Governance · tool 3 of 14
Business Case
Business Case: shows why the project is worth doing, compared with the alternatives, including doing nothing.
Best for: Deciding whether to fund a project · Time: 1–3 days
Domain: Governance · Focus area: Initiating
How it works
A short decision document for the people who pay. It states the problem, the options, the costs, the benefits and the risks, then recommends one option. It stays alive after approval: every major decision is checked against it.
- Always include “do nothing” as an option, with its real cost.
- Separate one-off costs from running costs.
- Name who owns each benefit after the project ends.
How to apply it
- Write the problem in one sentence, with a number if you can.
- List two to four options, including doing nothing.
- Estimate cost, benefit, timing and main risk for each option.
- Recommend one and state the assumption that would change your mind.
A support team loses 300 hours a month to manual reports. Option A automates them for €40k, option B hires a contractor at €30k a year, option C changes nothing and keeps the cost.
If nobody can say what would make the project not worth finishing, the case isn’t finished yet.
Use it
- Template: Business Case (blank), filled example
- Playbook: Our sponsor has left
- Playbook: We are over budget
- Playbook: I inherited a failing project
- Playbook: Should we stop this project?
- Case study: Sydney Opera House
Quick check
The market changes and the benefits halve. What should happen to the business case?
Sources
- PMBOK® Guide, 8th edition, and The Standard for Project Management (PMI, 2025)
- Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2®, 7th edition (2023) (summary of changes)
Last reviewed 2026-11-02 against the PMBOK® Guide, 8th edition · Practitioner review pending · How this guide is made