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Payback period calculator

Find regular and discounted payback from growing or irregular annual cash flows.

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  1. Use the example values or enter your own measurements.
  2. Calculate, then copy the result or download the available details.

Example

Input

17,500 initial, first inflow 4,700, growth 8%, discount 6%

Expected result

Payback ≈ 3.379 years, discounted ≈ 3.841 years

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Good to know

The calculation runs in your browser. Use consistent units in fields with no explicit unit.

Calculation method

Accumulate cash flows from the initial outlay. On the first crossing of zero, interpolate the fraction of that year. Discounted cash flows divide year k by (1+r)^k. A constant stream uses the inverse annuity formula for discounted payback.

Ck=∑i=0kFi,FiPV=Fi(1+r)iC_k=\sum_{i=0}^{k}F_i,\qquad F_i^{\mathrm{PV}}=\frac{F_i}{(1+r)^i}

Calculation mode

Regular or growing cash flows
  • Initial investment
  • First-year cash flow
  • Annual growth or decline · %
  • Years
  • Annual discount rate · %
Irregular annual cash flows
  • Initial investment
  • Subsequent annual cash flows
  • Annual discount rate · %