Run an analysis

Use cases · Business Case

Board report.
The numbers that survive the room.

The paper a board decides on: what is being approved, why now, the costs and benefits with the numbers behind them, the alternatives considered and why they were set aside, and the risks, with how each is handled.

  • The numberWill the market size hold?
  • The alternativesWhat else did you consider?
  • The askWhat is the board being asked?
Run the analysis

Runs: “Write a board paper recommending entry into the UK veterinary services market: the ask, the market size and growth with the estimate to use and why, the alternatives considered, and the main risks.” · No account needed.

The short answer

What is a board report?

A board report, also called a board paper or board pack, is the document a board approves, ratifies or notes a decision on. It states the ask, the rationale, the costs and benefits with the numbers behind them, the alternatives considered and why they were not chosen, and the risks. Caspr writes it with the market figures settled before the board sees them.

Last updated Edited and approved by Joy, Founder & CEO

The anatomy

What goes into a board report?

A board report states the ask first, then the evidence a board needs to approve, ratify or note it: progress against the plan, the financial impact, the alternatives set aside and the risks.

The ask
Approve, ratify or note, stated at the top whenever the decision is already settled.
Progress against the plan
Each KPI against the plan’s own target, marked meeting, exceeding or behind.
Financial impact
A number, or explicitly none. For a capital project, the cost to build and run against the do-nothing baseline.
The strategic link
The named goal or KPI the item serves, cited by number.
What changed
A dated log of what has moved since the board last saw the item.
Alternatives considered
Each option named, with the reason it was set aside: sites, concepts, or build, buy or partner.
Risks
Stated plainly, not smoothed over, each with what would resolve it.

Every version

Which board reports can Caspr write?

Most asked

Strategy teams

The board or executive committee decides whether to approve, ratify or note a strategic plan or its progress.

A board strategy report is the paper a board approves, ratifies or notes a strategic plan on: the ask, progress against the plan’s targets, what changed, and the financial impact.

What it answers

  • Is the board being asked to approve, ratify or just note this?
  • How are we tracking against the targets we set?
  • What has changed since the board last saw it?
  • What does it cost, or is the financial impact nil?
  • Which near-term risks should we name now?

What it covers

  • KPI attainment against target
  • Program or project cost per unit
  • Standing against named peers on one KPI, where the organization tracks a peer set

Business Case · Board paper · $80

Arrives as PDF · PowerPoint, where the item is presented live

It may ask for: for example, the last board pack, so the report shows exactly what changed.

Run this Run this

Public bodies

A city council, county commission or governing board decides whether to fund a public facility.

A feasibility study is the business case a council funds a capital project on: demand against comparable facilities, what to build and where, the cost, and the alternatives rejected.

What it answers

  • Is there demand, measured against comparable facilities?
  • What should we build, at what size, and on which site?
  • What will it cost to build and to run, against doing nothing?
  • Which sites or concepts were considered and turned down, and why?

What it covers

  • Comparable-facility visitation, revenue and cost benchmarks
  • Capital and annual operating cost against the do-nothing baseline
  • Demographic and market-demand indicators
  • A plain statement of what it does not cover: site engineering, architectural programming and community engagement

Business Case · Board paper · $300

Arrives as PDF · PowerPoint for the board meeting

It may ask for: for example, whether a site is already chosen or site selection is part of the question.

Run this Run this

Operations consultants

A plant or operations manager, or the COO, decides which process loss to fix first.

A process improvement case shows an operations leader where time, cost or quality is lost, how the process compares with a named benchmark, and what to fix first.

What it answers

  • Where in our process data do time, cost or quality losses concentrate?
  • How does our current state compare with an industry or best-practice benchmark?
  • What should we fix first, ranked by impact?

What it covers

  • Cycle time
  • Defect rate
  • Throughput
  • Safety-incident rate
  • The industry benchmark for each

Business Case · Board paper · $80

Arrives as PDF · Excel

It may ask for: for example, whether you can export cycle-time, defect or throughput records, since it works from data you already hold rather than observing the process on site.

Run this Run this

Corporate development

The full board votes on formal approval of a proposed or signed acquisition.

An acquisition approval paper supports a board’s formal vote on a proposed or signed deal: the ask and timeline, the rationale, the value case, the terms and governance after close.

What it answers

  • What are we seeking board approval for, and by when?
  • Why this deal: what is the strategic rationale?
  • Is there a synergy case, and does this kind of deal have one?
  • What are the financing and consideration terms?
  • How will governance work after close, and which risk factors apply?

What it covers

  • Exchange ratio or premium
  • The synergy figure
  • Board composition and governance terms
  • A plain statement that it is not a fairness opinion

Business Case · Board paper · $300

Arrives as PDF

It may ask for: for example, whether the consideration is cash, stock or mixed.

Run this Run this

Strategy and HR

Strategy and HR leadership, and the board, decide on workforce sizing, skills investment or restructuring.

A workforce plan sets the skills gap against the plan’s future needs, sizes the headcount and cost it implies, and compares training, hiring and outsourcing to close it.

What it answers

  • What skills gap do we have against the plan?
  • What headcount and cost does closing it imply?
  • Train, hire or outsource: what does each cost?
  • For succession: is there a ready internal candidate for each critical role, and how ready?

What it covers

  • Workforce planning: current against required headcount, by role or skill
  • Cost per option
  • Attrition and retention rate
  • Bench depth and readiness by critical role
  • It never names or ranks an individual successor; that stays with the board

Business Case · Board paper · $300

Arrives as PDF · Excel · PowerPoint

It may ask for: for example, whether headcount and skills data can be uploaded, or the work should run on public benchmarks alone.

Run this Run this

Strategy teams

Strategy, the executive team and the board decide whether, and how, to invest in a digital or AI initiative.

A digital transformation business case states the capability gap behind an initiative, what it costs and how long it takes, and how building, buying or partnering compare.

What it answers

  • What gap or competitive pressure is driving this?
  • What will it cost, and how long will it take?
  • Build in-house, buy or partner, phased or full-scale: how do they compare?
  • How does each compare with our own cost history and with a named market alternative?

What it covers

  • Cost and timeline for each approach
  • Expected capability or efficiency gain
  • The risks, disclosed plainly
  • Not an implementation plan or a vendor selection

Business Case · Board paper · $300

Arrives as PDF · PowerPoint

It may ask for: for example, current technology-cost data, so each approach is set against your own history.

Run this Run this

Executive team

Strategy, the executive team and the board decide on a structure, culture or operating-model change.

An org design review sets out what the current structure, culture or operating model costs, the named options to change it, and what the transition would cost and take.

What it answers

  • What problem does our current structure create: slow decisions, duplicated cost, unclear accountability?
  • What are the structural options, and their trade-offs?
  • Does what our culture rewards match what the strategy needs?
  • What would the transition cost, and how long would it take?

What it covers

  • Cost of the current model
  • Cost and timeline per option
  • Span of control or decision-cycle time
  • Engagement or turnover by segment, where you supply it. Caspr analyzes survey data; it does not field the survey

Business Case · Board paper · $300

Arrives as PDF · PowerPoint

It may ask for: for example, whether a restructuring decision is already made, or several operating models are still being compared.

Run this Run this

Public bodies

A city, transit authority or state agency’s board and finance staff decide whether to procure a project as a PPP.

A PPP feasibility study compares partnership structures for a public infrastructure project, how each allocates risk and is financed, and whether any beats conventional procurement on value for money.

What it answers

  • Which public-private partnership structures suit this project: concession, availability payment, design-build-finance-operate-maintain or joint venture?
  • Who carries construction, demand and operating risk under each?
  • What does private financing cost against issuing municipal bonds?
  • Does a PPP give better value for money than conventional procurement, at our discount rate?

What it covers

  • Value for money against conventional procurement, at a stated discount rate
  • Financing cost per structure against the jurisdiction’s own bond rate
  • Risk allocation by category
  • It stops before the procurement and the negotiation

Business Case · Board paper · $300 Soon

Arrives as PDF · PowerPoint

It may ask for: for example, your own borrowing rate and conventional-procurement cost estimate, or whether to use a public benchmark instead.

Join the waitlist Join the waitlist

Governance committees

The board’s nominating or governance committee, with the company secretary, decides where board practice should change.

A board effectiveness review compares a board’s composition, committees and process with peer companies, governance codes and listing standards, and names where practice should change.

What it answers

  • How do our board’s size, independence, tenure, skills and diversity compare with peers and current codes?
  • Are our committees set up the way listing standards and proxy advisers expect?
  • Where are the gaps in meeting cadence, board evaluation and refreshment?
  • What changed since the last review?

What it covers

  • Independence, tenure and diversity
  • Committee structure against listing-standard requirements
  • Meeting frequency and self-evaluation completion
  • Never a recommendation on who should sit on the board

Business Case · Board paper · $80

Arrives as PDF · Excel

It may ask for: for example, which peer set and which governance code to benchmark against.

Run this Run this

Not listed?

Describe your own version, and Caspr shows you the report it would build before anything runs.

No account needed.

Where the analysis earns its keep

Where do board reports go wrong?

The market size
A board questions every number it cannot attribute. Published sizes disagree, and the paper uses the one that fits the decision and says why.
Independent of the supplier
Figures from an interested party are set against independent ones, and the gap is named.
The conflicting figure, met first
Where a board member will have seen a different number, the paper shows it and explains the difference.
Measured against what
Each figure states what it is measured against: the plan’s own target, not a peer the board did not choose.

The question this runs

“Write a board paper recommending entry into the UK veterinary services market: the ask, the market size and growth with the estimate to use and why, the alternatives considered, and the main risks.”

Run the analysis

Before anything runs, Caspr shows you the report it would build and asks what it needs.

Questions

Questions about board reports

What it is

What is a board report?

A board report, also called a board paper, is the document a board approves, ratifies or notes a decision on. It states the ask first, then the rationale, the financial impact as a number or explicitly none, progress against the plan’s own targets, the alternatives considered and the risks. A deck accompanies it when the item is presented live.

What is the difference between a board paper, a board pack and a board presentation?

A board paper covers one item and one ask. The board pack is the full set of papers circulated before the meeting, often with an agenda tag on each item. A board presentation is the deck for the items discussed live. Caspr writes the paper, and adds the deck when the item will be presented.

How to do it

Where do I find market data for a board paper?

In the paper. Caspr reads its curated corpus and live feeds, sets the published figures against each other, and puts the one that fits your decision in the paper, with its basis.

How do I present a market size to a board so it holds up?

Show the figure, what it counts, and why it was chosen over the others. A board’s first question about a number is where it came from, and the paper has already answered it.

How do I evaluate three potential expansion markets for a board deck?

Name the three markets and the criteria the board cares about. The paper assesses each on the same terms, settles the market size where published estimates disagree, names what was set aside and why, and states the ask. If the choice is still genuinely open, the strategic options paper is the right document. → Strategic options

How do I build market context slides for the annual planning cycle?

Ask for every growth initiative’s market context in one run: its size, its growth and the trend that matters, with the figure to use where sources disagree. It arrives as a PDF, with a PowerPoint for the items the board will discuss live, and any progress figure is read against the plan’s own target.

How do I present a category’s market size to the board with a credible source?

The same way: the figure, its definition, and why it was chosen. A category review sizes the category against the total market. → Category review

Using AI for it

Is AI-generated market research reliable enough for a board?

Where sources disagree, the paper says so and states which figure it used, and why. Every figure carries its source, and the report is marked as generated by Caspr. The decision stays with the board.

How do I cite AI-assisted research in a board paper?

The sources are listed in the report, ready to cite, and the report carries a mark saying it was generated by Caspr.

Cost

What does it cost to commission a board paper or feasibility study?

There is no published price to point to. Board papers are usually written in-house, and commissioned feasibility studies and strategy work are quoted per engagement, so the fee varies with scope. Caspr’s price for each version on this page is on its card, beside the depth it runs at.

How do I get a board-ready analysis without a consulting budget?

Name the decision and what the board will ask. Caspr returns the paper finished: the ask, the numbers settled where sources disagree, the alternatives and the risks. Before anything runs, it shows you the report it would build and asks what it needs.

Caspr means Business.

GET STARTED

Take the numbers into the room settled.
Your first $100. On us.

No account needed.

Run the analysis
Run an analysis