Discounted Payback Period: Definition, Formula, Example & Calculator

Next, we divide the number by the year-end cash flow in order to get the percentage of the time period left over after the project has been paid back. Since the project’s life is calculated at 5 years, we can infer that the project returns a positive NPV. ROI is the amount of money gain by doing action divided by the cost of the action. While the payback period is the time taken to equalize the total investment and total cost.

• It shows the number of years you will need to get that money back based on present
  returns.
• Inflows are any items that go into the investment, such as deposits, dividends, or earnings.
• This can be done using the present value function and a table in a spreadsheet program.
• The reason is that the longer the money is tied up, there are fewer chances to invest it anywhere else.
• It’s important to consider other financial metrics and factors specific to the investment before making a decision.

For instance, if you’re paying an investor in the future, it should include the opportunity cost. Online financial calculator which helps to calculate the discounted payback period (DPP) from the Initial Investment Amount, discount https://personal-accounting.org/discounted-payback-period-capital-budgeting/ rate and the number of years. In project management, this measure is often used as a part of a cost-benefit analysis, supplementing other profitability-focused indicators such as internal rate of return or return on investment.

Discounted Cash Flow

In other words, DPP is used to
calculate the period in which the initial investment is paid back. The basic method of the discounted payback period is taking the future estimated cash flows of a project and discounting them to the present value. Finding the payback period corresponds to finding the number of years where the initial negative outlay is matched by positive cash inflows, after discounting the cash flows. In this example, the cumulative discounted
cash flow does not turn positive at all.

• It can be used by homeowners and businesses to calculate the return on energy-efficient technologies such as solar panels and insulation, including maintenance and upgrades.
• Comparing various profitability metrics for all projects is important when making a well-informed decision.
• As a result, payback period is best used in conjunction with other metrics.
• As a result, the payback period may yield a positive result, whereas the discounted payback period yields a negative outcome.

One observation to make from the example above is that the discounted payback period of the project is reached exactly at the end of a year. In other circumstances, we may see projects where the payback occurs during, rather than at the end of, a given year. The repayment of investment in the form of cash flows over the life of assets. When we need to calculate the cumulative net cash flow for the irregular cash flow, use the following formula.

Payback Period Calculator

It is a useful way to work out
how long it takes to get your capital back from the cash flows. It shows the number of years you will need to get that money back based on present
returns. Our calculator uses the time
value of money so you can see how well an investment is performing. The payback period is the time it takes an investment to break even (generate enough cash flows to cover the initial cost). Certain businesses have a payback cutoff which is essential to consider when proceeding with investment projects. A discounted payback period is a type of payback period that uses discounted cash flows to calculate the time it takes an investment to pay back its initial cash flow.

The discounted payback period is a modified version of the payback period that accounts for the time value of money. Both metrics are used to calculate the amount of time that it will take for a project to “break even,” or to get the point where the net cash flows generated cover the initial cost of the project. Both the payback period and the discounted payback period can be used to evaluate the profitability and feasibility of a specific project. The shorter a discounted payback period is means the sooner a project or investment will generate cash flows to cover the initial cost. A general rule to consider when using the discounted payback period is to accept projects that have a payback period that is shorter than the target timeframe. For instance, a $2,000 investment at the start of the first year that returns $1,500 after the first year and $500 at the end of the second year has a two-year payback period.

Cash Flow Projections and DPP Calculation

These two calculations, although similar, may not return the same result due to the discounting of cash flows. For example, projects with higher cash flows toward the end of a project’s life will experience greater discounting due to compound interest. For this reason, the payback period may return a positive figure, while the discounted payback period returns a negative figure. The period of time that a project or investment takes for the present value of future cash flows to equal the initial cost provides an indication of when the project or investment will break even. The point after that is when cash flows will be above the initial cost.

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The project is expected to return $1,000 each period for the next five periods, and the appropriate discount rate is 4%. The discounted payback period calculation begins with the -$3,000 cash outlay in the starting period. It’s simply a measure on the length of time it would take to get back the invested funds. If it takes three years to recover the cost of investment, then the payback period is three years. Because of the formula’s simplicity, many analysts prefer using the method.

Getting repaid or recovering the initial cost of a project or investment should be achieved as quickly as it allows. However, not all projects and investments have the same time horizon, so the shortest possible payback period needs to be nested within the larger context of that time horizon. For example, the payback period on a home improvement project can be decades while the payback period on a construction project may be five years or less. One way corporate financial analysts do this is with the payback period. Suppose that a business makes a $10,000 investment that will generate $2,000 in additional revenue every year into the foreseeable future. This means that the initial investment will be $10,000 and that the annual cash flow would be $2,000.

Average cash flows represent the money going into and out of the investment. Inflows are any items that go into the investment, such as deposits, dividends, or earnings. Cash outflows include any fees or charges that are subtracted from the balance. From another perspective, the payback period is when an investment breaks even from an accounting standpoint. Discounted payback, in contrast, includes the time value of money, so it is viewed from a financial perspective.

Real Function Calculators

The payback rule is stated as” The time taken to payback the investments”. The reason is that the longer the money is tied up, there are fewer chances to invest it anywhere else. The two calculated values – the Year number and the fractional amount – can be added together to arrive at the estimated payback period.

The numbers used in this example are stemming from the case study introduced in our project business case article where you will also find the results of the simple payback period method. In this analysis, 3 project alternatives are compared with each other, using the discounted payback period as one of the success measures. Projects with higher cash flows toward the end of their life will experience more significant discounting.