Question

If the company is using the payback period method and it requires a payback of three years or less, which project(s) should be selected?

Answer 1

Answer: Project X

Explanation:

The Payback period is the amount of time it would take for the cash inflows accruing from an investment to payoff the cost of the investment.

Project X has a constant cashflow of $24,000 for 3 years and a cost of $68,000 for the Payback period is;

= 68,000/24,000

= 2.83 years

Project Y has an uneven cash flow with a cost of $60,000. Payback is calculated as;

= Year before payback + Amount left to be paid/cashflow in year of payback

Year before payback = 4,000 + 26,000 + 26,000

= $56,000

This means that the third year is the year before payback.

60,000 - 56,000 = $4,000

Payback period = 3 + 4,000/20,000

= 3.2 years

Based on a Payback period of 3 years, only Project X should be chosen as it pays back in less than 3 years.