Business Impact is where you record what an idea is expected to deliver and what it actually delivered, in money and in other benefits. You record it on the Business Impact tab of each idea, and the totals appear on Initiative and system dashboards and in exports.
Key terms
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Financial impact | Money: benefits (such as revenue or cost savings) and costs. Each is recorded as projected (expected) and actual (achieved). |
| Non-financial impact | Benefits that are not measured in money, such as improved safety or customer satisfaction. |
| Benefit types and cost types | The categories people pick from (or type) when they record impact. |
| Projected Net Benefit | The total projected value recorded on ideas, shown on dashboards and in exports. |
| Actual Benefits | The value actually achieved, shown on dashboards and in exports. |
| Timeframe | Whether impact is recorded and reported by month, quarter, or year. |
Who uses Business Impact
System Administrators set up the benefit and cost types for the whole system. Initiative administrators choose how their Initiative uses them. Administrators, moderators, evaluators, and (if you allow it) submitters record impact on ideas. Common uses:
- Build the business case. Record projected benefits and costs while an idea is being evaluated, so decision makers can compare ideas on expected value.
- Show results after delivery. Record actual benefits once a project is live, and compare them with the projection.
- Report program ROI. Show total projected and actual value across the program on the Command Center and Business Impact dashboards.
- Record value that is not money. Record non-financial benefits, such as safety or sustainability improvements.
- Make it part of the workflow. Ask idea teams to fill in impact as an action item in a Development step.
Set up benefit and cost types
Set up your benefit and cost types before people start recording impact, so everyone uses the same categories and your reports add up.
At the system level
System-level types are the default list for every Initiative. Benefits are grouped into financial and non-financial.
- Go to System Setup > Ideas > Business Impact.
- To add a type, select Add Benefit at the bottom of the group.
- To remove a type, select the trash can to its left.
- To reorder the types, drag the rearrange icon on the left of an item up or down.
System-level Business Impact settings.
Adding and deleting benefit types.
Dragging benefit types into a new order.
Use a currency other than US dollars
Choose your currency from the Currency dropdown.
The Currency dropdown in General Settings.
At the Initiative level
Each Initiative can follow the system list, use its own list, or let people type their own types.
- Go to Site Setup > Ideas > Business Impact. If your site has no Business Impact tab, go to Site Setup > Ideas > Ideas and scroll to the Business Impact heading.
- Choose an option for Cost Tracking and an option for Benefits Tracking.
- Save your changes.
| Option | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Use System Level cost types / benefit types | A dropdown of the types defined in System Setup. This is the default for new Initiatives. | Consistent reporting across the whole program |
| Use Open Text input for cost types / benefit types | People type their own type instead of picking from a list. | Varied ideas where a fixed list does not fit |
| Use Initiative Level cost types / benefit types | A dropdown of types you define for this Initiative only. | Programs with their own measures, such as a sustainability challenge |
Initiative-level Business Impact settings.
For example, to let people type their own cost types, set Cost Tracking to Use Open Text input for cost types.
The Cost Tracking setting.
Choose a monthly, quarterly, or yearly timeframe
The timeframe sets how finely impact is recorded and reported. Pick the one that matches how your finance team reports. New Initiatives start on Quarterly.
- Go to Site Setup > Ideas > Business Impact. If your site has no Business Impact tab, go to Site Setup > Ideas > Ideas and scroll to the Business Impact heading.
- Set Business impact timeframe to Monthly, Quarterly, or Yearly.
- Read the message that explains how existing data will be converted, then confirm.
- Save your changes.
The timeframe applies everywhere Business Impact appears: Site Setup, the idea page, pipeline dashboards, system dashboards, and CSV exports.
What happens to existing data
| Change | What happens |
|---|---|
| Yearly to Quarterly | Each year's impact is divided evenly across its quarters. |
| Quarterly to Yearly | Quarters are added up into their year. |
| Monthly to Quarterly or Yearly | Months roll up into quarters or years. |
| Quarterly or Yearly to Monthly | Impact is spread evenly across the months in each period. |
For example, a projected net benefit of $120,000 recorded for a year becomes $10,000 per month when you switch to Monthly.
Dashboards and exports with Monthly
- Initiative dashboards show financial and non-financial benefits by month.
- Pipeline dashboards track the impact of submissions month by month.
- System dashboards add up monthly impact across all Initiatives.
- CSV exports include monthly values for projected and actual benefits, costs, and non-financial impacts, alongside any quarterly or yearly data. Run exports as usual from the Pipeline Idea List or the system dashboards.
Add Business Impact to an idea
Record impact as soon as there is a reasonable estimate, then update it as the idea moves forward. These roles can add and edit Business Impact:
- System Administrators
- Community Administrators
- Pipeline Administrators
- Moderators
- Evaluators
- The idea's submitter, if an administrator allows it (see Give submitters access)
- Open the idea and select the Business Impact tab.
- Select Add Impact.
- Fill in the financial and non-financial details.
- Select Save.
Each save creates a new version.
The Business Impact tab on an idea.
Selecting Add Impact and entering details.
| Type | What you enter |
|---|---|
| Financial impact | Start date, projected and actual benefits, projected and actual costs, attachments, and notes. Amounts are split into the timeframe of the Initiative, for example into quarters when the Initiative uses Quarterly. |
| Non-financial impact | The benefit (title, type, start date, and end date), a description, and attachments. |
Financial Business Impact fields.
Non-financial Business Impact fields.
View earlier versions
Brightidea keeps every save. Choose a timestamp from the version dropdown to see the impact as it was at that point, for example to compare the original projection with the current numbers.
Choosing an earlier version from the timestamp dropdown.
Give submitters access
By default, only administrators, moderators, and evaluators can see the Business Impact tab.
- Go to Site Setup > Ideas > Business Impact. If your site has no Business Impact tab, go to Site Setup > Ideas > Ideas and scroll to the Business Impact heading.
- Select Submitter access to Business Impact Tab.
- Save your changes.
Submitters can then view and edit Business Impact on their own ideas.
The submitter access setting.
Edit or delete Business Impact
Edit
- On the idea's Business Impact tab, select Update.
- Make your changes and select Save.
Updating and saving Business Impact.
Delete
To remove a benefit or cost entry, select the trash icon next to it.
The trash icon next to a benefit.
Collect Business Impact with action items
Add a Development step to your pipeline so the people assigned can enter projected and actual impact as part of their action item.
- As an administrator or Pipeline Moderator, add a Development step to the pipeline.
- In the step configuration, select Allow assignees to edit idea attributes.
- Optional: Add an additional Development question, such as "Have you recorded the Business Impact?", so assignees confirm they have done it.
- Optional: write a custom email that explains what the action item is for.
Without Allow assignees to edit idea attributes, assignees cannot enter impact.
Configuring the Development step.
When assignees open the action item, they can enter Business Impact for the idea and answer any Development questions.
Entering Business Impact from a Development action item.
Export Business Impact
- Open the Pipeline Idea List.
- From the gear menu, add any of these columns: Projected Net Benefit, Actual Benefits, Non-Financial Benefits.
- Select the green Excel icon at the top right to run the export.
Adding Business Impact columns to the idea list.
See Business Impact on dashboards
Command Center
Key Program Results in the Command Center summarizes Business Impact across the system. You can view Projected Net Benefit, Non-Financial Benefits, and Actual Benefits for one site, a group of sites, or all sites.
Business Impact totals in Key Program Results.
Business Impact dashboards
Track impact on an Initiative-level dashboard or the system-level dashboard. Both show a Financial Benefits Over Time chart and a Financial Summary table, and you can export the data to a spreadsheet.
A Business Impact dashboard.
For quarterly Initiatives, the dashboard can show quarters, years, or a running total for all time. The target financial impact is shown by quarter too.
Quarterly financial targets on the dashboard.
When you view by quarter, any yearly impact is divided evenly across the quarters. When you view by year, quarterly impact is added into its year.
Things to know
- Saves create versions. Nothing is overwritten without a record.
- More decimal places. Select Enable additional decimal precision under System Setup > Beta to enter up to 6 decimal places in number fields.
- Project Rooms have their own Business Impact Timeframe, Cost Tracking, and Benefits Tracking settings. When a Project Room belongs to an Initiative, the settings of the Initiative control them.
FAQ
A submitter cannot see the Business Impact tab. Submitter access is off by default. Select Submitter access to Business Impact Tab for the Initiative.
An assignee cannot enter impact from their action item. Check that Allow assignees to edit idea attributes is selected in the configuration of the Development step.
The benefit type I need is not in the dropdown. Add it at the system level, define Initiative-level types, or switch the Initiative to open text input.
Can I show amounts in euros or pounds? Yes. Change the currency in System Setup > Site > General Settings.
Hi Daniel,
Can we hide it on the idea page?
Thank you.
Best,
Roc
Can we leverage reports/exports to track Net Impact (e.g. Benefits - Costs) in addition to just Benefits? In exports, we can see the net projected impact, but only the actual benefits - this doesn't seem right!
agreed with Kevin!!