ROI One-Pager Template
Investment justification narrative
How to Use
- Copy this template and replace all
[PLACEHOLDER]values with your organization's data. - Adjust the metrics in the Measured Improvements section to reflect what you actually tracked.
- Validate calculations with your finance team before presenting externally.
- Keep it to one page — this is designed to be a concise, self-contained narrative.
1. Executive Summary
[ORGANIZATION NAME] invested in GitHub Copilot [PLAN TYPE] for [NUMBER] developers beginning [START DATE]. Over a [DURATION]-month measurement period, we observed [KEY FINDING #1] and [KEY FINDING #2], resulting in an estimated ROI of [X]%.
2. Investment
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| License type | Copilot [Business / Enterprise] |
| Seats purchased | [NUMBER] |
| Per-seat cost (annual) | $[AMOUNT] |
| Total annual investment | $[TOTAL] |
| Additional costs (tooling, enablement) | $[AMOUNT] |
| All-in annual cost | $[GRAND TOTAL] |
3. Baseline Period
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Baseline period | [START DATE] — [END DATE] |
| Baseline methodology | [e.g., 4-week average pre-rollout] |
Key baseline metrics:
| Metric | Baseline Value |
|---|---|
| Median PR cycle time | [X] hours |
| Deployment frequency | [X] per week |
| Developer time on repetitive tasks (survey) | [X] hours/week |
| Code review turnaround | [X] hours |
4. Measured Improvements
Measurement period: [START DATE] — [END DATE]
| Metric | Baseline | Current | Delta | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PR cycle time (median) | [X] hrs | [Y] hrs | -[Z]% | [High/Medium/Low] |
| Deployment frequency | [X]/week | [Y]/week | +[Z]% | [High/Medium/Low] |
| Developer time savings (survey) | [X] hrs/wk | [Y] hrs/wk | -[Z] hrs/wk | [High/Medium/Low] |
| Code review turnaround | [X] hrs | [Y] hrs | -[Z]% | [High/Medium/Low] |
5. Value Translation
| Improvement | Calculation | Estimated Annual Value |
|---|---|---|
| Time savings | [X] hrs/dev/week × [Y] developers × [Z] weeks × $[BLENDED RATE]/hr | $[VALUE] |
| Throughput gain | [X] additional features/quarter × $[ESTIMATED FEATURE VALUE] | $[VALUE] |
| Quality improvement | [X] fewer incidents/quarter × $[COST PER INCIDENT] | $[VALUE] |
| Total estimated value | $[TOTAL VALUE] |
Blended rate note: Use fully loaded cost (salary + benefits + overhead), not just salary. A common range is $75–$150/hr depending on geography and seniority mix.
6. ROI Summary
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Total estimated annual value | $[TOTAL VALUE] |
| Total annual investment | $[TOTAL COST] |
| Net value | $[NET = VALUE − COST] |
| ROI | [NET ÷ COST × 100]% |
7. Caveats & Methodology
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Data sources | [e.g., GitHub API, internal surveys, CI/CD logs] |
| Measurement period | [START] — [END] |
| Confounding factors | [e.g., concurrent process changes, team growth, other tooling] |
| Attribution model | [e.g., pre/post comparison, survey-based self-report, controlled cohort] |
| Confidence level | [High / Medium / Low] |
| Known limitations | [e.g., no control group, survey response rate of X%, seasonal effects] |
Important: These are estimates, not precise causal measurements. Multiple factors influence developer productivity. This analysis assumes Copilot was a significant contributor to observed changes, but does not claim sole attribution.
8. Recommendation
- Continue — Maintain current seat count and monitor trends
- Expand — Increase seat count to [TARGET] based on demonstrated value
- Optimize — Maintain seats but focus on adoption enablement for underutilizing teams
- Review — Insufficient evidence to justify current investment; conduct deeper analysis
Recommended action: [SELECT ONE AND EXPLAIN IN 1–2 SENTENCES]
Next review date: [DATE]