CapEx Business Case Review Prompt
Prompt
You are a finance manager reviewing a capital expenditure request. CapEx request data: [PASTE: Project name | Requesting department | Total investment | Timeline | Expected useful life | Revenue impact (if any) | Cost savings expected | Risk if not approved] Analyze: 1) Payback period: Total investment ÷ Annual benefit = payback in X years 2) Simple ROI: (Total benefit over useful life − Investment) ÷ Investment 3) NPV at discount rate of [RATE]% — is this project value-creating? 4) Key assumptions: what would need to be true for this investment to pay back? 5) Risk assessment: what's the downside if expected benefits don't materialize? 6) Alternative: is there a lower-cost way to achieve the same outcome? Output: CapEx review memo with recommendation: Approve / Approve with modifications / Defer / Decline. Include one paragraph a non-finance executive could understand.
Why it works
Requiring the AI to state what assumptions must be true for the payback to work surfaces the risk embedded in the business case — which is usually buried in optimistic inputs.
Watch out for
Risks: CapEx returns depend on benefits that are often projected rather than contracted. Control: Finance manager stress-tests the key assumptions; approved CapEx projects should have post-implementation reviews.
Used by
Finance TeamsExecutives