How to Calculate NPV for Irregular Dates with XNPV in Excel

Value a warehouse solar project whose rebate and savings credits arrive on uneven dates, using exact day counts.

You will learn to

• Discount cash flows by their actual dates
• Use XNPV in a go / no-go decision
• Find the break-even price of an investment

How it works

XNPV(rate, values, dates) works like NPV but discounts each cash flow by the exact number of days since the first date, using a 365-day year. Unlike NPV, the first cash flow is not discounted, so the upfront payment goes inside the range: =XNPV(8%,C2:C8,A2:A8).

Use XNPV whenever money arrives on irregular dates — rebates, milestone payments, uneven rent. The values and dates ranges must be the same size, and the first date should be the earliest.

=XNPV(F2,C2:C8,A2:A8)