5 Steps to Build Your Business Case for Modern Product Costing Software

Every cost engineering team faces the same fundamental challenge: making the right decisions at the right time with the best available data. Yet even organizations with dedicated cost engineering teams still deal with inefficiencies. When cost data is scattered and inconsistent, it slows down decision-making and creates unnecessary friction between departments. 

That’s why many teams turn to product costing software - not just to improve speed or accuracy, but to drive better business outcomes. Still, recognizing the need for a tool is only the first step. The bigger challenge is making a clear case for why it’s worth the investment. 

Understanding the ROI of product costing software is one thing, but communicating it effectively to decision-makers is another. A strong business case bridges this gap by translating technical benefits into strategic outcomes that resonate with leadership. Let’s walk you through five proven steps to help you prepare a compelling proposal.

How to Turn Product Costing Needs into a Business Case

Step 1: Identify the Hidden Costs in Your Current Process 

Before you ask for a new tool, show what’s broken: 

• Time wasted gathering scattered supplier and material data 

• Errors due to version mismatches in spreadsheets 

• Supplier quotes stalled in long validation loops 

• Duplicate efforts when teams calculate costs in silos 

This becomes your “before” picture. You’ll measure every improvement against this baseline. 

Step 2: Quantify the Savings Potential 

Now it’s time to put numbers behind the inefficiencies. 

Ask yourself: 

• How many hours per month does your team spend on manual calculations? 

• What’s the financial cost of delays in supplier quote validation? 

• How many commodities go unreviewed due to team capacity? 

• How often are sourcing decisions made without reliable cost baselines? 

Step 3: Link Your Case to Strategic Goals 

Frame your argument in terms that matter to management. 

• Reduce time-to-market by speeding up quote validation 

• Improve supplier trust through consistent, transparent cost logic 

• Boost profitability with earlier cost visibility during design 

• Minimize surprises later in the project by standardizing data inputs 

Present results in a clear, adjustable format that is easy for non-experts to understand. 

Step 4: Present a Clear ROI Calculation 

Use a simple ROI formula to show potential savings and efficiency gains over time. Here at Tset, our team of experts is ready to help you build a tailored ROI calculation using your own numbers, priorities and business setup. That way, the value of investing in product costing software becomes clear, specific and easy to communicate internally. 

Step 5: Secure Buy-In with a Data-Backed Proposal 

Summarize your case clearly and confidently: 

• Highlight savings in hours and euros 

• Tie benefits directly to business goals 

• Include case studies from your industry 

• Propose a low-risk, phased rollout plan with quick wins 

Make it easy for leadership to say “yes”. 

Tset: From Business Case to Bottom Line  

Tset’s product costing software helps teams scale cost engineering without increasing headcount. It goes beyond faster estimates - it gives you a smarter, more strategic approach to managing costs across departments. 

With Tset, you can: 

• Expand your cost coverage with automated costing modules that generate fast, consistent calculations  

• Standardize your costing logic across departments using built-in models and traceable calculation structures tailored to your needs 

• Eliminate manual data collection and align departments by centralizing all cost-related data in a single source of truth 

• Close knowledge gaps across teams with an intuitive interface that supports everyone from junior buyers to senior engineers 

• Maintain consistency and transparency by embedding expert logic and market data directly into the platform 

Whether you’re building a case or scaling a function, Tset gives you the foundation to act faster, collaborate better, and deliver measurable cost improvements that impact the bottom line.