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Careers Website Business Case Template for Your CFO
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Managing Director
Template
A careers website business case template with a Word document, slides, a one-page CFO summary and answers to the five objections finance always raises.
By Jim Taylor. Updated November 2026.
What a CFO needs to see
Finance does not need to love your careers website. They need to see the problem, the options, the numbers, the risks and the ask, on one page, with every assumption written down.
Most business cases fail because they argue from taste ("the website looks dated") rather than from cost and return. A CFO is asking four questions: what is the money for, what do we get, how sure are you, and what if it goes wrong. Build the whole case around those.
Definition: Careers website business case
A short document that asks for budget for a careers website by setting out the problem, the options, the cost, the expected return and the risks, with every assumption shown so that finance can test it.
What is it for?
A clear problem with evidence, not a feeling.
What do we get?
Return in money terms, as a range.
How sure are you?
Assumptions you can name and test.
What if it goes wrong?
Risks, owners and an exit route.
The five numbers that carry the case
You do not need dozens of metrics. These five carry most business cases for a careers website. Find them before you write a word.
| # | Number | Where to find it | Why finance cares |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hires a year through the careers website | ATS report | Sets the scale |
| 2 | Agency share of hires and average fee | Finance or ATS source report | The money you can avoid |
| 3 | Monthly visits and application rate | Analytics | The conversion lever |
| 4 | Annual cost of the new careers website | Supplier quotes (see the cost guide) | The investment |
| 5 | Hours a month your team spends on changes | Team estimate | The hidden cost of dependence |
Benefits to include, carefully
Customers manage everything themselves, so teams spend less time waiting for changes, and customers raise few support requests because they are independent. Support is Standard (9 to 5, UK and Eastern time) or Elite (24/7), and every package includes a named customer success manager, a monthly check-in and a quarterly business review. Some customers report getting back up to 40 hours a month. That is customer-reported, not an average, so test it against your own baseline before you use it.
Step-by-step: build the case in a day
- Morning: gatherCollect the five numbers and two screenshots of your careers website on a phone.
- Late morning: optionsWrite down four options: do nothing, improve, build, buy. Add rough costs.
- Lunchtime: run the numbersUse the calculator for a cautious, base and stretch case.
- Afternoon: draftFill in the Word template and cut it to one page for the summary.
- Late afternoon: testAsk a finance colleague to challenge every assumption. Fix what they find.
Start with the calculator, which is pre-filled with a worked example so that you can see the shape of the answer.
Open the ROI calculator with the worked example then replace each value with your own.
Worked example
These numbers are illustrative, to show the structure. They are not benchmarks, and Happydance does not promise any of them.
| Line | Value |
|---|---|
| Hires a year | 400 |
| Agency share and fee | 30 per cent at £6,000 |
| Share of agency hires moved to direct | 15 per cent |
| Agency spend avoided | £108,000 |
| Extra direct hires (36) at £2,000 each | £72,000 |
| Total annual benefit | £180,000 |
| Annual cost | £90,000 |
| Net annual return | £90,000 |
| Payback | 6.0 months |
| Cautious case (half the benefit) | break-even |
| Stretch case (1.5 times the benefit) | £180,000 |
The annual cost in this example is a placeholder for your own quote. It is not a Happydance price. Happydance plans run from $20k per year up to $100k+, depending on plan, sites, languages and integrations. See how much a careers website costs for the ranges by plan and a three-year model.
Show a range. A cautious case that still breaks even is worth more to finance than a big number nobody believes.
Business case tip
Objections and how to answer them
These are the five objections finance raises most often. Prepare a short answer and the evidence for each. The cheat sheet below prints on one page.
| Objection | Short answer | Evidence to bring |
|---|---|---|
| "We already have a careers page in the ATS." | The ATS runs the hiring workflow. The careers website is the first impression, and is often limited in design, speed and editing. | Mobile screenshots and speed results side by side |
| "We cannot measure the return." | We can measure application rate, source mix, agency share and time spent today, then compare after launch. | A baseline report |
| "That is a lot for a website." | Compare the three-year cost of every option, including developer time, and the cost of doing nothing. | The three-year table and the ROI model |
| "We can build it ourselves." | You can. Count developer time, maintenance, accessibility and what those developers would otherwise build. | An honest hours estimate |
| "What if it goes wrong?" | Contract for ownership of content and URLs, a staged launch, a redirect plan and a written exit route. | Contract terms and references |
If your case rests on employer brand impact, the Happydance Academy has free strategy resources, and the EB Voices hub shows how leaders in the field think about measurement.
Happydance careers websites are live for brands including Ingram Micro, Criteo, Domino's, National Grid and General Motors. Read how they run theirs in our customer experiences.
Team independence is part of the case, so budget for training. The free Happydance CMS Training Course shows what structured editor onboarding looks like, in 72 short lessons.
Timeline and decision path
Finance will ask how long and who decides. Show a simple path from approval to launch. The redesign guide has a full 12-week planning timeline.
| Stage | Typical timing | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Business case drafted and challenged | 1 to 2 weeks | Employer brand or TA lead |
| Shortlist and demos (use the checklist) | 3 to 6 weeks | Selection panel |
| Finance and legal approval | 2 to 4 weeks | Finance, legal, procurement |
| Build and launch | Around 12 weeks (planning assumption) | Project team |
| Baseline review | 3 and 6 months after launch | Employer brand and finance |
Timings vary with languages, brands, integrations and how quickly approvals move. They are planning assumptions, not measured averages and not a Happydance delivery commitment. Treat them as a starting point, and ask each supplier for a written plan against your scope.
What to put on the one-page summary
Finance reads the first page and decides how closely to read the rest. Make that page do the work. Write it last, in plain words, and keep to one page.
A sample opening paragraph
We ask for approval of [amount] a year for [three] years to replace our careers website with a platform our own team can manage. In a cautious case, which assumes half the benefit we expect, the project breaks even in [months]. In our base case it returns [amount] a year. The main risks are migration and integration, and we have a plan for each.
- The decision you need, with a date.
- The five numbers, each with its source.
- A cautious, base and stretch result.
- Three risks and how you will manage them.
- The review date and the baseline you will measure against.
- The name of the person who owns the result.
How to present it in the meeting
A good document can still lose in the room. Prepare for the conversation, not just the file.
- Send the numbers first. Let finance check the maths before the meeting, so that the meeting is about the decision.
- Lead with the cautious case. If the case stands at half the benefit, everything else is a bonus.
- Bring the owner of each number. If finance asks where agency spend comes from, the person who knows should be there.
- Show the phone. Put your careers website on a phone next to a competitor-free benchmark, such as the speed and accessibility results on the leaderboard.
- Ask for something specific. A named amount, a term and a review date are easier to approve than a general wish.
Questions to expect
| Likely question | What to have ready |
|---|---|
| What happens if the return is half what you expect? | The cautious case, shown on the first page |
| Who owns the number after launch? | A named owner and a review date |
| What does it cost to leave? | The exit terms and the export route |
| Why not extend the current contract? | The three-year cost of doing nothing |
| What else could we spend this on? | The opportunity cost, in your own terms |
| How will we know it worked? | The baseline, with the metrics and the dates |
Mistakes that sink a business case
- Arguing from taste: "it looks dated".
- Using one big number with no range.
- Quoting benchmarks nobody can source.
- Hiding the cost of your own time and developer time.
- Forgetting the risks until finance finds them.
- Asking for approval with no baseline to measure against.
A one-page structure finance will read
Finance reviews many requests a week. The business case that gets through has a clear structure and shows its working. Use this order and keep the whole thing to two pages.
| Section | What it contains | Length |
|---|---|---|
| The decision | What you are asking for, the amount and the date | Two sentences |
| The problem | The cost of the current careers website in applications, hires and time | One short paragraph |
| The options | Do nothing, refresh, rebuild or replace, with three-year cost | A small table |
| The return | Cautious, expected and stretch cases with assumptions | A small table |
| The risks | What could go wrong and how it is covered | Five bullets |
| The plan | Milestones, owners and how success is measured | A short timeline |
Worked example: turning one assumption into a range
Suppose your careers website receives 400,000 visits a year. The example below uses invented figures to show how a small change to one assumption moves the result. Replace every number with your own data.
| Assumption (illustrative) | Cautious | Expected | Stretch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visits per year | 400,000 | 400,000 | 400,000 |
| Application rate today | 2.0% | 2.0% | 2.0% |
| Improvement in application rate | 5% | 10% | 20% |
| Extra applications a year | 400 | 800 | 1,600 |
| Applications needed per hire | 40 | 40 | 40 |
| Extra hires a year | 10 | 20 | 40 |
The range is the story. Even the cautious case should clear the cost. If it does not, say so and test a smaller scope. Boards trust a case that admits where it is weak.
Objections you will hear, and honest answers
| Objection | A useful answer |
|---|---|
| Our careers website works well enough. | Show the numbers: speed, accessibility and application rate. Compare with the public leaderboard of 101 sites. |
| Can we wait a year? | Show what a year of delay costs in the expected case, and what could change in the market. |
| Will we really use the new features? | Name an owner and the first three changes your team will make in the first month. |
| Is the risk acceptable? | Present the risk table, with an owner and a fallback for each risk. |
| Why not build it ourselves? | Show the three-year view, including developer time, from the cost guide. |
Pair this page with the cost guide for the cost lines and the build or buy guide for the alternatives finance will ask about.
How do I write a business case for a careers website?
Set out the problem with evidence, the options including doing nothing, the cost, the return as a cautious, base and stretch case, the risks and the ask. Keep the summary to one page and show every assumption.
What should be in a careers website business case?
An executive summary, the problem, options considered, the numbers, benefits beyond the numbers, risks and mitigations, a timeline with owners and a clear ask.
How do I justify the cost of a new careers website?
Tie the cost to money you can check: agency spend avoided, extra direct hires from a better application rate and team time saved. Present a range and compare the three-year cost of every option.
What objections will finance raise about a careers website?
Common ones are that the ATS already has a careers page, that the return cannot be measured, that the cost is high, that it can be built in-house and what happens if it fails. The cheat sheet gives a short answer for each.
Can I use these templates for free?
Yes. The Word template, slides, one-page summary and cheat sheet are free to download and adapt.
Is the worked example a benchmark?
No. It is illustrative, to show how the numbers fit together. Replace every value with your own data.
How long should a business case be?
Aim for one page of summary for finance, backed by a short document and a few slides.
How much time can a careers website save my team?
Some Happydance customers report getting back up to 40 hours a month because they manage everything themselves. That is customer-reported, not an average. Test it against your own baseline.
How long should a careers website business case be?
Two pages is enough: the decision, the problem, the options, the return, the risks and the plan, with detail in an appendix.
Who should sign off a careers website business case?
Usually talent acquisition, employer brand, finance and IT. Agree the sign-off path before you write.
How do I handle assumptions I cannot prove?
Label them, show a cautious case that survives without them and say how you will measure them after launch.
Download the template pack
Business case (Word)Eight sections with prompts and example wording.Business case slides (PowerPoint)Eight slides, ready to brand and present.One-page summary for finance (Word)The five numbers, the return and the ask.Objections cheat sheet (Word)The five objections with short answers and evidence.
ROI calculatorHow much does a careers website cost?Careers website redesign guideCareers website CMSCareers website RFP templateCareers website performance leaderboard
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