In most cases, investors use an IRR calculator or an Excel spreadsheet, which has a built-in function to determine a project's IRR. When calculating IRR, you're solving for an NPV of zero.

The NPV is zero if the discount rate equals the IRR. The project will break even and have an NPV of zero if the cost of capital equals the return of capital. The Excel formula for calculating the ...

How to Calculate IRR in Excel Using the IRR function in Excel makes calculating the IRR easy. Excel does all the necessary work for you, arriving at the discount rate you are seeking to find.