Application

CBA — Cost-Benefit Analysis

A structured way to answer one question: do the benefits of a project or policy outweigh its costs — for the investor and for society?

What it is

Cost-benefit analysis, made systematic.

Cost-benefit analysis compares everything a project costs with everything it delivers, over its whole life, in today’s money. It is the standard method for appraising public investments and a powerful lens for private ones.

The CBA application organises that work into one consistent workflow, so appraisals are complete, comparable and easy to review.

The workflow

From project definition to decision.

Define the options

Describe the project and the alternatives it is compared with, including doing nothing.

Enter costs and benefits

Capital and operating costs, and the benefits the project creates, year by year over its life.

Discount and compare

Bring all values to today’s money and calculate net present value, benefit-cost ratio and rate of return.

Test the result

Sensitivity tests show how the result changes when key assumptions move.

Key results

Net present value (NPV)
Benefit-cost ratio (BCR)
Economic internal rate of return (EIRR)
Sensitivity of results to key assumptions

Who it is for

Ministries and public agencies appraising investments
Development and infrastructure programmes
Investors building the economic case for a project
Analysts who need consistent, comparable appraisals

The next conversation

Interested in the CBA application?

Tell us about the projects you appraise, and we will show you how the application fits your work.