Select your preferred training course below:
, P3O ®
, PRINCE2Instructor-ledHow to write a business case® Agile, RESILIA Simon Buehring® 19 Feb 2026, and the Swirl logo are registered trademarks of the PeopleCert group. Used under licence from PeopleCert. All rights reserved. AgilePM
®Self-paced and AgileBA ® are registered trademarks of Agile Business Consortium Limited. All rights reserved. The APMG International AgilePM and Swirl Device logo, APMG International AgileBA and Swirl Device Logo, APMG International Change Management and APMG International Better Business Cases and Swirl Device logo are trademarks of The APM Group Limited, used under permission of The APM Group Limited. All rights reserved. Better Business Cases™ is a trademark of Her Majesty’s Treasury. All rights reserved. DevOps Foundation ®

Business analysis courses is a registered mark of the DevOps Institute. “PMI”, “PMBOK

Compare business analysis qualifications and choose the best route for your role – from core BA skills to agile business analysis. ®

Guide”, “PMP” and “CAPM” are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc. Knowledge Train Scrum Essentials™, Business Learning Library (BLL)™, Business Analysis Learning Library (BALL)™, Agile Learning Library (ALL)™, IT Learning Library (ITLL)™, and Compliance Learning Library (CLL)™ are trademarks of Knowledge Train Limited. All rights reserved. Knowledge Train Ltd is an Introducer Appointed Representative of NewDay Cards Ltd for the Newpay finance product provided by NewDay Ltd. NewDay Cards Ltd acts as a credit broker, not a lender. We will introduce you exclusively to Newpay finance products provided by NewDay Limited under this Introducer Appointed Representative arrangement. Finance available from other lenders is not covered by this arrangement. NewDay Ltd and Newday Cards Ltd are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (ref nos 690292 and 682417 respectively).Experienced trainers
Flexible study options
SearchTrusted by professionals and organisations
Compare qualifications
Speak to our team
BCS accredited training partner for Business Analysis.
Copied! Knowledge Train is an Agile BA Accredited Training Organization.
Key takeaways

Business case FAQs

Introduction

This article explains how to write a business case. It includes 2 business case examples and a free business case template for you to

download

.

You’re probably reading this article because you want to know how to write a business case. Perhaps your organisation is embarking on a major project to develop a new product. Or, perhaps you’re thinking of moving house so your family can enjoy a better life. In either case, you write a

business case to ensure the investment is worthwhile.

In this article we’ll give you 2 business case examples, provide you with a simple business case template for you to use, and explain how to write a business case.Enhance your skills with our expert-led courses
Instructor-led
Better Business Cases Practitioner (with Foundation) course £2,400 +vat
See all dates
Self-paced
Better Business Cases Practitioner (with Foundation) self-paced online
£1,199 +vat
Self-paced Best forBetter Business Cases Foundation self-paced online Business analysts and aspiring analysts working in agile environments, or collaborating closely with agile delivery teams. Statistics
£699 +vat Choose this if…What is a business case? You need BA techniques that fit iterative delivery - exploring needs, shaping requirements, and supporting prioritisation as work evolves.A business case is the justification for some activity (e.g. a project) undertaken by your organisation. It weighs up the timescales, costs and risks of doing the activity against the benefits to be gained. Think of it as weighing up the pros and cons and then taking a sensible decision.
A business case forms an essential component of the curriculum of the You’ll leave withbest project management courses An AgileBA qualification route and practical approaches for effective business analysis in agile teams..
Personal business case AgileBA coursesYou may also use a business case to justify an investment you make in your personal life. For example, when you’re thinking of moving home to another area. You and your spouse will need to understand the costs of moving, the timescales and risks involved, and weigh these up against the benefits to be gained e.g. saving time traveling to your office, or your children able to go to a better school.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.

Preparing for PMI-PBA?Why have a business case? We also offer Projects should not just start on a whim or because of vanity – although a lot of money has been wasted over the years on such The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA) exam preparationprojects for candidates planning to sit the PMI exam..

For business organisations, justification for a project usually takes a commercial form i.e. evaluating how much money could be made from the investment. For example, investing money in developing a new software app to bring first to market, might be deemed to bring certain monetary benefits (in terms of sales) which exceeds the costs of investment. Business Analysis Learning Library

Business Analysis Learning LibraryFor government organisations, justification is probably not a commercial one, but could be based upon giving value for money to achieve certain benefits. For example, a public health campaign extolling the benefits of flu-vaccinations for elderly people, might be judged as giving greater value for money than having no campaign, and instead relying on treating patients in hospital once they have contracted the virus. TMWith so many competing claims being made on scarce funds, organisations need the assurance that the decision they are taking is the right one. After all, there will not be enough funds to pay for all the ideas for projects which are floating around the organisation.

Want to explore business analysis before committing to a qualification? Get bite-sized learning you can start immediately and fit around work.Who uses a business case?Marketing

Business cases can be used by many different levels of management within an organisation. Not only are they used to justify the investment in an individual project, but also they are typically used by a Explore the Business Analysis Learning Libraryportfolio management

Why choose Knowledge Train? office to help it decide which projects will contribute to the organisation’s strategic goals. That way, they can filter out the bad ideas for projects, and only fund projects which will contribute to strategic goals.

Whether you’re starting your BA career or sharpening your skills for agile delivery, we make it easy to learn with confidence.A business case is also often used by a project sponsor or project executive to help it decide if they should invest in a specific project.Marketing

Clear qualification routesIn all cases, the business case must be written and approved prior to any major commitment of resources.

What form does a business case take?
Choose a route that fits your role, with a clear pathway from beginner to advanced learning.Business cases can take many forms – digital or analogue. The tools you use to create one are also many and varied. Common business tools such as Microsoft Office might be used. Rather than being a document or slide deck however, it could equally be in the form of an email.

Expert trainers, practical learningEqually, a business case could be written by hand on a whiteboard or flipchart, or on the back of a cigarette packet!

What you should always remember is that a business case does not have to be a huge long document. In fact, it should be as short as possible, and only include the most important information. That way it cuts out the noise and provides decision-makers with just the right information to enable them to take sensible decisions.
Learn from experienced trainers who keep the focus on real business analysis scenarios.For those of you interested in

Support throughout your learningproject management

, the project management methodology known as The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Get guidance and resources to help you stay on track from start to completion.PRINCE2

Flexible study options focuses its decision-making on a project on having a viable business case.Manage options

Business case examplesManage services
We will now give you 2 business case examples. The first example is one which you might find useful for taking decisions in your personal life. The 2nd business case example is more business focused project.

Business case example 1: Moving home

Suppose you and your spouse are considering moving to a new home. You will need to weigh up the pros and cons of moving. This is done using a business case. You might not call it that, but that’s what it is. Let’s look at an example.
Reason

As you can see from the example, the first thing to be clear about in a business case is the reason for doing the project or activity. In this example, the couple has answered the question

Why?
In fact, there are two problems here – the local school and John’s long commute.

or activities.

There are usually 2 timescales to consider. First, the timescale of the project or activity – in this case 3 months to find a new house and move there. Second, the time over which the benefits shall be realized. In this case it’s 5 years until the kids leave school.

CostsThe costs of doing the project or activity is the next important bit of information. On this project, the costs of moving to a new house will be £5,000. These are the project costs.

However, the couple will spend an additional £2,000/year for every year over which the business case is calculated. For a project in an organisation, this is usually referred to as the operational costs of maintaining and operating the projects outputs e.g. an IT system. At this point, the couple knows the total costs over the timescales when the benefits shall be realized.

Risks

For any activity or project, it’s also important to understand the major risks involved. Risks are the uncertain things which may or may not happen during the period of the investment. There is only one risk identified here, which is the risk that the couple might lose touch with friends who live close to them right now.Investment appraisal

The next section is where the costs and timescales and risks are weighed up. For this project, it’s a simple decision for the couple to decide if it’s worth spending money over the next 5 years to give their kids better schooling and to save John 2 hours a day commuting.

For an organisation to decide if an investment is worthwhile, however, there are several different ways in which it can decide about the investment.

Often in organisations there are rules defined to help business analysts or project managers

write what’s called an investment appraisal. In the next example, we’ll look at one example known as net benefits.

Business case example 2: Handheld device project

Imagine a heating repair services company that uses a paper-based set of forms filled in by an engineer during site visits. The spare parts required to fix the heater are recorded on a form which is given to staff to process back in the office. They then order the parts, and schedule a follow-up visit for the engineer to fix the heater.Enhance your skills with our expert-led courses

Instructor-led

Better Business Cases Practitioner (with Foundation) course

£2,400 +vat

See all dates

Self-paced

Better Business Cases Practitioner (with Foundation) self-paced online

£1,199 +vat

Self-paced

Better Business Cases Foundation self-paced online

£699 +vat

Let’s now look at this example business case.Executive summary

This sample business case contains an executive summary. This section briefly describes the selected option and the key benefits it will bring.

Reasons

The reasons for the project are clearly spelled out when describing the 3 current problems which the company faces.

OptionsIn this example, there are 2 options (other than do nothing) which have been examined. Each option is summarized and the reason why option 3 is the preferred option has been stated.Benefits
The expected benefits of reduced overheads are clearly stated. Benefits should be measurable and quantifiable. That means that the benefits can be measured later. But what about the reduced errors, rescheduled appointments and customer contract cancellations? Aren’t they benefits? Well, these are in fact something else – they’re called outcomes. Outcomes are the results of the changes which come about by using the new handheld devices. The ways you measure the improvements resulting from these outcomes are known as benefits.Statistics
This example also contains a dis-benefit which is that the back-office staff morale will be lower due to reduced overtime payments. A dis-benefit, if you’re wondering, is a negative consequence of a project. It’s not the same as a risk which implies something uncertain. A dis-benefit is something which you know will happen because of the project and it has negative consequences for the organisation. It’s the opposite of a benefit! Timescales
Costs Again, there are 2 costs – project costs and the ongoing operational costs over the benefits realization timescale. When the decision is taken whether to invest in this project, the total costs (i.e. project costs and ongoing operational costs) are weighed against the expected benefits over the same time period.
One major risk has been identified in this example, but on your project, there could be many risks.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The net benefits are simply the total benefits minus the total costs. This shows that the company will start to get a return on its investment sometime towards the end of year 2. This knowledge is vital if the decision-makers are to take a sensible decision about whether to invest in the project. This simple Summary