N
The Global Insight

Can WACC be a discount rate?

Author

Sarah Garza

Updated on February 20, 2026

The discount rate is the interest rate used to determine the present value of future cash flows in a discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis. Many companies calculate their weighted average cost of capital (WACC) and use it as their discount rate when budgeting for a new project.

Under what conditions is the WACC the appropriate discount rate for a project?

The WACC is the appropriate discount rate for a project when the project has the samelevel of systematic risk as the company and when the project will be financed with thesame proportion of debt, preference shares, and ordinary shares that have been used tofinance the assets of the company.

What is an appropriate discount rate?

In the blog post, we suggest using discount values of around 10% for public SaaS companies, and around 15-20% for earlier stage startups, leaning towards a higher value, the more risk there is to the startup being able to execute on it’s plan going forward.

Why do we use WACC as discount rate?

What is WACC used for? The Weighted Average Cost of Capital serves as the discount rate for calculating the Net Present Value (NPV) of a business. It is also used to evaluate investment opportunities, as it is considered to represent the firm’s opportunity cost. Thus, it is used as a hurdle rate by companies.

What is the difference between WACC and discount rate?

The most common way to calculate it is the WACC (Weighted Average Cost of Capital). Discount rate is the rate used to discount future cash flows for a business/project/investment. While it usually uses the WACC as the base, there will be considerations such as country-risk premiums (an investment in f.

Why is WACC the better discount rate for project evaluation?

3.4 Using the WACC as the discount rate for a project The more risk a project under consideration carries, the higher the time value of money for that project will be. This is because the company with lower WACC is seen as having less risk attached to the cash it will generate in the future.

How do you calculate the discount rate?

To calculate the percentage discount between two prices, follow these steps: Subtract the post-discount price from the pre-discount price. Divide this new number by the pre-discount price. Multiply the resultant number by 100.

When to use weighted average cost of capital ( WACC )?

Can be used as a hurdle rate against which companies and investors can gauge ROIC performance. WACC is commonly used as the discount rate for future cash flows in DCF analyses. Cost of equity (Re) can be a bit tricky to calculate since share capital does not technically have an explicit value.

What is the relationship between WACC and discount rate?

So, the relationship between WACC and discount rate: the WACC is simply a commonly-used and theoretically sound method for finding the appropriate discount rate for an investment decision denominated in pecuniary units of measurement.

What’s the difference between WACC and net present value?

Net present value (NPV) is the widely used method of evaluating projects to determine the profitability of the investment. WACC is used as discount rate or the hurdle rate for NPV calculations. All the free cash flows and terminal values are discounted using the WACC.

Why do you use WACC in DCF calculation?

Why Do You Use WACC in DCF Calculation? 1 WACC represents the cost of capital of an entity, be it a company, investment fund or person. 2 If it can invest its capital in something with a rate of return in excess of WACC, then it can generate excess returns. 3 Likewise, investing in something that earns less than WACC destroys value.