The IRR measures profit. It therefore measures return $"$on$"$ investment and not capital recovery. However, any investment that returns more than it cost will be a profitable investment and will have an IRR that is both positive and measureable. Lets consider the following example. Suppose that you purchase an appartment complex at the beginning of Year $1($or the end of Year $0)$ for $$100,000.$ You expect to earn $$15,000$ per year for the next $4$ years at the end of each year, but at the end of the year $5$ years from now you expect cash flows to equal $$115,000.$ Here is what these cash flows look like in a table:

$\backslash$table$[[$n$,$amount$],[$CF$0,$$$(100,000)$