Governance sign-off achieved within ambitious programme deadline
Methodology and templates adopted across global operations
Finance operating model redesigned for short and mid-term
Full engagement lifecycle mapped with traceable benefits
A structured cost/benefit model anchored to specific 'value moments' in the engagement lifecycle unlocked governance approval for a major UK&I systems implementation at a global consulting firm. The reusable methodology, including benefit definitions, sizing templates, and governance frameworks, was subsequently rolled out across the firm's worldwide operations.
The Problem
A global consulting firm was preparing to implement a major new systems platform across its UK and Ireland operations. The programme had executive sponsorship and a delivery partner. What it did not have was a credible cost/benefit case.
The Solution
We built a structured cost/benefit model anchored to "value moments" in the engagement lifecycle: specific points where the new system would change how work was done, who did it, and what it cost. Each value moment mapped to a process step, a benefit type, and a named owner.
The starting point was establishing what finance support actually cost today. We mapped key processes end to end (opportunity management, proposal costing, engagement setup, project accounting, billing, revenue recognition, collections, and close), capturing transaction volumes, effort per transaction, and blended cost rates. This produced a bottom-up cost baseline reconciled against top-down budget figures. This step consumed a significant portion of the project timeline, but a benefits case built on a contested baseline is a benefits case that gets rejected.
With the baseline agreed, we identified specific process steps where automation, integration, or role redesign would produce a measurable difference. Each was documented with the current process, target-state process, and the mechanism by which the benefit would be realised. Benefits were classified into five types (efficiency, control, risk reduction, quality, and cycle time), each sized against the baseline with three scenarios: conservative, central, and optimistic. Sensitivity analysis identified the handful of assumptions that genuinely mattered and separated them from those that were interesting but not decision-critical. Every assumption was logged with its source, rationale, validator, and revision trigger.
The final deliverable was a governance sign-off pack: executive summary, baseline, benefits model with scenario ranges, sensitivity analysis, assumptions log, and a benefits realisation plan (who would own each benefit, how it would be measured, and when it would be reviewed).
Results and Impact
| Metric | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Governance sign-off | Achieved within the extremely ambitious programme deadline |
| Operating model | Finance support operating model redesigned for short and mid-term |
| Global rollout | Methodology and templates adopted across the firm's worldwide operations |
| Benefit coverage | Full engagement lifecycle mapped: opportunity through to close |
| Reusable artefacts | Benefits spine (definitions, templates, governance framework) replaced ad hoc spreadsheets |
| Risk mitigation | Sensitivity analysis identified the small number of assumptions that could break the case |
Key Takeaways
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Sign-off depends on traceability, not optimism. Governance boards do not reject business cases because the numbers are too small. They reject them because the numbers cannot be traced back to a process, a mechanism, and a measurement plan. Every benefit in this model had an owner, a defined mechanism, and an agreed approach to measurement.
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Ranges and sensitivities build credibility where single-point estimates invite challenge. Presenting conservative, central, and optimistic scenarios with explicit sensitivity analysis acknowledged uncertainty honestly. This made the governance conversation about risk management rather than belief.
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A reusable benefits spine scales better than a one-off spreadsheet. By investing in a structured framework (standard benefit definitions, sizing templates, assumption logging, governance pack format), the work done once became a foundation that could be adapted and reused globally. The marginal cost of the next business case dropped substantially.