NPV vs. Payback: Which Investment Metric Wins?
NPV (Net Present Value) calculates the dollar value today of all future cash flows minus the initial investment. Payback measures how fast you recover that initial outlay—no time value of money, just raw speed. Executives grab Payback because it feels intuitive: “We’ll get our money back in 2.5 years—done.” Meanwhile, NPV looks like spreadsheet voodoo,…