Costs and Roi: Evaluating at the Ultimate Level, the Measurement and Evaluation Series

This book addresses two closely related issues: capturing the costs of a particular project and comparing those costs to the monetary benefits to develop the actual ROI. These are two indispensable steps for ultimate accountability—costs compared to benefits. Cost accumulation sheets are provided and a variety of costing examples are included along with specific rules for allocating costs for initial assessment, development, and software. The cost total is compared to the monetary benefits using three approaches: the ROI as a percent, the benefit-cost ratio, and the payback period, representing the number of years and months it will take to cover the costs of the project. These three common ways to reflect ROI are presented with examples. Coverage includes: the importance of reporting costs; the essential cost items; prorating costs; estimating costs; examples; cautions when reporting costs; the importance of calculating ROI; when to use ROI; the different types of ROI calculations; ROI and its meaning; cautions when using ROI.