IPA IP 2024 Question 20
A question IPA Japan published in 令和6年度 ITパスポート試験 公開問題 問20, translated into English. ITPEC is based on the same exams.
Same question on ITPEC: Apr 2026 Q100
Company A is investigating the investment of 10 million yen in the rebuilding of a sales support system. When the current operation costs for the system are 5 million yen per year, the operation costs for the system after the rebuilding are 4 million per year, and new profit from the reconstruction is 2 million yen per year, how many years is the payback period for investment? Here, no other effects or costs are considered, and the result of calculation is rounded off to one (1) decimal place.
Explanation
3.3 years — divide the investment by the yearly benefit, which is the cost saving plus the new profit.
- •Operating cost saving: 5 − 4 = 1 million yen per year
- •New profit: 2 million yen per year
- •Annual benefit: 1 + 2 = 3 million yen per year
- •Payback period: 10 ÷ 3 = 3.33…, rounded to one decimal place: 3.3 years
Answer (b)
Why not others:
- •(a) 2.5 — equals 10 ÷ 4, dividing by the new operating cost of 4 million, which is a cost the company still pays, not a benefit
- •(c) 5.0 — 10 ÷ 2 counts only the new profit and ignores the 1 million saved on operating costs
- •(d) 10.0 — 10 ÷ 1 counts only the operating cost saving and ignores the new profit
Key rule: The payback period is the investment divided by the yearly increase in cash, and that increase includes both cost savings and new revenue or profit.
System Planning · AI-written, may contain errors
This question comes from the past questions IPA Japan publishes, translated into English by ITPEC Practice. ITPEC Practice is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with IPA or ITPEC. See the original paper (PDF) or Report an issue.