Free template
A business case is a decision document, not a sales document. This free template follows the structure finance directors and investment committees expect, with prompts for the costs and benefits that are usually left out and a page the board can approve in one sitting.
By Christopher Fagan, Managing Partner, PEF Consulting Partners
A note before you start
Business cases that get approved quickly are rarely the longest. They are the ones where the board can see the cost of doing nothing, believe the numbers and know who will be held to each benefit. This template is laid out in that order on purpose. If a section feels uncomfortable to fill in, that is usually the one the board will ask about first, so it is worth getting right before the meeting rather than during it.
Christopher Fagan, Managing Partner, PEF Consulting Partners
Write the executive summary last. Fill in the cost of doing nothing before you fill in anything else, because it sets the ceiling of what the investment can be worth. Give every benefit an owner, a baseline, a target and a date, and give every cost line a source. Keep the main document under ten pages and move the detail into appendices.
The template works for technology, transformation and operational investments. For an ERP programme specifically, read our guide to the ERP business case alongside it.
[Organisation name] | Version 0.1 | [Date] | Owner: [Name, role]
One page. The problem, the recommended option, the total cost over five years, the benefits and payback, the key risks and the decision requested. Written for someone who will read nothing else.
Which strategic objectives this investment serves, what has changed to make it necessary now and what happens to those objectives if it is not approved.
Describe the current state in operational terms, then quantify it.
| Current state issue | Annual cost or impact | Source of the figure | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
At least three options including do nothing and fix what we have. Compare on total five year cost, benefits, risk and strategic fit.
| Option | Description | Five year cost | Five year benefit | Risk | Fit | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
What it is, why it beats the alternatives, what it does not do and what the organisation gives up by choosing it.
A benefit without an owner, baseline, target and date is an aspiration.
| Benefit | Type (cash, cost avoidance, revenue, risk, non financial) | Measure | Baseline | Target | Date | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Include internal time and contingency. Most business cases that fail did not.
| Cost line | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Total | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software licences or subscriptions | |||||||
| Implementation partner or supplier | |||||||
| Internal time | |||||||
| Data, migration and integration | |||||||
| Change, training and productivity dip | |||||||
| Run costs after go live | |||||||
| Contingency (15 to 25 per cent) | |||||||
| Other | |||||||
| Total |
| Measure | Value | Assumptions |
|---|---|---|
| Total five year cost | ||
| Total five year benefit | ||
| Net benefit | ||
| Payback period | ||
| Net present value or return on investment |
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Phases, key milestones, decision points where the board can stop, and the resources required from the business.
| Phase | Start | End | Key outputs | Decision point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sponsor, decision forum, reporting cadence, how the business case will be re approved at the end of design and how benefits will be tracked after go live.
The specific approval sought: amount, phase, authority to proceed to the next gate, and the date by which a decision is needed and why.
Template by PEF Consulting Partners, pefconsultingpartners.co.uk. Free to use and adapt.
Related reading: the ERP business case guide, benefits realisation consultancy, the benefits realisation plan template, the cost of delay calculator.
The decision document should be under ten pages with a one page executive summary. Appendices can carry the detail. A board that has to read forty pages to find the number will approve something else.
Leaving out internal time and contingency on the cost side and listing benefits nobody owns on the other. Together they can make a case look twice as good as it is.
At the end of design, when cost and scope are properly known, at each stage gate and then quarterly after go live until the benefits have landed or been written off.
If you want a second pair of eyes on a business case before it goes to the board, or help building one for a transformation, a short confidential conversation is a good place to start.