Skip to main content Skip to complementary content

IRR - chart function

IRR() returns the aggregated internal rate of return for a series of cash flows represented by the numbers in the expression given by value iterated over the chart dimensions.

These cash flows do not have to be even, as they would be for an annuity. However, the cash flows must occur at regular intervals, such as monthly or annually. The internal rate of return is the interest rate received for an investment consisting of payments (negative values) and income (positive values) that occur at regular periods. The function needs at least one positive and one negative value to calculate.

This function uses a simplified version of the Newton method for calculating the internal rate of return (IRR).

Syntax:  

IRR([TOTAL [<fld {,fld}>]] value)

Return data type: numeric

Arguments:  

Arguments
Argument Description
value The expression or field containing the data to be measured.
TOTAL

If the word TOTAL occurs before the function arguments, the calculation is made over all possible values given the current selections, and not just those that pertain to the current dimensional value, that is, it disregards the chart dimensions.

By using TOTAL [<fld {.fld}>], where the TOTAL qualifier is followed by a list of one or more field names as a subset of the chart dimension variables, you create a subset of the total possible values.

Defining the aggregation scope

Limitations:  

The parameter of the aggregation function must not contain other aggregation functions, unless these inner aggregations contain the TOTAL qualifier. For more advanced nested aggregations, use the advanced function Aggr, in combination with a specified dimension.

Text values, NULL values and missing values are disregarded.

Examples and results:  

Examples and results
Example Result
IRR(Payments)

0.1634

The payments are assumed to be periodic in nature, for example monthly.

Information noteThe Date field is used in the XIRR example where payments can be non-periodical as long as you provide the dates on which payments were made.

Data used in examples:

Cashflow:

LOAD 2013 as Year, * inline [

Date|Discount|Payments

2013-01-01|0.1|-10000

2013-03-01|0.1|3000

2013-10-30|0.1|4200

2014-02-01|0.2|6800

] (delimiter is '|');

Did this page help you?

If you find any issues with this page or its content – a typo, a missing step, or a technical error – let us know how we can improve!