> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://valuemap.app/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Payback Period

Payback Period measures how long it takes for an initiative to recover its costs through benefits. It is evaluated against the Payback Threshold configured in your org's settings.

**At the Org / Portfolio / Product level:**

| Metric               | Notes                                                                                                                 |
| -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Within threshold** | Initiatives recovering estimated costs within the accepted maximum. More is better.                                   |
| **Median**           | Median estimated payback period across all initiatives. A cleaner read than an average.                               |
| **Range**            | Spread between shortest and longest estimated payback. A wide range signals uneven cost recovery.                     |
| **Trend**            | Change in median estimated payback compared to the previous month. Negative means initiatives are paying back faster. |

**At the Initiative level:**

| Metric         | Notes                                                                                                       |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Estimated**  | Original projected payback period of the initiative.                                                        |
| **Realized**   | PV of actual benefits as a % of PV of actual costs. 100% = breakeven reached on actuals.                    |
| **Forecasted** | Payback forecasted using actual cash flows plus remaining projections. Best estimate of the payback period. |
| **Variance**   | Forecasted vs. estimated payback period. Negative means reaching breakeven faster than projected.           |