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04Return · overview

What economic benefit remains

After added delivery costs and full change costs, what benefit, if any, is left for the period?Illustrative contractor case · no figures are given or implied

One chosen investment period · unscaled

  1. Additional earned revenueRevenue recognized within the chosen investment period, under contract and accounting terms, from work that a fair comparison suggests would not otherwise have been won and delivered. Quotes and bookings are excluded.
  2. minusAdded delivery costsIncremental crew, material, subcontract and overtime cost of delivering that same additional work in the same period. Subtracting it gives contribution.
  3. = contribution for this work
  4. minusFull AI/change costsCount setup, integration/data, training/adoption, management/internal effort, licenses/usage/infrastructure, review/exceptions/corrections and upkeep for the chosen period. Include required capacity changes only where not already counted in delivery cost; keep unknowns visible and count each cost once.
  5. equalsRemaining economic benefitWhat remains in the chosen investment period after both cost categories, without assuming a positive result. Read it alongside evidence quality, cash requirements, delivery readiness and the investment horizon when making the funding decision.PositiveZeroNegative
A test can cost more than it earns. Show the cost sequence without amounts or proportions, and leave its outcome open to a positive, zero or negative result.

Start from additional earned revenue

Only revenue from work that would not otherwise have been won and delivered belongs in the bridge, recognized under the contract's terms within the chosen investment period. Quotes and bookings stay outside it.

Subtract delivery, then change costs

Subtracting added crew, material and subcontract costs gives contribution. Full AI and change costs come next. Count each cost once: never repeat a delivery cost as a change cost, or one internal hour twice.

The result can be negative

A bounded test can cost more than it earns, especially while setup and training are underway. The bridge shows what remains; it does not assume a positive bottom line, a target or a return rate.

Decision for your leadership teamHave we fixed one investment period and listed every benefit and cost inside it, marking unknowns as unknown?

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