Most business cases effectively end the moment they’re approved; the proposal is signed off, budgets are allocated, and the delivery team shifts into execution mode. At that point, the business case document itself often gets filed away, and is rarely referenced again.
In the penultimate tutorial of the Business Case Academy series, we explore why a truly winning business case doesn’t stop at approval; in fact, why approval only marks halftime in this game. The real test of a business case is whether the outcomes it promised are tracked, measured, and delivered once the project is underway and after it has been completed. Post-approval tracking is what transforms a business case from a one-off pitch into a living management tool that builds accountability, trust, and continuous improvement across the organization.
Why post-approval tracking matters
A business case without follow-through is simply a forecast, and often an overly optimistic one at that. Executives make high-stakes investment decisions based on projected ROI, cost savings, and risk reduction, but without tracking, those projections are never even validated, let alone learned from. Simply by adopting post-approval tracking, an organization ensures that they can answer the questions that matter most:
Did the forecasted ROI actually materialize?
Were adoption and benefit ramp-up as fast as projected, or slower?
Did cost savings appear on schedule, and at the scale expected?
Did all costs and benefits perform similarly, or were there differences between different types?
Were risks managed as effectively as planned, or did unanticipated issues arise?
Without tracking, these questions remain guesswork. However, with tracking, they become measurable facts, but even more importantly (as this is an area many organizations fall down on), they help us to drive smarter decision-making for all future projects.
Building credibility and trust
One of the greatest benefits of post-approval tracking is the credibility it provides. Business cases are persuasive documents, and leaders are quick to notice if promised results never get revisited. Over time, this can create skepticism; are forecasts realistic, or are they simply optimistic pitches designed to win funding?
Organizations that consistently track actual outcomes against the original business case demonstrate accountability, and in fact, even when outcomes don’t fully align with projections, merely the act of tracking shows integrity. Leaders learn to trust that when their team presents a case, it’s not just a sales document; rather, it’s a commitment to measure, learn, and report back. Once earned, that credibility then makes it far easier to win support for future initiatives.
Driving continuous improvement
In the real world, forecasting is never perfect; benefits may be overstated, costs may be underestimated, or risks may manifest in unexpected ways. The point of post-approval tracking is not to punish teams for missing their projections, but to create a feedback loop, as by comparing forecasts with actuals, organizations can:
🤔 Refine assumptions
👉 e.g. If labor savings are consistently overestimated, future cases can model more conservative projections.
🕵🏻♀️ Identify patterns
👉 e.g. If adoption lags in certain types of projects, rollout plans can be strengthened to address it.
🔁 Improve models
ROI calculations, benefit ramping, and risk assessments all become far more accurate when estimated inputs are informed by historical data.
In this way, every single business case (whether perfectly accurate, slightly flawed, or even those that go much worse) contributes to building stronger cases in the future. Tracking is how an organization evolves from “best guesses” to the best practice of evidence-based forecasting.
Making adjustments in-flight
Another misconception is that post-approval tracking only happens once a project is finished. In reality, the best organizations track progress continuously throughout delivery, as by revisiting the business case regularly, teams can identify early warning signs:
📉 If adoption rates are lagging, additional training or communication can be rolled out.
💸 If costs are creeping upward, scope adjustments can be made before overruns spiral.
⏱️ If projected benefits are delayed, leaders can decide whether to extend timelines, shift priorities, or pivot strategy.
This type of “in-flight” tracking prevents small deviations from snowballing into failed outcomes. The business case becomes a living document, not just a record of intent, but a guide for decision-making throughout the project lifecycle.
ℹ️ Read more about the concept of The business case as a living document
Turning lessons into long-term value
The ultimate power of post-approval tracking lies in its ability to create organizational learning. Over time, tracking builds a database of real-world outcomes which can then be used to benchmark new projects against past ones, understand which benefits are most reliably realized, and highlight where risks are frequently underestimated.
That collective knowledge improves not only future business cases, but also portfolio management. Leaders can allocate resources with greater confidence, as rather than relying on industry trends, then know specifically within their own organization which types of projects tend to outperform and which require closer scrutiny.
In other words, post-approval tracking doesn’t just strengthen individual projects; it strengthens the organization’s entire investment capability.
Practical steps to embed post-approval tracking
For many organizations, tracking ends up being neglected simply because there isn’t a clear process for it. Building post-approval tracking into the business case lifecycle requires deliberate action:
🏆 Define success metrics at the outset
Don’t just forecast benefits; instead, define specifically how those benefits will be measured after go-live.
🙋🏻♂️ Assign ownership
Someone must be responsible for collecting, analyzing, and reporting actuals. Without ownership, tracking rarely happens, as it’s too easy for people just to assume that someone else is on top of it and it’s not their problem.
📆 Schedule check-ins
Build a cadence of reviews (be it quarterly, semi-annual, or project-specific, the key is consistency within the project) to compare forecasts vs. actuals.
🎓 Let the past influence the future
Document lessons learned and integrate them into the assumptions used for all future business cases.
👥 Report back
Share outcomes with stakeholders, not just to reinforce accountability and build trust, but also so that the lessons learned can be felt org-wide.
How KangaROI supports post-approval tracking
KangaROI was built on the belief that a business case doesn’t end with approval. It’s designed to support organizations through the entire lifecycle, from initial modeling to real-world tracking:
🛠️Benefit Builder
Gone are the days of woolly, unclear benefits, as KangaROI’s built-in Benefit Builder ensures that every benefit is fully defined and benchmarked prior to sign-off.
📆 Check-Ins
At user-defined, regular milestones, KangaROI prompts project teams to revisit the business case and review actuals against forecasts.
📈 Real ROI tracking
Instead of leaving ROI as a static forecast, KangaROI shows how benefits and costs evolve over time and the impact that has on the financial metrics, making it easy to see where reality aligns with, or diverges from, expectations.
🤖 kAI’s historical insights
Every tracked business case contributes to your organization’s knowledge base, which your AI strategic advisor kAI then uses to support refining future assumptions and improving forecasting accuracy.
🔗 Integrated accountability
Because tracking is embedded into the platform, it becomes part of the process, not an afterthought.
With KangaROI, post-approval tracking is not just possible, it’s seamless. The business case stays alive long after approval, supporting both project delivery and organizational learning.
Summary
A business case that ends at approval is only half a business case. The true measure of success lies in whether its promised outcomes are tracked, validated, and delivered. Post-approval tracking builds credibility, enables mid-course corrections, and drives long-term improvement in how organizations make investment decisions.
By embedding post-approval tracking, business cases transform from static documents into living engines of accountability and growth. With tools like KangaROI, organizations can ensure that every investment not only looks good on paper but delivers measurable value in practice.
