A company is considering two capital investments. Each requires an initial investment of $15,000 and has a 4 year useful life. Investment A has expected cash inflows of $5,000 each year for the 4 years for total cash inflows of $20,000. Investment B has the following expected cash flows: Year 1: $8,000; Year 2: $6,000; Year 3: $4,000; Year 4: $2,000; Total cash flows: $20,000. Calculate the payback period for Investment A.

3 years

Explanation:

The computation of the payback period is shown below:

Payback period = Initial investment : Net cash flow

where,

Initial investment is $15,000

And, the net cash flow would be

= Year 1 + year 2 + year 3 + year 4

= $5,000 + $5,000 + $5,000 + $5,000

= $20,000

As we see that the net cash flow is recovered in three years that means net cash flows and the initial investment are equal

So,

Payback period would be

= $15,000 : $15,000

= 3 years