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Level 7: Find the error Exercise 87 of 87 Pro

An NPV discounted one year too many

An Excel formula exercise from Formuladrill. Solve it with a formula bar on a live sheet in your browser, and it is checked the moment you submit.

The task

This sheet decides whether to invest: the project costs 40,000 today (year 0) and returns cash in years 1 to 3. Nadia worked the NPV out by hand and got a higher number than the sheet shows. One formula is wrong. Find it and fix it.

What this exercise teaches

Putting the year 0 outflow inside NPV discounts the whole project by one extra year, which understates the result. Add the year 0 cash outside the function: =B2+NPV(B1,B3:B5).

A hint if you get stuck

Excel NPV discounts the first value it is given by one full period. Which cash flow should not be discounted at all?

Functions used: NPV

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