# How to calculate ROI in Excel

Subtract the cost from the return and divide by the cost: `=(C2-B2)/B2`, formatted as a percentage.

**Excel:** `=(C2-B2)/B2` (Every current version)

**Google Sheets:** the same formula works.

## Example

Sample data (row 1 is the header):

| A | B | C | D |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Campaign | Cost | Revenue | ROI |
| Search ads | 12000 | 30600 |  |
| Social ads | 8500 | 11050 |  |
| Email | 1800 | 9900 |  |
| Trade show | 22000 | 19800 |  |

Formula in D2, filled to D5: `=(C2-B2)/B2`

Result: 155.0%; 30.0%; 450.0%; -10.0%

## How it works

ROI is the gain as a share of what you spent. Search ads cost $12,000 and brought in $30,600, a gain of $18,600, which is 155% of the cost. A negative ROI, like the trade show's, means the money came back smaller than it went out.

## Other ways

- `=C2/B2-1`: The same ratio in fewer characters.
- `=C2/B2`: Return on ad spend (ROAS) divides revenue by cost without subtracting it. (ROAS: 2.55 for search ads, which reads as 255%.)

## Common mistakes

- Use profit, not revenue, when the campaigns have different margins: revenue overstates the return.
- ROI ignores time: 50% over five years is much worse than 50% in one. Annualize it with `=(1+D2)^(1/years)-1`.

## Questions

**How do I calculate the ROI of all campaigns together?**

Use the totals, not the average of the percentages: `=(SUM(C2:C5)-SUM(B2:B5))/SUM(B2:B5)`.

**How do I calculate annualized ROI?**

Spread it over the years held: `=(1+D2)^(1/3)-1` for three years.

Every formula and result on this page was checked by running it in the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine on 2026-10-30.

Source: https://spreadsheetpractice.com/formulas/calculate-roi