Use Discounted Cash Flow Models to Make Capital Investment Decisions

Final Summary of the Discounted Cash Flow Models

The internal rate of return (IRR) and the net present value (NPV) methods are types of discounted cash flow analysis that require taking estimated future payments from a project and discounting them into present values. The difference between the two methods is that the NPV calculation determines the project's estimated return in dollars and the IRR provides the percentage rate of return from a project needed to break even.

When the NPV is determined to be $0, the present value of the cash inflows and the present value of the cash outflows are equal. For example, assume that the present value of the cash inflows is $10,000 and the present value of the cash outflows is also $10,000. In this example, the NPV would be $0. At a net present value of zero, the IRR would be exactly equal to the interest rate that was used to perform the NPV calculation. For example, in the previous example, where both the cash inflows and the cash outflows have present values of $10,000 and the NPV is $0, assume that they were discounted at an 8% interest rate. If you were to then calculate the internal rate of return, the IRR would be 8%, the same interest rate that gave us an NPV of $0.

Overall, it is important to understand that a company must consider the time value of money when making capital investment decisions. Knowing the present value of a future cash flow enables a company to better select between alternatives. The net present value compares the initial investment cost to the present value of future cash flows and requires a positive outcome before investment. The internal rate of return also considers the present value of future cash flows but considers profitability stated in terms of percentage of return on the investment or project. These models allow two or more options to be compared to eliminate bias with raw financial figures.