You Are Trying to Pick the Least-Expensive Machine for Your

question 109

Multiple Choice

You are trying to pick the least-expensive machine for your company. You have two choices: machine A, which will cost $50,000 to purchase and which will have OCF of -$3,500 annually throughout the machine's expected life of three years; and machine B, which will cost $75,000 to purchase and which will have OCF of -$4,900 annually throughout that machine's four-year life. Both machines will be worthless at the end of their life. If you intend to replace whichever type of machine you choose with the same thing when its life runs out, again and again out into the foreseeable future, and if your business has a cost of capital of 14 percent, which one should you choose?

• A) Machine A
• B) Machine B
• C) Both Machine A and B
• D) Neither Machine A nor B

---

Definitions:

Accounting Profits

The net earnings of a company as calculated by subtracting total expenses from gross revenue, according to accepted accounting principles.

Economic Profit

The difference between a firm's total revenue and its total costs, including both explicit and implicit costs, reflecting the financial gain exceeding the opportunity cost of resources used.

Accounting Profit

Net income of a company is determined by deducting total expenses from total revenues, in line with established accounting norms.

Implicit Costs

The opportunity costs associated with a company's resources that are not directly paid out in cash but represent foregone alternatives.