Julia Kagan is a financial/consumer journalist and former senior editor, personal finance, of Investopedia. Dr. Melody Bell is a personal finance expert, entrepreneur, educator, and researcher. Melody ...

Net present value (NPV) represents the difference between the present value of cash inflows and outflows over a set time period. Knowing how to calculate net present value can be useful when choosing ...

David Kindness is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and an expert in the fields of financial accounting, corporate and individual tax planning and preparation, and investing and retirement planning.

Net present value and the profitability index are helpful tools that allow investors and companies make decisions about where to allocate their money for the best return. Net present value tells us ...

Definition: The net present value (NPV) of an investment is the present (discounted) value of future cash inflows minus the present value of the investment and any associated future cash outflows.

When a company is making capital budgeting decisions -- whether it's something as small as buying a new copier vs. servicing an old one or as big as entering a new market -- it must weigh the expected ...

An even cash flow of regularly scheduled payments defines an annuity. If you borrow money to start your business, the monthly payments are calculated using an annuity formula. Two basic annuity ...