Project ROI compares the benefits a project delivers (cost savings, extra revenue, avoided costs) with everything it costs to deliver. Enter the investment, any additional costs and the total value returned over the project's life; add the number of years to see the annualized return, which lets a two-year project be compared fairly with a five-year one.
Count benefits conservatively and costs fully, including internal time. A project that only pays back after its useful life is not a project worth running.
ROI Calculator
Return on investment is the simplest way to compare what you got back with what you put in. The ROI calculator takes the amount invested, any additional costs, and the amount returned. Investing $10,000 and getting $13,500 back is a $3,500 profit and a 35% return.
A plain ROI figure ignores time, which makes a 35% return over two years look identical to 35% over ten. Enter a holding period and the calculator also shows the annualized return, the compound annual growth rate that would produce the same result: 35% over two years is about 16.2% a year. Use the annualized figure whenever you compare investments held for different lengths of time.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as project return?
Any measurable financial benefit: revenue gained, costs saved, penalties avoided, working capital released. Convert soft benefits to money only when you can defend the estimate.
What ROI should a project achieve?
It should beat what the same money could earn elsewhere, plus a margin for the risk of delivery. Many companies require 20–30% for discretionary projects.
Should I use NPV instead?
For multi-year projects with uneven cash flows, yes; the NPV and IRR calculators handle those. ROI is fine for a quick screen.
