CORPORATE FINANCE
Capital Budgeting Project Comparison
Compare project cash flows using NPV, IRR, payback, discounted payback, profitability index and MIRR. Explore why rankings can differ as the discount rate changes.
01 · Shared assumptions
Set the scenario, compare projects
Advanced MIRR assumptions · Linked to discount rate
Finance and reinvestment rates follow the discount rate until manually edited. Custom values remain unchanged when the discount rate moves.
Use one currency and year-end cash flows. Amounts are generic monetary units; no currency conversion. All inputs are calculated in this browser only.
02 · Project cash flows
How much, and when?
03 · Compare side by side
Six perspectives, different rankings
| Metric | Project A | Project B |
|---|---|---|
| NPV | N/A | N/A |
| IRR | N/A | N/A |
| Payback | N/A | N/A |
| Discounted payback | N/A | N/A |
| PI | N/A | N/A |
| MIRR | N/A | N/A |
How to interpret
Enter initial investments and annual cash flows, or load the example to start comparing.
04 · Discount-rate sensitivity
NPV × Discount rate
Discount rate changes NPV, discounted payback and PI, while IRR stays unchanged. MIRR moves with linked assumptions only.
NPV curves appear after valid project and discount-rate inputs.
Metrics and assumptions
- NPV
- Net present value of all cash flows at the selected discount rate; measures absolute value added.
- IRR
- Annual rate that makes NPV zero, independent of the selected discount rate. Nonconventional flows may have multiple or no IRRs.
- Payback
- First time undiscounted cumulative cash flow reaches zero; interpolated within the recovery year.
- Discounted payback
- First time discounted cumulative cash flow reaches zero.
- PI
- PV of net future cash flows divided by initial investment, not NPV divided by investment.
- MIRR
- Annual rate connecting financed negative flows at the present and reinvested positive flows at the final year.
This page compares metrics without recommending a project. Payback ignores cash flows after recovery. All projects share one annual timeline, with no assumed terminal value.