How to use ValueTrace

From operational change to auditable value

A ValueTrace project is a collection of related business value cases plus their shared currency, catalogs, definitions, and calculators. Each case represents a defined initiative or process and connects solution enablers to changed behavior, measurable indicators, and financial value.

1Qualify

2Trace the chain

3Quantify

4Timing

5Review

First use

Get started

Create or open a projectChoose New project for an empty named portfolio, or use Open project for a saved .valuetrace.json file. Opening replaces the project currently stored in the browser.

Add or select a caseChoose New case for a separate process or initiative, or select an existing portfolio row to continue its value model.

Qualify the shared scopeName the case, sponsor, process, business trigger, and boundary before defining any value paths.

Trace value pathsIdentify how the solution changes behavior and which leading indicator moves. These paths are hypotheses, not modeled benefits yet.

Measure and define benefitsIn Quantify, convert each indicator movement into a benefit with explicit volume, unit value, realization, classification, and financial ownership.

Place value in timePhase modeled benefits, account for dependencies and overlap, and add shared case investment.

Review and validateResolve readiness checks, record the evidence tier, obtain finance validation, and print the case output.

Project → cases → benefits

A project groups related cases and shared setup. Implementation and recurring costs belong to each case. Leading indicators, value formulas, timing, overlap, evidence, and finance ownership belong to each benefit.

Configuration

Setup

Open Configure structures from the gear icon. Setup opens with every section collapsed; choose Currency, Catalogs, or Benefit calculators for the task you need. Setup controls reusable project choices and does not change existing case numbers automatically.

Project currency

Select the ISO currency used across every case, chart, CSV, and PDF in the project. Existing projects default to EUR.

Process hierarchy

Maintain value chain, process, and sub-process entries used by the Business process field.

Financial hierarchy

Maintain P&L and balance-sheet paths used by the Financial line field.

Definitions

Add a concise definition so users can distinguish similar processes or financial lines.

Calculator definitions

Add organization-specific calculators with custom labels and a controlled change treatment. The six built-in calculators remain available and cannot be edited or deleted.

Currency selection is not conversion

Changing the project currency updates symbols and labels but does not apply an exchange rate or change numeric amounts. Convert values separately before changing currency when the project needs true FX conversion.

Importing catalog data

Open Catalogs, choose the catalog to manage, and review its current entries. To add entries, download the CSV template, complete its Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, and Definition columns, select whether to add or replace entries, then import the completed file.

Creating a benefit calculator

Open Benefit calculators to review the methods available in Step 3. In Create a custom calculator, name the method, choose how indicator change is interpreted, label the annual-volume and unit-value inputs, explain the formula, then choose Create calculator.

Use the i beside How to interpret indicator change for examples. Automatic from unit recognizes percentages; Percentage ÷ 100 always normalizes a percentage-point change; Absolute change keeps the baseline-to-target difference; Days ÷ 365 annualizes a timing change.

Controlled calculation model

Custom calculators support normalized change × annual volume × unit value × realization. They do not evaluate Excel-style operators, parentheses, cell references, or arbitrary formulas.

Assisted analysis

AI prompts

Prompt buttons create contextual text for Copilot or another AI assistant. ValueTrace does not call an AI service and does not send case data anywhere.

Prompt	Use it for	What to verify
Process	Recommend a three-level process hierarchy.	Scope, terminology, and organizational ownership.
Indicator	Propose measurable leading indicators with units and source systems.	Availability, baseline quality, and causal relevance.
Financial	Suggest the likely P&L or balance-sheet treatment.	Direct versus capacity value and finance ownership.
Suggest value paths	Generate candidate capability-to-indicator hypotheses from the qualified case.	Causal relevance, measurability, ownership, and whether each indicator is distinct.

Prompts are drafts, not evidence

Never treat generated wording or numbers as validated facts. Record measured sources and named owners in the model.

Value paths and benefits

From indicator hypothesis to modeled benefit

Step 2 creates a value path from solution enabler to changed capability and leading indicator. Step 3 turns that path into a modeled benefit by adding transparent measurement and financial ownership.

Trace a value path

Solution enabler: the specific feature or intervention.
Business capability: who works differently and what they start or stop doing.
Leading indicator: the measurable behavior or operational outcome expected to change first.

Define the benefit in Quantify

Add the value mechanism, eligible volume, unit value, realization, classification, financial line, and finance owner. Only then is the value path treated as a modeled benefit.

When to split a benefit

Create separate benefits when value has a different indicator, calculator, timing profile, evidence source, finance owner, or financial line. Do not split merely to make the same value appear more than once.

Reusable structures

Catalogs and P&L customization

The process and financial catalogs provide consistent hierarchies across cases. Users can still enter a more specific value when needed.

Financial-line guidance

Use a P&L line for revenue, margin, labor, external spend, quality, downtime, or other period impacts.
Use a balance-sheet line for working-capital effects such as receivables, inventory, or payables.
Distinguish cashable savings from released capacity. Capacity is not automatically a budget reduction.
Name a finance owner who can confirm the formula and accounting treatment.

Setup travels with the project

When you choose Save project, the selected currency, configured processes, financial lines, definitions, and calculators are included with the cases.

Quantification

Calculators and formulas

Each calculator follows the same transparent structure while changing labels and indicator treatment for its value mechanism.

Indicator change × annual volume × unit value × realization × overlap adjustment

Percentage changes are divided by 100, day changes by 365, and direct-unit changes are used as entered. The annual run rate is the full modeled value before the case-level adoption schedule.

Create a custom calculator

Open Configure structuresSelect the gear icon, then open Benefit calculator builder.

Name the calculatorUse a distinct business term. The name appears in the calculator list in Quantify.

Choose a change treatmentSpecify how the difference between baseline and target is normalized before multiplication.

Define the input labelsEnter the Volume label and Unit-value label users should see when applying this calculator.

Add an explanationDescribe the intended value mechanism, then choose Add calculator.

Change treatment	Behavior	Example use
Automatic from unit	Divides by 100 when the measurement unit contains `%`; otherwise uses the direct change.	A reusable calculator that may receive percentage or absolute indicators.
Percentage ÷ 100	Always converts the baseline-to-target difference to a decimal percentage.	Conversion, error, adoption, or retention rates.
Absolute change	Uses the direct numeric difference without normalization.	Transactions, incidents, hours, or other units.
Days ÷ 365	Converts a day difference to a share of a year.	Working-capital cycle time.

Controlled customization

Custom calculators change the name, treatment, input labels, and explanation. They do not run custom code or replace the transparent calculation engine. Built-in calculators cannot be modified.

Save, open, and delete

Custom calculator definitions travel with the project. Save project includes them in the .valuetrace.json file together with cases and catalogs. Open project validates, restores, and stores them in the receiving browser, so benefits continue to use the same calculator definitions.

You can delete a custom calculator from Setup; built-ins cannot be deleted. After confirmation, every benefit using the deleted calculator switches to Quality or automation. Save a project backup first when the definition may be needed later.

Calculator family	Typical use
Labor capacity	Time released from employee work; confirm whether it is capacity or cashable cost.
Quality or automation	Defects, rework, exceptions, or avoidable transactions.
External spend	Vendor, contractor, service, or purchased-cost reductions.
Revenue or margin	Conversion, volume, retention, price, or margin improvement.
Working capital	Cash tied up in receivables, inventory, or payables.
Downtime	Production or service availability and avoided interruption.

Project limit

A project can contain up to 100 calculator definitions. Calculator names, labels, treatments, and explanations are validated when a project file is opened.

Cash flow

Timing, dependencies, and costs

Case settings

Set the evaluation horizon, discount rate, Year 0 implementation investment, and ongoing costs once for the case. Ongoing costs can grow by an annual percentage or be entered separately for each year.

Benefit settings

For each benefit, set the first benefit year and ramp for the first, second, and later benefit years. Values are decimal shares: 0.4 means 40% realization in that year.

Avoid double counting

Use dependencies to show that one benefit relies on another. Use overlap adjustment to reduce value when benefits affect the same population or financial line. An adjustment of 0.75 retains 75% of the calculated value.

Governance

Validation and status

Draft means finance has not yet validated the selected benefit. Completing fields improves readiness but does not automatically change this status.

Finance readiness checks

A specific solution enabler is recorded.
Changed behavior and its capability owner are named.
The leading indicator has a source system.
The formula has positive volume and unit-value assumptions.
The financial line and finance owner are named.

After review, choose Mark finance validated. Choose Reopen validation if assumptions or treatment need to change. A case is Validated only when every benefit is finance validated.

Evidence tiers

Tier 1 is measured organizational data. Tier 5 is a named assumption. Use the lowest defensible tier and retain the source and owner needed to reproduce the estimate.

Decision output

Review, chart, and PDF

The Review step combines benefit validation with case-level outputs: NPV, ROI, payback, total investment, cumulative net cash flow, benefit contribution, and annual cash flow.

The cumulative chart begins with Year 0 investment and marks the interpolated point where cumulative cash flow becomes positive.
Export CSV downloads case metadata, benefits, and annual cash-flow rows for further analysis.
Print / PDF opens the browser print dialog with a dedicated A4 report layout.

Project summary

From the project portfolio, choose Project summary to review Annual Potential Value, modeled NPV, portfolio ROI, total investment, and aggregate time to value across all cases.

The financial-line table links annual potential value to P&L and balance-sheet lines and identifies the contributing cases.
The case table compares ownership, first value, payback, annual potential, modeled NPV, and finance-validation status.
Annual Potential Value is the steady-state run rate. Modeled NPV also reflects each case's ramp, investment schedule, horizon, and discount rate.
Print / PDF creates a project-level report containing the headline metrics, aggregate cash-flow chart, financial-line rollup, and individual case contributions.

Before sharing

Confirm the case status, evidence tiers, discount rate, overlap adjustments, and whether capacity benefits are described accurately.

Local-first data

Project files and data safety

ValueTrace saves working data in this browser. There is no account and no server synchronization.

New project

Creates a named empty portfolio with no cases and restores the built-in EUR currency, catalogs, definitions, and calculators.

Save project

Downloads a portable .valuetrace.json file containing cases, the active case, currency, catalogs, definitions, and calculators.

Open project

Validates and replaces the current local portfolio with data from a compatible project file.

Example project

The initial six cross-functional demo cases belong to one example enterprise transformation project. Start a new project when you are ready to build your own portfolio.

Local autosave

Changes are retained in browser storage on the current device and browser profile.

Backup practice

Use Save project regularly and store the downloaded file in an approved organizational location.

Opening replaces local data

Save the current portfolio first when you may need it later. Only open project files from a trusted source.

Reference

Glossary

Annual run rate	Full annual benefit at steady-state realization, after the benefit overlap adjustment.
NPV	Discounted value of modeled net cash flows across the evaluation horizon.
ROI	Total modeled benefits less total investment, divided by total investment.
Payback	Interpolated time when cumulative net cash flow reaches zero.
Realization	Share of theoretical indicator value expected to become economic value.
Ramp	Share of the annual run rate achieved in a specific benefit year.
Overlap adjustment	Reduction applied to avoid double counting related benefits.