Hi there!

Great question! While both NPV and XNPV are used to calculate the present value of future cash flows, they differ in how they take into account the timing of those cash flows.

NPV assumes that the cash flows occur at equal time intervals, such as annually or quarterly. However, XNPV takes into account the actual dates on which the cash flows occur. This means that if the cash flows are not evenly spaced, XNPV will give a more accurate result than NPV.

To answer your question, if the cash flows occur at equal time intervals, then NPV and XNPV should give the same result. However, if the cash flows occur on specific dates, such as irregularly timed investments or loan repayments, then XNPV will give a more accurate result.

Here's an example to illustrate this:

1. Let's say you have an investment that pays $1,000 annually for 5 years, with a discount rate of 10%.
2. If you use the NPV function in Excel, you would enter "=NPV(10%,1000,1000,1000,1000,1000)" and get a result of $3,791.
3. However, if you use the XNPV function and enter the actual dates on which the cash flows occur, such as "=XNPV(10%,{1/1/2022,1/1/2023,1/1/2024,1/1/2025,1/1/2026},{1000,1000,1000,1000,1000})", you would get a result of $3,486.
4. This is because XNPV takes into account the time value of money for each individual cash flow, rather than assuming they occur at equal intervals.

I hope this helps clarify the difference between NPV and XNPV!