Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Investment Projects that Generate Con-tinuous Cash Flows

A methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of investment projects that gen-erate continuous cash flows, which are typical for the service sector and retail trade, has been developed and substantiated. Models of discounted cash flow (DCF) for projects that generate continuous cash flows are obtained and presented. The use of models illus-trated with a concrete example are given. It is shown that in short-term projects, with a high cost of capital and, accordingly, a high discount rate, the net present value of the discounted continuous cash flow is significantly higher than the net present value of the cash flow obtained under the assumption of a discrete flow. In some cases, this may lead to errors in assessing the effectiveness of investment projects and errors in the se-lection of projects, since their implementation leads to cash flows that do not belong to the end of each period, as is assumed in well-known methods, but are distributed in the course of periods.