INFFEWS Benefit: Cost Analysis Tool: User Guide

Introduction

The INFFEWS BCA Tool for conducting Benefit: Cost Analysis (BCA) consists of a set of guidelines and spreadsheets. This User Guide for the BCA Tool spreadsheet provides step-by-step support for completing a BCA using the spreadsheet tool.

To assess each project, users complete one copy of the spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel. The spreadsheet captures both contextual and quantitative information about the project and calculates the BCA results. It also generates a summary report which can be provided to decision makers, and automatically conducts five types of sensitivity analysis.

We assume the user already has a specific project in mind and wishes to evaluate that project. The project may have already been defined in detail, or only in general terms. If it has been defined only generally, the BCA tool leads you through a process of defining it more specifically. The project needs to be defined specifically to conduct a BCA.