CFO Guide: Will It Pay for Itself?
How to tell whether a new system, integration or automation is worth the money, using your own numbers
Weighing Up a Systems Investment
You're asked to cut costs and approve spending on new systems at the same time. This guide shows how to work out whether a project will pay for itself using your own numbers rather than industry averages, and how to test it with a small first step.
The Cost of Leaving Things As They Are
- • Staff time spent retyping, checking and chasing
- • Slower quotes and slower decisions than your competitors
- • More of the budget spent keeping old systems going
- • Risk from unsupported software and checks done by hand
Where to Start
Quick Wins (Do First)
Clear payback, low risk, small to start
- • Automating routine admin
- • Stopping double data entry
- • Reports that build themselves
Bigger Projects
Bigger payoff, more planning
- • Replacing the system that runs operations
- • Management reporting across the business
- • AI for routine finance tasks
Reducing Risk
Needed to stay safe and compliant
- • Replacing old, unsupported systems
- • Retiring fragile spreadsheets and databases
- • Compliance reporting you can rely on
Ongoing Improvement
Small steps that add up
- • Connecting the systems you have
- • Speeding up slow processes
- • Making systems easier for staff to use
Building Your Business Case
Step 1: Count What It Costs Now
- ✓ Staff hours spent on manual work
- ✓ Time and money spent fixing errors
- ✓ System maintenance and licensing, including licences you no longer use
- ✓ What slow or late information costs you
Step 2: Estimate What Changes
- ✓ Costs that go away
- ✓ Extra sales or faster billing
- ✓ Cash in sooner, less tied up in stock
- ✓ Penalties and mistakes avoided
Step 3: Test Your Estimates
- ✓ Things can take longer than planned (add a contingency)
- ✓ Training and getting staff on board (budget for it)
- ✓ Connecting to your other systems (budget for it)
- ✓ Benefits build slowly as staff settle in (don't count them all from day one)
Keeping the Project Accountable
Set the rules before you spend, then check the results:
Before You Approve
- • The return your business needs to see
- • How long you'll wait for it to pay back
- • What happens if benefits come in lower
- • Who owns the result
What to Measure After
- • Cost to process each invoice or order
- • How long each process takes
- • Error rates
- • Customer satisfaction
Ways to Pay for It
Paying monthly for online software keeps cash free and makes it easier to change course
Start small; savings from the first step help pay for the next
Your Next Steps
1. Count the Current Cost
Add up what the current way costs in time, errors and licences
2. Test the Numbers
Check whether the project pays for itself
3. Start Small
Prove it with a small, low-risk first step
Talk Through the Numbers
Weighing up a project? Start with a free initial chat about what you're considering and how to judge whether it will pay for itself. If you go ahead, you get a fixed quote.