RPA Business Case Playbook

Why the business case is different for RPA

RPA’s economics hinge on hours displaced, error reduction, and avoided work. Benefits ramp with reuse and standardization, while costs cluster in licenses, infra, and support. A clear baseline prevents vanity metrics and anchors expansion to realized value.

Model the numbers

Quantify volumes, AHT, FTE mix, error/rework, SLA penalties, and seasonality. Convert to hours and quality deltas. Then subtract platform/runtime, hosting, and support. Include change failure and volatility risk as modeled sensitivity.

• Payback period and IRR under base / best / worst scenarios.
• Run-rate benefits as scope expands; compounding from component reuse.
• Link to business metrics: DSO, OTIF, on-time close, case resolution SLAs.

Executive Story

Tie the pipeline to strategic goals—compliance posture, backlog burn-down, customer experience. Report benefits as a living P&L with transparent assumptions and realized deltas, not just forecasted hours.