# ChatGPT business case prompt: a one-page draft from your facts > Copy this ChatGPT business case prompt: give it your problem, options and real numbers, and get a one-page case that flags every missing figure. Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/business-case-prompt · Updated 2026-10-16 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com) [Reports and planning](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts#job-reports-and-planning) · [Operations](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts#industry-operations) · [Finance](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts#industry-finance) · Works in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot Updated October 16, 2026 · By [Robert Breen](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about) To write a business case with ChatGPT, copy the prompt below, fill in the decision and your real numbers, and paste any notes underneath. It returns a one-page case: the problem, the options, the cost of each, the risks, a recommendation and the figures still missing. Use it when you need approval for a vendor change, a new tool or a hire and want a clean first draft your manager can react to. The AI should not make up savings. If you do not give it a number, it must write "Number needed." You supply the figures and check the math; it organizes the argument. **Have a professional review it.** This prompt helps you explain your own numbers, not give financial advice. Have your accountant or financial advisor review anything you will act on. ## The prompt Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every `[BLANK]` with your own details. It uses the four parts from [Prompt Writing 101](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompt-writing-101-role-context-task-format): Role, Context, Task and Format. Copy prompt ```text Role: You are helping [YOUR ROLE] at [COMPANY] write a one-page business case for a manager who has two minutes to read it. Context: The decision: [DECISION]. Facts and numbers I can stand behind: [FACTS AND NUMBERS]. Use only these. Do not invent savings, costs, percentages or deadlines. If a figure is missing, write "Number needed" and list it at the end. Task: Write the case: the problem in two sentences, the options (including doing nothing), cost and benefit of each using my numbers, the main risks, your recommendation with one reason, and what I need to confirm before I present it. Format: Five short headed sections and one small table comparing the options. Plain words. Under 350 words. End with a list called Numbers needed. ``` ## Fill in the blanks **`[YOUR ROLE]`** Your job title, such as operations manager. It sets the point of view. **`[COMPANY]`** Your company name and what it does in a few words. **`[DECISION]`** One plain sentence: what you want approved and by when. **`[FACTS AND NUMBERS]`** Current costs, quotes, dates and results you can prove. Paste your notes here, with labels. ## Example, filled in **A made-up example** from the free lesson [Run a Weekly Ops Review Where Every Task Has an Owner using ChatGPT](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-weekly-operations-meeting-recap). Fairline Supply Co. is the made-up office-supply distributor in the weekly ops review lesson, where a packaging vendor keeps running short of boxes. The details below are an illustration of how the operations manager might ask for approval to add a second vendor. Copy example ```text Role: You are helping the operations manager at Fairline Supply Co., an office-supply distributor, write a one-page business case for a manager who has two minutes to read it. Context: The decision: approve a second packaging vendor for shipping boxes before the holiday rush. Facts and numbers I can stand behind: our current vendor was short on boxes in three of the last four weeks, 140 returns are waiting to be processed, and a second vendor has given a written quote, with the price per box in my notes. Use only these. Do not invent savings, costs, percentages or deadlines. If a figure is missing, write "Number needed" and list it at the end. Task: Write the case: the problem in two sentences, the options (including doing nothing), cost and benefit of each using my numbers, the main risks, your recommendation with one reason, and what I need to confirm before I present it. Format: Five short headed sections and one small table comparing the options. Plain words. Under 350 words. End with a list called Numbers needed. ``` ## What a good answer looks like - Three options appear: stay with one vendor, add a second vendor, or switch fully, each with only the numbers you gave. - "Number needed" shows up wherever you left a cost blank, such as the price per box. - The recommendation is one sentence with one reason, not a list of five. - Risks name real things from your notes, like three short weeks in four, not general business risks. ## How to check it before you use it An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the [Reply Faster lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-reply-to-customer-emails): check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out. - Recompute every total and percentage yourself. AI can write a believable number that is wrong. - Delete any benefit you cannot prove with your own records or a written quote. - Fill in the Numbers needed list before the meeting, or say plainly that they are still open. - Ask your finance contact to check any cost figure that will drive the decision. ## Why this prompt works Managers approve things they can understand fast. A fixed structure, with doing nothing as an honest option, makes your ask easy to judge. Forcing "Number needed" keeps the draft honest about what you still have to find out. ## Practice it in the free lesson **[Run a Weekly Ops Review Where Every Task Has an Owner using ChatGPT](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-weekly-operations-meeting-recap)**: Turn a weekly operations and vendor review into the decisions, the next steps with owners and dates, the risks to watch and a team recap, without turning a vendor's "should" into a promise. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts. [Start the free lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/operations-weekly-review-recap) Also useful: [Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompt-writing-101-role-context-task-format) ## Terms used here [Return on investment (ROI)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/return-on-investment) · [Executive summary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/executive-summary) · [Grounding](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/grounding) · [Hallucination](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/hallucination) ## Related prompts - [Budget request memo prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/budget-request-memo-prompt): Write a one-page memo asking for next year's budget: the problem, the amount, what it buys, the options you weighed and how… - [Purchase request justification prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/purchase-request-justification-prompt): Write a short, honest business case for a purchase: the problem, the cost, the options considered and what happens if you wait… - [Vendor quote comparison prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/vendor-quote-comparison-prompt): Compare vendor quotes side by side on price, what's included, timing and warranty, with "Not in quote" for gaps and the… - [Executive summary from a report prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/executive-summary-from-report-prompt): An executive summary AI prompt for ChatGPT: turn a long report into one page with the bottom line first, key findings, decisions… ## More reports and planning prompts - [Campaign results summary prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/campaign-results-summary-prompt): Turn the numbers from a finished marketing campaign into a plain summary: what ran, what each piece did, what to repeat and what… - [Cash flow forecast assumptions prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/cash-flow-forecast-assumptions-prompt): Write down and pressure-test the assumptions behind a cash flow forecast: each one's source, how sure you are and the early sign… - [Cash flow summary for owners prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/cash-flow-summary-for-owner-prompt): Get a plain-English summary of your own cash numbers: where money came from, where it went, and what known bills do to the… ## Frequently asked questions **How do I write a business case with ChatGPT?** Give it the decision, your real numbers and the options, tell it not to invent figures, and ask for a one-page case with a list of missing numbers. Then verify every figure before you present it. **What goes in a business case?** The problem, the options including doing nothing, the cost and benefit of each, the risks, a recommendation and what is still unknown. **Can ChatGPT calculate the savings?** It can set out the math, but you must check it. Give it the inputs and recompute the totals yourself or in a spreadsheet. [All free prompt templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts) · [AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary)