A cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is an analytical tool for assessing the advantages and disadvantages of moving forward with a business proposal or project. By using a cost-benefit analysis template, IT organizations can
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suss out quantitative and
monetary estimates to determine whether to pursue an initiative, tweak it or abandon it completely.
SearchCIO.com searched the Web for free cost-benefit analysis templates that could tally planned project costs and calculate key performance metrics, such as ROI, net-present value internal rate of return and payback periods. Using these indicators, IT organizations can make more informed business decisions about where to invest their teams' energies, time and precious budget dollars.
SOURCE: U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
OFFERING: This cost-benefit analysis template can be downloaded as a Microsoft Word
document and edited to fit your IT organization's needs. The document is organized like a project
proposal and offers an overview of the essential elements of a cost-benefit analysis, including
project scope, methodologies, and formulas for calculating incurred costs vs. benefits gained.
SOURCE: U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs
OFFERING: This free cost-benefit analysis template from the department's Virtual Office
of Acquisition lets the user fill in sections on assumptions, conditions, descriptions of
alternatives, costs analyses, benefit analyses and other considerations. The Microsoft Word
download also offers fill-in-the-blank charts, allowing for easier examination of
cost-effectiveness.
SOURCE: Florida
Department of Environmental Protection
OFFERING: This cost-benefit analysis template download is for the number-cruncher in all
of us. The Microsoft Excel spreadsheet breaks down categories such as operational, employee and
external service provider costs, training and travel expenditures and the revenues and
contributions that offset -- and perhaps justify – these spending choices.
SOURCE: Regis
University
OFFERING: This Microsoft Excel cost-benefit analysis template from Regis University in
Denver, Colo., helps users calculate financial spending over the course of several fiscal years.
The template takes into account discounts, benefits, net present value and the internal rate of
return, complete with instructions for use and interpretation of your IT organization's
results.
SOURCE: USAID
Financial Services Implementation Grant Program Learning Network
OFFERING: The grant program's case study, "Developing a Cost-Benefit Analysis Tool:
Experiences and Lessons from Malawi and Mozambique," doesn't apply directly to IT organizations.
However, this in-depth document, designed to help managers and other decision makers understand the
cost and expected monetary returns of a given decision, can provide technology leaders with a
philosophical grounding for their IT prioritization efforts.
Let us know what free cost-benefit analysis template works best at your organization; email editor@searchcio.com.
This was first published in February 2013
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