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.
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.
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.