Ask a CFO to compare delaying a capital project with proceeding now

An approved project can become a different decision after demand weakens, delivery slips or cash becomes tighter. Give the CFO the original approval and a dated account of what changed. Ask for a comparison of the choices still available, rather than a defense of the original recommendation.

Identify the next irreversible commitment. A supplier deposit, construction milestone or hiring decision may narrow the options before the next board meeting. State who can authorize a pause and who must confirm the practical consequences. The analysis needs an explicit decision deadline and a manageable list of alternatives.

Request a commitment schedule showing amounts paid, amounts contractually due, cancellation conditions and future costs that remain optional. Attach purchase orders, supplier correspondence and agreements. Keep legal interpretation of cancellation or damages with counsel; a finance model cannot establish a right to walk away from an obligation.

A hypothetical project may have a $25,000 deposit already paid and $75,000 of later expenditure. Delaying does not necessarily save $100,000, and it may not save all $75,000 if part is already committed. Ask the CFO to show precisely which cash movements change under each option and which remain payable regardless.

Record storage, remobilization, temporary capacity and other costs introduced by a pause. Some depend on supplier confirmation and should remain flagged until obtained. A delay should have its own cost schedule rather than be represented by moving the original spreadsheet columns three months to the right.

The adviser should work with operations to identify what proceeding delivers and what delaying prevents. Include capacity constraints, service reliability, expected maintenance and the timing of usable output. Distinguish a confirmed customer commitment from a sales opportunity that may never require the extra capacity.

SBA equipment guidance treats the asset requirement, acquisition method and available operating cash as connected decisions. For this assignment, use the same demand case across the alternatives and show the cash remaining after each choice. A project can have attractive long-term economics while presenting a difficult near-term funding requirement.

Where the model uses estimates for future price changes or lost sales, request an alternative case and an explanation of the evidence. Avoid a single point estimate that makes delaying look certain to be cheaper or certain to destroy value. Management should see which assumptions could reverse the decision.

If postponement is a realistic option, ask the CFO to define the information needed to reconsider it. That may include a confirmed order level, an available funding source, a revised quotation or an operating-capacity limit. Set a review date and an owner for maintaining the commitment schedule during the pause.

The final package should show the original approved case, the current alternatives and the reason for the chosen action. Include the cash effects, unresolved contract questions and approvals required. Make any continuing monitoring or later model refresh explicit in the engagement fee and deliverables.

Evaluate the provider on whether it can separate the decision from the work already spent on the project. You need a clear explanation of the remaining choices and their consequences. Preserve the approved analysis so the eventual restart or cancellation can be traced to the evidence management had at the time.