of 100,000 gives ROI −100%.
Fields and units
- Amount received — monetary units
- Amount invested — monetary units
- Additional costs — monetary units
How to use
- — Enter the total amount received, rather than profit alone.
- — Enter the original investment and separate nonnegative additional costs; a blank additional field means zero.
- — Read ROI relative to all costs; account for time and risk separately when comparing investments.
Method and limitations
- Calculation method
- Formula and logic
- Limitation
- A whole-period result without annualisation, inflation, intermediate cash flows or automatic taxation.
FAQ
Why do additional costs appear twice?
They reduce profit and they increase what was invested. Counting them only against profit overstates the return.
How is this different from advertising ROI?
The formula is the same; the difference is what counts as the investment. The advertising version uses campaign spend and campaign revenue.
Does ROI account for time?
No. Whole-period ROI is not an annual rate. With no intermediate cash flows, the annual rate over t years can be calculated separately as (received ÷ all costs)^(1/t) − 1; this form has no cash-flow dates.
What does a negative ROI mean?
Less came back than went in. The calculator shows it rather than clamping to zero.