Capital Budgeting: Long Range Planning

The capital budget intends to forecast where the business is going in the future and to make determinations on what will be needed to support the firm's plans to get there. Read this chapter to gain a better understanding of the decisions that are required to conduct long-range planning.

Capital budgeting in not-for-profit organizations

The concepts discussed in this chapter also apply to not-for-profit organizations, such as universities, school districts, cities, and not-for-profit hospitals. Since these organizations are not subject to as many taxes as profit-making organizations, the cash flows related to taxes are usually zero or near zero.


Understanding the learning objectives
  • Capital budgeting is the process of considering alternative capital projects and selecting those alternatives that provide the most profitable return on available funds, within the framework of company goals and objectives.
  • Poor capital budgeting decisions can cause a company to lose all or part of the funds originally invested in a project and can harm the company's competitive position in world markets.
  • Asset addition:

Net cash inflow after taxes = ( Net cash inflow before taxes x ( 1 - Tax rate )) +( Depreciation expense x Tax rate )

  • Asset replacement:

Net cash inflow after taxes = ( Annual net cash inflows! savings) before taxes X( 1 - Tax rate ))+(Additional annual depreciation expense X Tax rate)

  •  \text{Payback period} = \dfrac{\text{Initial cash outlay}}{\text{Annual net cash inflows ( benefits)}}
  •  \text{Unadjusted rate of return} = \dfrac{\text{Average annual income after taxes}}{\text{Average amount of investment}}
  • All expected after-tax cash inflows and outflows from the proposed investment are discounted to their present values using the company's required minimum rate of return as a discount rate. The net present value of the proposed investment is the difference between the present value of the annual net cash in flows and the present value of the required cash outflows
  •  \text{Profitability index} = \dfrac{\text{Present value of net cash inflows}}{\text{Initial cash outlay ( present value of cash outlays if future outlays are required )}}
  • The time-adjusted rate of return equates the present value of expected after-tax net cash inflows from an investment with the cost of the investment by finding the rate at which the net present value of the project is zero. If the time-adjusted rate of return equals or exceeds the cost of capital or the target rate of return, the project should be considered. If the rate is less than the minimum rate, the project should be rejected.
  • The investment in working capital causes the net present value to be lower than it would be if the working capital investment is ignored. Therefore, the required return of a project must be higher to account for the investment in working capital.


Demonstration problem

Barkley Company is considering three different investments; the following data relate to these investments:

 

Expected Before-Tax Net

Expected after-tax net

Expected life

Investment

Initial cash outlay

Cash inflow per year

Cash inflow per year

Of proposals* (years)

A

$ 50,000

$ 13,333

$ 10,000

10

B

60,000

12,000

8,800

15

C

75,000

15,000

10,500

20

 *No estimated salvage value. Use straight-line depreciation.

The income tax rate is 40 per cent. The salvage value of each investment is zero. Management requires a minimum return on investments of 14 per cent.

Rank these proposals using the following selection techniques:

  1. Payback period.
  2. Unadjusted rate of return.
  3. Profitability index.
  4. Time-adjusted rate of return.

 

Solution to demonstration problem
  1. Payback period:

 

(a)

(b)

(a)/(b)

 

 

Annual after-tax

Payback period

Proposal

Investment

Cash inflow

(years)

A

$ 50,000

$ 10,000

5.00

B

60,000

8,800

6.82

C

75,000

10,500

7.14

 

 b. Unadjusted rate of return:

  (a) (b) (c) (d)=[(b – c) x (1 - .
4)]
(e)
Proposal Average Investment Average annual before-tax net Cash inflow Average Depreciation Average Annual Income Rate Of Return
A $ 25,000 $ 13,333 $5,000 $ 5,000 20%
B 30,000 12,000 4,000 4,800 16%
C 37,500 15,000 3,750 6,750 18%

The proposals in order of desirability are A, C, and B.

c. Profitability index:

  (a) (b) (c) = (a) x (b) (d) (c)x(d)
Proposal Cash inflow Value factor at 14% Present value of Annual Initial cash Profitability
A $ 10,000* 5.21612 Net cash inflow Outlay Index
B 8,800 6.14217 $ 52,161 $ 50,000 1.04
C 10,500 6.62313 54,051 60,000 0.9

*This amount was given. However, the amount can also be calculated as follows:

Expected before-tax net cash inflow $ 13,333
Less depreciation 5,000
Taxable income $ 8,333
1-Tax rate X60%
After-tax annual income $ 5,000
Add back depreciation 5,000
Annual after-tax net cash inflow $ 10,000

The proposals in order of desirability are A, C, and B. (But neither B nor C should be considered acceptable since each has a profitability index of less than one.)

d. Time-adjusted rate of return:

Proposal Rate How found
A 15% (slightly above) ($ 50,000/$ 10,000) = Factor of 5 in 10 period row
B 12% (slightly below) ($ 60,000/$ 8,800) = Factor of 6.82 in 15 period row
C 13% (slightly below) ($ 75,000/$ 10,500) = Factor of 7.14 in 20 period row

 The proposals in order of desirability are A, C, and B. (But neither B nor C earns the minimum rate of return.)