Question

X Company must replace one of its current machines with either Machine A or Machine B. The useful life of both machines is seven years. Machine A costs $52,000, and Machine B costs $71,000. Estimated annual cash flows with the two machines are as follows: Year Machine A Machine B 1 $-6,000 $-7,000 2 -8,000 -4,000 3 -8,000 -3,000 4 -8,000 -3,000 5 -6,000 -3,000 6 -5,000 -2,000 7 -4,000 -2,000 If X Company buys Machine B instead of Machine A, what is the payback period (in years)?

Answer 1

Answer: 0 years

Explanation:

The payback period calculates the amount of time taken to recoup the initial investment made in a project or in the purchase of a machine or building. It calculates how long the cumulative cash flow generated from a project equals the cost of the project.

The payback period for both machines are zero years because the cumulative cash flow is less than the cost of the machine.

For machine A - cumulative cash flow- $-47,000 is less than -$71,000

For machine B - cumulative cash flow, -$7,000 is less than -$52,000

Explanations on how the figures were derived is found in the attached tables.