France
France ROI calculator
Return on investment, ROI, measures how much you gained or lost on something relative to what you put into it, written as a percentage. Enter the amount you invested and the amount you got back, and this tool returns the cash profit, the total ROI, and, if you add the holding period, the annualised rate that return works out to each year. ROI is the common language of investing and business cases because it strips a result down to one comparable number: a 30 percent return is a 30 percent return whether the sum was a hundred or a million. The catch is that a raw ROI says nothing about how long the money was tied up, which is why the annualised figure matters. Doubling your money sounds impressive until you learn it took twenty years, an annual rate below 4 percent. Use this for shares, property, a marketing spend, a side project, or any decision where money goes out now and comes back later.
Return on investment is the profit or loss measured against what you put in. A 50 percent ROI means you ended with half as much again as you started. The annualised figure spreads that same total return evenly across the years held, so an investment that doubled in two years and one that doubled in ten can be compared fairly. ROI on its own ignores risk, tax, and the timing of any money paid in or out along the way.
How it works
- Enter the amount invested, the total you put in including any fees or upfront costs.
- Enter the amount returned, the final value or the total proceeds you received back.
- The tool subtracts the investment from the return to find the cash profit or loss.
- It divides that profit by the amount invested to give the total ROI as a percentage.
- Add the number of years held and it also shows the annualised ROI, the steady yearly rate that compounds to the same total return.
ROI = (returned - invested) / invested x 100; annualised = (returned / invested)^(1 / years) - 1
The total ROI is the profit, return minus the amount invested, divided by the amount invested and turned into a percentage. To annualise it, take the ratio of what you got back to what you put in, raise it to the power of one over the number of years, and subtract one. That undoes the compounding and reveals the steady yearly rate behind the total return. Because it is a geometric mean rather than a simple division, the annualised rate is always lower than the total ROI divided by the years.
- invested
- the total amount put in, including fees
- returned
- the final value or proceeds received back
- years
- how long the money was invested
- ROI
- profit as a percentage of the amount invested
A total return and the annual rate behind it
| 50% over 5 years | 8.4% a year | the worked example above |
| 100% over 10 years | 7.2% a year | doubling your money |
| 20% over 1 year | 20% a year | a single-year holding |
| 100% over 20 years | 3.5% a year | slow doubling, below many savings rates |
Worked example
You put 1,000 into a fund and sell it for 1,500 five years later: the profit is 500, a total ROI of 50 percent and a return multiple of 1.5 times your money. Spread over five years that is an annualised ROI of about 8.45 percent a year, because 1.0845 multiplied by itself five times reaches 1.5. The annualised figure is what lets you compare this against, say, a savings account paying 4 percent.
Key facts
- ROI compares a profit to the sum invested, so the same cash gain gives a higher ROI on a smaller stake.
- A total ROI says nothing about time; the annualised rate is what makes returns over different periods comparable.
- Because of compounding, a 100 percent total return over ten years is only about 7.2 percent a year.
- ROI ignores risk entirely, so it should never be the only number behind an investment decision.
Tips
- Always note the holding period alongside an ROI, because a return with no timescale can mislead you badly.
- Fold fees, commissions and taxes into the figures so the ROI reflects what you actually kept.
- Compare the annualised ROI against a low-risk benchmark such as a savings rate to judge whether the extra risk paid off.
- For projects with money flowing in and out over time, treat ROI as a headline and look at the internal rate of return for the detail.
Frequently asked questions
How is ROI different from profit?+
Profit is the cash you made; ROI puts that profit in proportion to what you risked. A 500 profit means more on a 1,000 stake (50 percent) than on a 10,000 stake (5 percent), and ROI captures that difference in one number.
What does annualised ROI mean?+
It is the constant yearly rate that, compounding each year, turns the amount invested into the amount returned over the holding period. It lets you compare investments held for different lengths of time. A 50 percent total return over five years is about 8.45 percent annualised.
Is a higher ROI always better?+
Not on its own. ROI ignores risk, so a high figure can come with a high chance of loss. It also ignores time unless you annualise it. Compare the annualised return against safer options and weigh the risk before deciding.
Should I include fees and taxes?+
For a true picture, yes. Add buying and selling fees to the amount invested and take tax off the amount returned. ROI is only as honest as the numbers you feed it, and leaving costs out flatters the result.
Can ROI be negative?+
Yes. If you get back less than you put in, the profit is negative and so is the ROI, which means a loss. Getting back 1,800 on a 2,000 investment is a 10 percent loss.
Does ROI account for money paid in along the way?+
No. Basic ROI assumes a single sum in and a single sum out. For investments with regular contributions or income, a measure such as the internal rate of return fits better, though ROI still gives a useful headline.
Things to watch
- A high ROI can hide high risk; the figure says nothing about the chance you could have lost money instead.
- Comparing total ROIs from investments held for different lengths of time is misleading, so annualise them first.
- Leaving out fees and tax overstates the return, sometimes turning a real-terms loss into an apparent gain.
Last updated: 2026
This is an estimate for general guidance, not financial, tax, legal or medical advice. Figures can change and individual circumstances vary. Always confirm with the official sources listed before making decisions.
Reviewed by Vikas Dulgunde. Editorial standards.