How to build an LOS software business case

Start with a measurable baseline

A useful software business case begins with the work your team performs today. Count the recurring hours spent on intake, document follow-up, servicing reviews, draw coordination, and reporting. Separate these activities so the people doing the work can review the estimates. Include current subscription and integration costs.

Distinguish time released from cash saved

Hours that become available for other work do not automatically reduce payroll. Describe whether your scenario assumes increased capacity, reduced outside services, or an actual change in staffing cost. Keeping those categories separate makes the proposal easier to review and avoids treating every hour as an immediate cash saving.

Model a change you can validate

For each workflow, estimate the portion of current effort that could change and explain why. A demo with a representative loan can help identify the steps affected. Include the work that remains: document review, reconciliation, exceptions, approvals, and investor delivery still have responsible owners.

A simple labor-capacity model is: annual hours potentially released × the hourly cost assumption. Label the output as modeled capacity value until the team has evidence that the workflow change occurs in practice.

Include the cost of the transition

Include migration, field mapping, balance validation, integrations, training, and the internal time required to launch. Add the proposed subscription and ongoing operating costs. Review which items are one-time costs and which recur so the first-year view is distinct from later years.

Compare scenarios rather than one exact answer

Build conservative, expected, and higher-change scenarios using explicit assumptions. Ask which inputs most affect the result. If a proposal depends on an aggressive reduction in review time, validate that workflow before relying on the scenario. Avoid assigning a financial value to error reduction or faster lending decisions without an evidence-backed method.

Define what you will measure after rollout

Select a small set of operational measures, such as time spent assembling a reporting package or following up on a document request. Establish the starting measure, its owner, and the review period. Use the same definition after rollout and account for changes in loan volume or workflow complexity.

Review the assumptions with your team

Use the LOS ROI calculator to explore scenarios, then review the inputs with operations and finance. The calculator’s outputs are illustrative estimates rather than a promised return. Bring a representative loan and your baseline to a demo with Ursara, and review implementation planning as part of the business case.

Evaluate capacity, deal velocity and operational risk separately

Capacity measures recurring work your team can release or reassign. Deal velocity measures elapsed time from intake to a reviewed decision or closing. Operational risk includes missing evidence, reconciliation exceptions and incorrect handoffs. Track each with its own baseline rather than adding all three into one unsupported savings number.

Faster review does not automatically mean more funded loans, and fewer manual steps do not automatically remove a role. Use the observed workflow and your own economics to decide which benefits belong in the financial model.