Net present value (NPV)
Net present value (NPV), also called net present worth (NPW), is an approach to evaluating investments that assesses the difference between all the revenue the investment can be expected to achieve over its whole life and all the costs involved, taking inflation into consideration inflation and discounting both future costs and revenue at an appropriate rate. It can be challenging to calculate NPV because it is not always clear what discount rates should be used.
This was last updated in August 2011