Metrics & Business Case ROI Worksheet
A guided, fill-in worksheet that turns a vague value claim into the hard, defensible number an economic buyer needs to justify your deal in their own budget meeting.
What's inside
- A problem-statement field to anchor the whole business case
- A current-state cost-driver table with the formula for turning volume/frequency into an annual dollar figure
- An improvement-percentage table with conservative, realistic, and aggressive scenarios
- The full investment cost breakdown: license, implementation, and internal resource time
- ROI and payback-period formulas with worked numbers
- A 3-year value calculation for multi-year business cases
- An assumptions log that documents the source behind every number
- A sign-off box for the buyer to commit to the conservative case as their own
A business case dies the moment the buyer feels like the numbers are yours, not theirs. Fill this out with the buyer, using their language and their data wherever possible — every number they help build is a number they'll defend when someone questions it later.
1. Problem statement
Write it as the buyer would say it, not as a feature gap: "Today, ______________________________ costs us ______________________________ because ______________________________."
2. Current-state cost drivers
List every cost driver tied to the problem — labor hours, error rate, lost deals, churn, delay, rework — and quantify each one.
Formula: Annual Cost = Volume/Frequency × Cost per Unit
| Cost Driver | Volume/Frequency | Cost per Unit | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| e.g., manual data entry | 10 hrs/week × 52 weeks = 520 hrs | $45/hr (loaded cost) | $23,400 |
| e.g., missed deals from slow follow-up | 8 deals/quarter × 4 quarters = 32 | $6,000 avg deal value | $192,000 |
| ___________________ | ___________________ | ___________________ | ___________________ |
| ___________________ | ___________________ | ___________________ | ___________________ |
| Total Annual Cost of Problem | $______________ |
3. Expected improvement
Don't claim one number — give the buyer a range they can choose to defend.
| Scenario | Improvement % | Annual Value Created |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 15% | Total Annual Cost × 15% |
| Realistic | 30% | Total Annual Cost × 30% |
| Aggressive | 50% | Total Annual Cost × 50% |
Rule of thumb: build the case on the Conservative number. Let Realistic and Aggressive be upside, not the number you defend.
4. Investment cost (Year 1)
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Annual license/subscription | $______________ |
| One-time implementation/onboarding | $______________ |
| Internal resource time (hours × loaded rate) | $______________ |
| Total Cost Year 1 | $______________ |
5. ROI and payback
``` ROI (%) = (Annual Value Created − Total Cost Year 1) ÷ Total Cost Year 1 × 100
Payback Period (months) = Total Cost Year 1 ÷ (Annual Value Created ÷ 12) ```
Worked example (using Conservative case): Annual Cost of Problem = $215,400 → Conservative Value (15%) = $32,310 Total Cost Year 1 = $18,000 ROI = ($32,310 − $18,000) ÷ $18,000 × 100 = 79.5% Payback = $18,000 ÷ ($32,310 ÷ 12) = 6.7 months
6. 3-year value (for multi-year deals)
`` 3-Year Value = (Annual Value Created × 3) − [(License × 3) + Implementation + Internal Resource Cost] ``
7. Assumptions log
Every number above needs a source — this is what makes the case defensible under questioning.
| Assumption | Source | Confirmed By Buyer? (Y/N) |
|---|---|---|
| ___________________ | e.g., buyer quote, internal report, industry benchmark | ☐ |
| ___________________ | ___________________ | ☐ |
| ___________________ | ___________________ | ☐ |
8. Buyer sign-off (optional but powerful)
"I've reviewed the Conservative scenario above and agree these are numbers I'd be comfortable presenting internally." Name: ______________________ Title: ______________________ Date: ______________________
If a buyer won't initial the conservative case, that's a signal the business case isn't theirs yet — go back to Section 2 and rebuild the cost drivers using their own data before moving forward.
How to use it
Walk through Sections 1–3 live on a call with the buyer so the numbers come from them, fill in Sections 4–6 with your own pricing, and use Section 8 to get the buyer to personally commit to the conservative case before you build a formal proposal around it.