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State the fictional timing
Pay 1,000 at time zero and receive 1,400 at the end of year three. Years one and two have zero cash flow. The Cash Flow worksheet needs those two elapsed intervals even though they contribute no direct receipt.
Represent the two empty intervals
- Clear and store the time-zero outflowCF2ndCLR WORK1000+/−ENTER
CF0 is −1,000.
- Enter two consecutive zero periods↓0ENTER↓2ENTER
C01 is zero and F01 is two.
- Enter the year-three receipt↓1400ENTER↓1ENTER
C02 is 1,400, occurring after those two zero periods.
- Calculate the annual-interval NPVNPV10ENTER↓CPT
Expected mathematical NPV: 51.840721.
Explain a different answer
| Entered schedule | NPV at 10% per year |
|---|---|
| −1,000; 0; 0; 1,400 | 51.840721 |
| −1,000; 1,400 | 272.727273 |
Do not use blanks as a time convention
The worksheet sequence uses equal-length modeled intervals. A skipped entry is not necessarily a calendar gap. Irregular actual dates need a model that handles those dates, rather than guessing a frequency from blank fields.