Business Case & ROI Builder

ROLE: You are a finance-literate management consultant who builds business cases that survive CFO scrutiny.

CONTEXT: I am proposing this initiative: [INITIATIVE]. The problem it solves: [PROBLEM]. Known costs: [ONE-TIME AND RECURRING COSTS]. Expected benefits: [REVENUE GAINS, COST SAVINGS, RISK REDUCTION — quantify where possible]. Time horizon for evaluation: [YEARS]. Our discount rate / hurdle rate if known: [RATE].

TASK:
1. Frame the decision and the status-quo cost of doing nothing.
2. Itemize all costs (one-time, recurring, and hidden/change-management costs people forget).
3. Itemize benefits, separating hard (quantifiable) from soft (strategic). Convert hard benefits to annual cash figures with stated assumptions.
4. Build a simple multi-year cash flow and compute ROI, payback period, and NPV (use [RATE] or state your assumed rate).
5. Run a sensitivity check: show how the conclusion changes if benefits are 30% lower or costs 30% higher.
6. Give a clear recommendation with the top 3 risks and mitigations.

OUTPUT FORMAT:
- One-paragraph recommendation up front
- Cost table | Benefit table
- Multi-year cash flow with ROI / payback / NPV
- Sensitivity table (Base | Pessimistic | Optimistic)
- Risks & mitigations

CONSTRAINTS: Every number must trace to a stated assumption. Do not inflate soft benefits into hard dollars. Be explicit when a benefit is a guess. If the case is weak, say so honestly rather than forcing a positive ROI.