Try this SMART formula to calculate YTD in Excel (works for Financial Years too!)
What is the YTD formula?
To complete a YTD calculation, use the following formula:
Year to date is equal to (Specified date value / Specified date value’s beginning) – 1.
Remember that you can measure the change in a value from a start date to a specific date in any circumstance by using the YTD formula. Portfolios, financial data, earnings, company expenses, stock returns, annual income, bond returns, and more are all included.
What is a YTD calculation?
The phrase “year to date” describes a specific time frame that begins on the first day of the fiscal year or calendar year and ends on this date or a specific date prior to the end of the year. Professionals frequently use YTD calculations for financial reporting, business trend analysis, data comparison, annualizing investments, and calculating portfolio return.
Organizational accountants frequently use the phrase “fiscal year” to refer to time. “A fiscal year lasts 12 months, but it doesn’t always start on January 1.” This is a crucial distinction because not all businesses operate under the same fiscal year, which means that different businesses may use different dates to calculate the YTD. It is customary to assume that the YTD is January 1st of the calendar year in cases where the organization doesn’t specify a start date for the fiscal year.
For instance, the fiscal year-to-date (YTD) calculation period for a tech company would be from April 1 to July 31 if its fiscal year began on April 1 and it is currently July 31. the period from January 1 to July 31 for the calendar year-to-date YTD calculation
Benefits of calculating YTD
YTD calculations are helpful because they offer a way to assess an organization’s financial standing on an ongoing basis without having to wait until the end of the fiscal year. The YTD formula has many advantages for organizations, such as:
Year to date statements
Since the start of the fiscal year, a company’s finances are calculated using YTD statements. To spot financial anomalies or trends, a company’s management team can periodically compare historical YTD financial statements with current YTD financial statements.
Year to date returns
YTD returns determine an investment’s profit or loss since the start of the calendar year. Information about year-to-date returns aids analysts and investors in evaluating the performance of portfolios and investments.
Year to date earnings
YTD earnings measure a person’s, a contractor’s, or a business’s income since the start of the calendar year. On a person’s pay stub, year-to-date earnings frequently appear. Businesses and contractors use YTD earnings to project quarterly tax payments or monitor financial objectives.
Year to date net pay
The difference between employee earnings and earnings withholdings is calculated as YTD net pay. When workers need to know their net pay, it typically appears on their pay stub and consists of their earnings since January 1 less any taxes and benefits that were withheld.
Month to date
The month-to-date (MTD) calculation takes into account all days that have completed business since the beginning of the current month. Since there are still open business transactions on that day, the current date is not included. MTD works the same way as YTD. MTD statements are used by individuals, investors, and business owners to evaluate business profits, investment performance, or income for the current month.
How to calculate YTD
Here are the steps for calculating the YTD formula:
1. Collect data
Let’s say you want to figure out a portfolio’s YTD return on investment. You should ascertain the portfolio’s value on January 1 and its current value as of today.
Use $10,000 as the initial value and $15,000 as the current value as an example.
2. Insert data
Put your data into the formula as follows using the YTD method:
Year to date is equal to (Specified date value / Specified date value’s beginning) – 1.
Year to date = ($15,000 / $10,000) – 1
3. Solve
Now that the formula contains your data, you can use fundamental algebraic knowledge to solve the formula. The result should always be a decimal.
Year to date = ($15,000 / $10,000) – 1
Year to date = ($1.50) – 1
Year to date = 0.50
4. Covert to percentage
Due to the fact that it displays the return produced by each dollar of the initial investment, professionals use YTD data in the form of a percentage. Multiply the YTD total you just calculated by 100 to get the percentage:
Year to date = 0.50
Year to date = 0.50 x 100
Year to date = 50%
5. Analyze the meaning
Once you know your YTD percentage, you can evaluate your portfolio’s return on investment. Your return on investment in this case is 50% so far this year. Your investment portfolio increased from $10,000 to $15,000, representing a 50% return. You made a 50% gain, or $0, on every dollar you invested initially. 50.
YTD example
Here are two YTD calculation examples:
YTD portfolio returns
Mark built a diversified portfolio on January 1 by investing $80,000 in stocks and $170,000 in bonds. 30% ($80,000 / $170,000) of the portfolio is allocated to stocks, and 70% ($170,000 / $250,000) is allocated to bonds. Mark wants to know the YTD return on his diversified portfolio on August 1 several months later. Mark uses the information from his portfolio, which indicates that the current value of his portfolio is $271,350, to complete the YTD calculation. He then follows these steps:
Year to date = ($271,350 / $250,000) – 1
Year to date = 1.0854 – 1
Year to date = 0.0854
To get a percentage, Mark multiplies the YTD by 100.
Year to date = 0.0854 x 100
Year to date = 8.54%
From January 1 to August 1 of this year, Mark’s portfolio has a YTD return of 8. 54%.
YTD stock returns
Mark bought some stock with a share price of $16. 00 at the beginning of the calendar year. On February 12, the company paid out dividends of $0. 75 per share. By March 17, the share price was $15. 25. Mark wants to calculate this stocks YTD return. He would enter the data into the YTD formula and solve as follows:
Year to date = ($16. 00 + $0. 75 / $15. 25) – 1.
Year to date = ($16.75 / $15.25) – 1
Year to date = 1.0984 – 1
Year to date = 0.0984
To get a percentage, he multiplies the YTD by 100.
Year to date = 0.0984 x 100
Year to date = 9.84%
Marks YTD return on his stock is 9. 84%. It’s important to remember that the calculated return on investment includes all gains, including any dividends received.
FAQ
How do you calculate YTD in Excel?
Examples of Year to Date Next, multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage by dividing the difference by the value on the first day. For example, if a portfolio was worth $100,000 on Jan. 1, and it is currently worth $150,000, yielding a 50% YTD return.
What is YTD amount?
Year-to-date (YTD) payroll is the sum of all payroll expenses incurred by your business from the beginning of the year (whether a calendar year or a fiscal year) through the most recent payroll period. YTD is calculated based on your employees’ gross incomes.
