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Business Analysis and Decision-Making

Net present value and discounted cash flow

  • 2 things to know
  • A2 Unit 3

Overview

What is meant by the time value of money, discounted cash flow and discount factor.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Explain why discount factors get smaller the further into the future you go.

Key term

Define net present value.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Explain what is meant by the time value of money.

    Model answer

    Money received in the future is worth less than the same sum today, because today's money could be invested to earn a return and because inflation erodes its purchasing power.

  2. 2

    What is discounted cash flow?

    Model answer

    Discounted cash flow is a method that reduces each future cash flow to its value in today's money before the flows are compared with the cost of the investment.

  3. 3

    What is a discount factor?

    Model answer

    A discount factor is the number a future cash flow is multiplied by to convert it into its present value at a chosen rate of interest.

  4. 4

    Explain why discount factors get smaller the further into the future you go.

    Model answer

    The longer the wait, the more interest that money could have earned in the meantime, so a given sum is worth progressively less in today's terms.

  5. 5

    Define net present value.

    Model answer

    Net present value is the total of the discounted future cash inflows from an investment, less the cost of the investment.

  6. 6

    State the decision rule for net present value.

    Model answer

    A project is worth undertaking if its net present value is positive, and where funds are limited the project with the highest net present value is preferred.

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