Total Investment (TI)
Total Investment shows how much money has been put into a company to fund its operations and growth. Every business needs money to get started and keep going, and that money comes from two main sources — this formula adds them both up.
To calculate it, you add "Equity" and "Debt." Equity is the money the owners or shareholders have put in themselves (plus profits kept in the business rather than paid out) — it's their stake in the company. Debt is money the company has borrowed from lenders such as banks, which must be paid back, usually with interest. Total Investment = Equity + Debt.
Reading the result tells you the total funding base the company is working with. The mix between the two matters, too: lots of equity suggests owners are financing the business, while lots of debt means it relies heavily on borrowing, which carries repayment risk. Neither is automatically good or bad — it depends on the business.
A project manager benefits from understanding this because Total Investment often forms the denominator in return-on-investment calculations, helping judge whether a project earns enough to justify the money tied up in it.
Think of it like buying a house: part of the money is your own savings (equity) and part is the mortgage from the bank (debt). Add them together and you get the full price of the house — the total investment made to own it.
Imagine a company is funded by $1,200,000 of Equity (money from shareholders and retained profits) and $800,000 of Debt (a bank loan). Total Investment = $1,200,000 + $800,000 = $2,000,000. This means $2 million in total has been invested to run and grow the business — 60% from owners and 40% borrowed.
Every PMP formula explained free — plus worked examples and practice in PMP Math, and full timed mocks in the simulator.