Investment Decision Criteria: NPV vs IRR vs Payback Period

You are evaluating a capital budgeting project for a manufacturing company through the lens of investment decision criteria. The project requires an initial investment of $900,000 and is expected to generate cash inflows over the next five years as follows: Year 1: $250,000; Year 2: $300,000; Year 3: $350,000; Year 4: $400,000; Year 5: $450,000. The company's required rate of return is 10%. Based on this information, which investment decision criterion would provide the most accurate representation of the project’s profitability?