Question

A firm is evaluating a proposal which has an initial investment of $50,000 and has cash flows of $15,000 per year for five years. The payback period of the project is ________.

Answer 1

Answer:

3 1/3 years

Explanation:

Payback period is the time required for the inflows from a project to be equal to the initial outflow for the project. It is a key consideration in capital budgeting. It is usually assumed that the outlay or initial outflow is made in year 0 and the first inflow comes in after a year.

Year       Cash outflow      Cash inflow           Balance

0                ($50,000)                   -                ($50,000)

1                         -                   $15,000           ($35,000)

2                        -                    $15,000          ($20,000)

3                        -                    $15,000           ($5,000)

4                      -                      $15,000           $10,000

5                       -                    $15,000            $25,000

Hence the payback period

= 3 years and 5000/15000 * 12 months

= 3 years 4 months

= 3 1/3 years