Cash flows are regarded as either pre-payback or post-payback, but the latter tend to be ignored.
Payback takes no account of the effect on business profitability. Its sole concern is cash flow.
CONCLUSION
Despite the disadvantage discussed above, NPV is the single most valuable of the various methods of capital investment appraisal and the one that should be used as the basis of decision making in this area.
It is probably best to see payback as a measure of liquidity than profitability. On that basis the payback method should only be a preliminary screening device, which is inappropriate as a basis for sophisticated investment decisions.
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