Speaking CFO: how to build a business case for finance automation

Good technology doesn’t win budget on its own. Six steps to turn team pain into a case your CFO will sign off.

7 pages · 6 steps plus a 60-second pitch template · No sign-up needed

At a glance

Translate team pain into board priorities

01Put numbers on the problem. “The team is overwhelmed” sounds like a complaint. Cost and consequence get a response.
02Show the full cost. Leave out internal time and the finance director will stop trusting the rest of your numbers.
03Start small and prove it. A contained first phase lowers the risk of saying yes.

Contents

1. Why business cases stall
2. The six steps
3. The 60-second pitch

1. Why business cases stall

Plenty of automation projects stall even when the operational case is obvious. Usually the proposal talks about making the team’s life easier, not about what the CFO is measured on.

Leadership approves spend to deliver a return, reduce risk, shorten cycles and free up cash. Whether you work in order to cash or purchase to pay, the job is to translate team pain into those terms.

2. The six steps

Put numbers on the problem. Measure what manual work costs today, then rewrite the problem in those terms.
Link it to what the board cares about. Map each benefit to something the CFO is already measured on.
Scope by where the pain sits. Match specific problems to specific fixes.
Show the full cost alongside the return. Including the internal time spent on the change.
Answer the risk questions before they’re asked.
Start small and prove it. A first phase that gives you your own numbers.

3. The 60-second pitch

The guide ends with a fill-in-the-blanks pitch: short, numerical and about value. Add your own figures and it’s ready for the meeting.

Want to do the maths in a spreadsheet? The finance automation business case template follows the same six steps in Excel and works out payback and three-year return for you.

Figures in the guide are illustrative. Use your own.

Put your own numbers in. The business case template follows the same six steps and does the maths for you.

Written for the people who sign it off and the people who make it work

For the decision-maker

CFO, Finance Director

A case laid out the way you’d want to read it: cost, return, risk and a first phase you can review.

For the team doing the work

Finance, AP and AR managers

Six steps from “the team is overwhelmed” to numbers leadership can act on, plus a pitch you can adapt.

See it on your own process

Book a discovery call and we’ll talk through how your team works today. Then we’ll tailor a demo to what matters to you.