Investment business case

Purpose

Test whether an investment request is economically and operationally supportable. The result makes the baseline, cash profile, benefit realization path, downside exposure, and decision gate visible.

Scope

Model one investment request against its current-state baseline, feasible alternatives, and finance policy. Include implementation cost, recurring cost, capacity effects, benefit timing, and scenario outcomes where evidence exists.

Excluded: accounting advice, audited forecasts, purchase execution, budget approval, or invented market prices.

Data basis

• Investment request with amount, purpose, requested date, sponsor, and option scope.
• General-ledger or budget extracts with cost center, period, currency, and actuals.
• Capacity and benefit baseline with owner, metric, current value, target, and measurement cadence.
• Finance model, hurdle rates, procurement assumptions, and risk register.

Result

A quantified business-case document, assumptions table, and approval-gate checklist.

Quality criteria

• All monetary figures carry currency, period, source, and one-time or recurring classification.
• Benefit calculations identify metric, baseline, target, ramp timing, and accountable owner.
• Scenario tables change named assumptions and recalculate the affected outputs.
• The recommendation states approval amount, gate, and evidence still required.
• Arithmetic ties to source extracts and rounding is disclosed.

Instructions

Use actuals for the baseline and forecasts only where the source labels them. Apply the finance model’s discounting and tax or treatment rules; do not introduce a local convention. Separate cash savings from capacity release. If a benefit lacks an owner or measurement plan, mark it uncommitted. Explain the effect of delay and the do-nothing case.

Adapt before use

The completed model should be reviewed against the latest approved budget before any gate decision.

• Provide the finance model, hurdle rates, and approval matrix.
• Define currency, forecast horizon, and benefit ownership.
• Map budget and capacity fields to the source tables.
• Add procurement and risk assumptions.