How to write a business case Sweden
Key takeaways Agile
A business case helps decision-makers judge whether an investment is worth the time, money and risk. philosophy, applying apply DSDM principles, configuring project lifecycles, evaluating products, applying Agile techniques, defining roles, setting up control mechanisms, managing requirements, and estimating progress.
- State the reason for the activity and ensure it aligns with organisational strategy. Last edited on: 02 Jun 2026
- Compare realistic options, including doing nothing, and clearly justify the preferred choice.
- Separate project costs and timescales from ongoing operational costs and benefit realisation timescales.
- Define benefits in measurable terms and distinguish outcomes from benefits so performance can be tracked.Using Scrum with AgileAgilePM certification FAQs
- Include known dis-benefits and major risks, plus mitigations, to avoid one-sided decisions.
- Use an investment appraisal, such as net benefits and break-even timing, to test viability.Simon Buehring
What is a business case? Contact
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. Cookies
A business case forms an essential component of the curriculum of the AgilePM FAQsPrivacybest project management courses Terms. Customer Support
Personal business case
You 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. [email protected]
Why have a business case?How does Agile PM work?Join Our Team
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 projects [email protected].How is Agile PM different from traditional PM? Copyright © 2005-2026 Knowledge Train Limited.
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. Registered in UK: 5566983.
For 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. Registered VAT: GB872413526.
With 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.Is PRINCE2 or AgilePM better? Knowledge Train
Who uses a business case? ®
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 is a registered trademark of Knowledge Train Limited. portfolio managementWhat are the examples of Agile PM? 20 Old Bailey, London, EC4M 7AN, England, United Kingdom. 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. Knowledge Train are experts in project management, PRINCE2, agile and change management training and certification. Choose from a full range of instructor-led and self-paced
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. project management courses
In all cases, the business case must be written and approved prior to any major commitment of resources.What is a sprint in Agile PM?, a
What form does a business case take? PRINCE2 course
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. , or an
Equally, a business case could be written by hand on a whiteboard or flipchart, or on the back of a cigarette packet!What is Agile PM for Scrum?agile project management course
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. to boost your career.
For those of you interested in PRINCE2project managementWhat is Agile PM methodology?®, the project management methodology known as , MSPPRINCE2 ® focuses its decision-making on a project on having a viable business case.What is Agile PM vs waterfall PM?, ITIL
Business case examples ®
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. , P3O
Business case example 1: Moving homeWhat is AgilePM summary?®
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. , PRINCE2
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 What is APMG Agile project management? Agile, RESILIAWhy? ® In fact, there are two problems here – the local school and John’s long commute. , and the Swirl logo are registered trademarks of the PeopleCert group. Used under licence from PeopleCert. All rights reserved. AgilePM
Options consideredWhat is the difference between AgilePM and PRINCE2?®
A business case should weigh up the competing options which have been considered. After all, there is usually more than one option. Perhaps an alternative option would have been for John to change his job to one nearer their current house. However, this wouldn’t solve the issue with the school. and AgileBA
Benefits ®
The benefits of a project or activity are the positive things you’re going to get back in return for your investment of time and money. In this case, the kids will get a better education, and John will save time each day.What is the difference between SAFe and AgilePM? 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
Timescales ®
It’s also important to understand how long the investment of resources will take. This is so that the organisation (or family in this case) knows when the resources will be freed up to work on other See all is a registered mark of the DevOps Institute. “PMI”, “PMBOKprojectsAgilePM FAQs® or activities. 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.
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.{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/#organization","name":"Knowledge Train","url":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/#website","url":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/","name":"Knowledge Train","publisher":{"@id":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/agile/agile-project-management/agilepm-faqs/what-is-apmg-agile-project-management/#webpage","url":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/agile/agile-project-management/agilepm-faqs/what-is-apmg-agile-project-management","name":"What is APMG Agile project management? | Knowledge Train","datePublished":"2026-03-18T12:59:29+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-18T12:59:29+00:00","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/#website"},"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/author/knowledgetrain","name":"Simon Buehring","url":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/author/knowledgetrain","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/training-courses/simon-96x96-2-96x96.webp","url":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/training-courses/simon-96x96-2-96x96.webp","caption":"Simon Buehring","inLanguage":"en-GB"},"sameAs":["https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/about/simon-buehring"],"worksFor":{"@id":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/#organization"}},{"@type":"Article","headline":"What is APMG Agile project management? | Knowledge Train","datePublished":"2026-03-18T12:59:29+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-18T12:59:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/author/knowledgetrain","name":"Simon Buehring"},"publisher":{"@id":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/#organization"},"description":"Click to read this PRINCE2 frequently asked question: What is APMG Agile project management?","name":"What is APMG Agile project management? | Knowledge Train","@id":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/agile/agile-project-management/agilepm-faqs/what-is-apmg-agile-project-management#richSnippet","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/agile/agile-project-management/agilepm-faqs/what-is-apmg-agile-project-management/#webpage"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/agile/agile-project-management/agilepm-faqs/what-is-apmg-agile-project-management/#webpage"}}]}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).
Costs
The 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.{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Question","name":"What is APMG Agile project management?","text":"What is APMG Agile project management?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"APMG Agile Project Management (AgilePM) is an Agile approach for managing projects. AgilePM is built on top of the DSDM Agile Project Management framework. APMG also offers a certification scheme for Agile project management at Foundation and Practitioner levels.APMG Agile project management provides Agile project managers with guidance on Agile philosophy, applying apply DSDM principles, configuring project lifecycles, evaluating products, applying Agile techniques, defining roles, setting up control mechanisms, managing requirements, and estimating progress.","dateCreated":"2026-03-18T12:59:29+00:00"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Simon Buehring"},"dateCreated":"2026-03-18T12:59:29+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-18T12:59:29+00:00","datePublished":"2026-03-18T12:59:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/agile/agile-project-management/agilepm-faqs/what-is-apmg-agile-project-management"}}
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.
RisksAgile related articles
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 Search
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 projectThe top 15 Agile books you should read
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.
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- Manage ConsentDoes the business case include project costs and risks?Simon Buehring
- Does the business case conform to organisational accounting standards (e.g. break-even analysis and cash-flow conventions)? 19 Feb 2026
- Are the major risks faced by the project explicitly stated, together with any proposed responses?To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
- Major risks and their mitigation plans; How to become a Scrum Master