A business case compares an investment's costs, expected benefits, risks, and alternatives. This wizard applies your confidence and delivery-risk assumptions to monthly benefits, subtracts monthly running costs, and estimates ROI, payback, and NPV. Its confidence percentages and verdict bands are model assumptions, not measured probabilities or funding guarantees.
What is a Business Case?
A business case is a structured justification for an investment: the problem being solved, the full costs (one-time build plus ongoing run costs), the expected benefits discounted by evidence quality and delivery risk, and the resulting financial return.
Business Case Formulas
Effective Monthly Benefit = Gross Monthly Benefit x Confidence % x (1 - Risk Haircut) - Monthly Run Cost
ROI % = (Total Benefit - Investment) / Investment x 100
Payback Period = Investment / Effective Monthly Benefit + Implementation Months
When to Build a Business Case
Build a business case when securing budget for a major initiative, comparing build vs buy options, or defending a roadmap bet. Review annualized ROI alongside cash-flow timing, risk, and a common comparison horizon.
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Business Case Wizard
Walk from problem statement to a defensible business case — full costs, risk-adjusted benefits, and an ROI-backed verdict.
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Progress0 of 4 completed
Problem & Objective
State the problem, the proposed solution, and the horizon you are funding
Problem & Objective
Describe the problem, name the proposed solution, and choose the period for comparing costs and benefits.
To continue, fill in: Problem Statement, Proposed Solution, Strategic Objective, Analysis Horizon (months)
Build a business case
Describe the problem and proposed solution, estimate costs and benefits, and record the risks. The wizard calculates annualized ROI, payback, and NPV, then produces a narrative to review with the assumptions.
Why Benefits Get a Haircut
The wizard applies your confidence adjustment to the benefit, followed by a risk reduction of 0%, 15%, or 30%. These are modeling assumptions, not measured probabilities. Explain the evidence behind your choices and compare conservative scenarios.
Reading the Verdict
The verdict bands come from the same shared ROI engine as our ROI & Payback calculator, judged on annualized ROI so short and long cases compare fairly. A strong case clears 100%/yr equivalent returns with positive net benefit; a marginal case sits between 50-100%/yr and usually needs a strategic argument on top of the numbers; anything below — or any case with negative net benefit — falls in this tool’s weak band. These bands are model choices, not funding requirements.
Review the funding assumptions
- Funding criteria: use the return requirements and discount rate appropriate to the decision. There is no universal software funding threshold.
- Payback: compare the time to recover the investment with available cash and uncertainty in the benefit estimate.
- Run costs count: a monthly run cost is subtracted from the benefit every month — cases that only count the build cost systematically overstate returns.
- Compliance cases: document required work separately from optional investments. Use evidence for avoided costs rather than assuming fines or lost deals will occur.
Business Case vs ROI Calculator
Use the single-page ROI & Payback calculator to iterate quickly on one scenario's numbers. Use this wizard when you need the full argument — problem framing, cost accounting, benefit haircuts, named risks, and a narrative — in a form you can defend in a budget review. Both run on the same calculation core, so matching inputs produce matching results.
What is Business Case (Risk-Adjusted ROI)?
A business case sets out an investment’s costs, expected returns, payback time, and uncertainty. Adjust estimated benefits for evidence quality and delivery risk before calculating ROI.
Risk-Adjusted Business Case Formula
Effective Benefit = Gross Benefit × Confidence % × (1 − Risk Haircut) − Run Cost, then ROI = (Total Benefit − Investment) ÷ Investment × 100
Investment decision
Compare the return with your organization’s hurdle rate, cash constraints, and alternative investments.
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Common questions
What goes into a product business case?
State the problem, objective, upfront and ongoing costs, expected benefits, evidence, and risks. The wizard applies the entered assumptions to calculate financial results and draft a narrative. Review that narrative and its inputs before using it in a funding decision.
Why does the wizard discount my benefit estimate?
The wizard reduces benefits using entered confidence and delivery-risk assumptions. These are explicit scenario adjustments, not measured probabilities that the benefits will occur. Check the adjusted and unadjusted assumptions; passing a result band does not guarantee funding or delivery.
What ROI does a business case need to get funded?
There is no universal funding threshold. Compare the result with your organization’s requirements, alternatives, cash needs, and nonfinancial obligations. The wizard uses annualized ROI for its internal bands; those bands are model settings, not evidence of what investors or budget holders will approve.
What is the difference between the Business Case Wizard and the ROI calculator?
They share financial calculation logic. The ROI calculator models one set of costs, benefits, and timing inputs; the wizard adds problem framing, ongoing costs, benefit confidence, delivery risk, and a narrative. Results agree only when the effective inputs and assumptions match.
How do I write a business case for a compliance project?
State the obligation, deadline, cost of meeting it, and consequences of not acting. Quantify avoided losses only where you have a defensible estimate, including their likelihood and timing. Keep required obligations visible even when you cannot assign them a credible monetary benefit.
Should I use NPV or payback period to judge an investment?
Payback estimates how long it takes to recover the investment. NPV discounts future cash flows to a present value using a stated discount rate. Read both with ROI, uncertainty, and cash constraints. Use a discount rate appropriate to the decision rather than an assumed universal SaaS rate.