Advantages and Disadvantages of the Payback Period

This guide dives deep into the pros and cons of this capital budgeting technique. It Is Simple A significant percentage of companies use employees with different backgrounds to analyze capital projects which is not only biased but a difficult process to understand. On the other hand, payback method looks at the number of years which make it simple and easy to understand. The most significant advantage of the payback method is its simplicity.

• For example, if a company wants to recoup the cost of a machine within 5 years of purchase, the maximum desired payback period of the company would be 5 years.
• In reality, projects are unlikely to have constant annual projected returns.
• The Pay-back Period Method is often defined as the length of time it takes an investment to generate cash flows equivalent to the original outlay.

And it does not consider the profitability of a project nor its return on investment. One of the biggest advantages of the payback period method is its simplicity. The method is extremely simple to understand, as it only requires one straightforward calculation. Hence, it’s an easy way to compare several projects and then to choose the project that has the shortest payback time. While there is no perfect way to handle accounting, investments, and budgeting in a business, there are certainly some methods that are going to be better than others. There are some very big issues to observe with a payback period method, the first being that it only looks at cash flow for a certain time frame.

How Pay-back Period Method Influences Managerial Economics

Your money should continuously work for you by providing the correct investment options if your main goal is business expansion. The payback period is the time required to recoup the cost of an investment or the amount of time required for an investor to break even. By the end of Year 4, the cumulative cash flow is ₦300,000, which is more than the initial investment. The cumulative cash flow at the end of Year 3 is ₦190,000, which is less than the initial investment. By the time value of money, I mean considering inflation and its impact on currency purchasing power.

Cash outflows include any fees or charges that are subtracted from the balance. A payback period is a comparative tool between investment and doing nothing. Still, it does not provide any other criteria for making a choice (except, perhaps, that the payback period should be less than infinity). Payback periods aid in calculating hmrc invoice requirements how long it will take for an investment’s initial expenditures to be recouped. Before making any judgments, this statistic is helpful, especially when a quick analysis of a potential investment initiative is required. Company XYZ is considering an investment in a project that requires an initial cash outflow of N100,000.

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Since the payback period only considers cash inflows and outflows until the initial investment has been recovered, it is often criticized for being insufficient. One must know some disadvantages of the payback period in general or for a project before considering it. One of the most important capital budgeting techniques businesses can practice is known as the payback period method or payback analysis.

2: Payback Period Method

The Hasty Rabbit Corporation is considering a $150,000 expansion to the production line that makes their top-selling sneaker – the Blazing Hare. The company receives a gross profit of $40 for each pair of sneakers, and the expansion will increase output by 1,250 pairs per year. The sales manager has assured upper management that Blazing Hare sneakers are in high demand, and he will be able to sell all of the increased production. Harold Averkamp (CPA, MBA) has worked as a university accounting instructor, accountant, and consultant for more than 25 years. Yarilet Perez is an experienced multimedia journalist and fact-checker with a Master of Science in Journalism. She has worked in multiple cities covering breaking news, politics, education, and more.

A third drawback of this method is that cash flows after the payback period are ignored. However, Projects B and C end after year 5, while Project D has a large cash flow that occurs in year 6, which is excluded from the analysis. The payback period method provides a simple calculation that the managers at Sam’s Sporting Goods can use to evaluate whether to invest in the embroidery machine.

Advantages

It is a measure of how long it takes for a company to recover its initial investment in a project. It is one of the simplest capital budgeting techniques and, for this reason, is commonly used to evaluate and compare capital projects. For instance, two projects may have the same payback period, but one generates more cash flow in the early years and the other generates more profitability in the later years. In this case, the payback method does not provide a strong indication as to which project to choose. People and corporations mainly invest their money to get paid back, which is why the payback period is so important. In essence, the shorter payback an investment has, the more attractive it becomes.

How to Calculate Payback Period in Excel – for non-regular cash flow returns

It has a significant role in risk examination and investment appraisal. The Pay-back Period Method is often defined as the length of time it takes an investment to generate cash flows equivalent to the original outlay. The calculation of the Pay-back period is typically expressed in years or months.

The payback approach is so straightforward that it neglects normal business conditions. Instead, many projects also require more funding in the years that follow. The payback technique is highly helpful in sectors with a high degree of uncertainty or that experience quick technological change. This uncertainty makes it challenging to forecast the coming year’s yearly cash inflows. Utilizing and working on projects with short payback periods helps lower the risk of a loss due to obsolescence.