Value Case

An automation business-case builder: NPV, IRR, payback, scenarios, sensitivity analysis, and a printable executive one-pager.

Live demo →

The problem

Automation and AI projects get approved on the strength of their business case, but most cases are one-off spreadsheets with a single optimistic number. Executives want to know the downside, how quickly the project pays back, and which assumption the whole case hinges on.

What it does

• Takes operational inputs (volume, handling time, labor rate, error rate, automation share, costs, ramp time) and builds a monthly cash-flow model.
• Reports NPV, IRR, payback period, and freed capacity (FTE).
• Compares conservative / expected / aggressive scenarios on one chart.
• Builds a tornado chart showing which input moves NPV most when changed ±20%.
• Writes an executive summary with a recommendation, which you can copy or print as a one-pager.
• Saves every input in the URL so a case can be shared as a link.
• Includes four illustrative presets: AP invoices, KYC onboarding, IT ticket triage, and claims intake.

How it works

• Benefits: labor savings = volume × share automated × (1 − residual human time) × minutes ÷ 60 × loaded rate. Error savings = automated volume × error rate × reduction × cost per error. Benefits ramp linearly to full run-rate.
• Costs: the one-time cost lands at month 0; run cost is spread evenly by month.
• NPV: monthly cash flows discounted at the annual rate converted to a monthly rate.
• IRR: solved by bisection on monthly flows, then annualized.
• Sensitivity: each driver is moved ±20% with everything else held constant, and the results are sorted by impact.

Presets are illustrative assumptions, not client data.

Run it locally

No build step and no dependencies. Serve the folder with any static server:

python3 -m http.server 8000
# open http://localhost:8000

Project structure

index.html   page layout and copy
app.js       data generation, model, and rendering
app.css      page-specific styles
kit.js       shared helpers: seeded RNG, CSV import/export, SVG charts, tooltips
kit.css      shared UI kit (light + dark mode)

Charts are hand-built SVG with no charting library. Everything runs client-side, so uploaded files never leave the browser.

Data

The bundled sample data is synthetic, generated from a seeded random process so it is reproducible. It does not describe any real company or customer.

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Built by Darshan Patil · LinkedIn