Under the non-discounting cash flows methods, we have two criteria: the payback period (PBP) and the accounting rate of
return (ARR) (Afonso & Cunha, 2009). The payback period is the period over which the project generates sufficient
income to write off its initial outlay. It is the number of years required for the stream of cash proceeds generated by an
investment to equal the original investment (Emekekwue, 2009). Akpan (2004) revealed that in a situation where a project
spans a long period, it becomes a matter of commonsense to establish a verdict with regards to its profitability should it
take a few years to recover the investment. It therefore means that the payback period enhances managerial investment
decisions, in a simple way.The main advantages of this method as identified by Afonso & Cunha (2009) are: ease of
understanding; simplicity of implementation; provides an idea of the degree of liquidity and risk of the project; and in times
of huge instability, the use of this method is a way to increase the security of investments. Notwithstanding these
advantages, the payback method has been criticised on two grounds. First, it ignores the cash flows occurring after the
payback time, which can lead to the rejection of profitable projects that require a longer recovery period. Second, the
payback period, in its original version, does not consider the time value of money in calculating the cash flows. This is
inconsistent with the basic principles of financial mathematics Afonso & Cunha (2009). One way of overcoming this
problem is to calculate the payback period by discounting (at the appropriate discounting rate) the expected future cash
flows (Longmore, 1989 as cited by Afonso & Cunha, 2009).