Question

Stenson, Inc., imposes a payback cutoff of three years for its international investment projects. Assume the company has the following two projects available. Year Cash Flow A Cash Flow B 0 –$ 64,000 –$ 109,000 1 26,500 28,500 2 34,400 33,500 3 28,500 25,500 4 14,500 231,000 What is the payback period for each project?

Answer 1

Stenson, Inc.

The payback period for each project is:

Project A = 3 years

Project B = 4 years

Step-by-step explanation:

a) Data and Calculations:

Year Cash Flow A Cash Flow B

0 –$ 64,000 –$ 109,000

1 26,500 28,500

2 34,400 33,500

3 28,500 25,500

4 14,500 231,000

Total inflow $103,900 $318,500

b) The payback period is the time when the cash outflow is recouped. For project A, the payback period occurs in year 3. For project B, the payback period occurs in year 4. Based on the company's cutoff of three years, Project B may not be accepted even with its large cash inflow in year 4. Therefore, the best decision will be to discount the cash inflows with a suitable rate of interest. This will help Stenson, Inc. to decide between accepting Project A or Project B.