A Step by Step SROI Calculation Example and How to Check an SROI Report

Many social program reports now show an SROI ratio, such as 3:1 or 5:1. The question is how that number was calculated and how well it holds up if one assumption changes. This article gives one three year SROI calculation example in rupiah and a quick way to check a report. The basics and the six stages of SROI are covered in What Is SROI

The Example Program

All figures below are hypothetical and rounded, for illustration only. A food business mentoring program for 120 women in one subdistrict costs Rp500 million. After one year, 90 participants record an average of Rp6 million in additional net income per year, and 60 participants stop borrowing from moneylenders, saving an average of Rp1.2 million a year in interest

From Gross Value to Impact

The SROI Guide multiplies the quantity of an outcome by its financial proxy, then deducts deadweight, displacement and attribution. For the income outcome, this example uses 25% deadweight (incomes in a comparison group also rose), 10% displacement (some buyers switched from other traders) and 20% attribution (the district cooperative office also trained the same participants)

Drop Off and Discounting

The income outcome is assumed to last three years and fade by 30% each year, while the interest savings last two years and fade by 20%. The totals are Rp334.8 million in year one, Rp238.7 million in year two and Rp142.9 million in year three. At an illustrative discount rate of 6%, the present value is Rp648 million. The SROI ratio is about 1.3:1, and the net SROI ratio about 0.3:1

For comparison, if all deductions and drop off are ignored, the same ratio looks like 3.15:1. This gap is what the SROI Guide calls the risk of overclaiming

Sensitivity Testing: How Robust Is the Number

The SROI Guide suggests calculating how far each estimate must change for the ratio to reach 1:1. In this example, the ratio falls to 1:1 if income deadweight rises to about 44%, attribution to about 41%, drop off to about 58%, the income proxy falls to about Rp4.5 million, or only about 67 participants see their income rise. Changing the discount rate from 6% to 3.5% or 10% only moves the ratio between 1.35:1 and 1.22:1

In other words, the 1.3:1 figure is fairly fragile. That is why the 2026 Social Value International standards ask for the ratio to be reported as a range, not a single number

How to Check an SROI Report

1. Is the number of beneficiaries counted the number who actually changed, not all participants
2. Does every proxy have a source, and was its value checked with stakeholders
3. Are deadweight, displacement and attribution stated together with the basis for each estimate
4. Are the duration and drop off reasonable for the outcome
5. Is the discount rate stated and explained
6. Is there a sensitivity test, and is the ratio presented as a range

A report that passes these six questions is not necessarily right, but others can check and repeat it. The full 15 question checklist is in the PDF report, available in Indonesian

Conclusion

An SROI ratio is only as strong as the assumptions behind it. This example shows that honest deductions can cut the headline number by more than half, and that small assumptions can reverse the conclusion. Read the ratio together with its range and the sources of its assumptions

SIDIA's Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning service helps design the data collection that an evaluative SROI needs