Quality Management ROI Calculator: How much does your quality process cost your GxP organization?

“We don’t have the budget for that.” 

Sound familiar? That’s what a lot of Quality pros hear when they ask leadership to invest in a new piece of quality management software to support their team.  

Because while compliance may be top-of-mind for C-suite decision makers, it’s trickier to see the direct return on investment, or ROI, of Quality - hence the hesitancy to allocate more budget and resources. 

But while the connection between quality management and revenue may not be immediately obvious, it doesn’t mean the Quality team is a “cost center.” In fact, quality does generate value that ultimately impacts the bottom line. This could be via: 

• Reducing costly delays while trying to bring a product to market
• Uncovering improvement opportunities that lead to better resource allocation
• Lowering an organization’s risk profile, making it a better target for potential investors or partners
• Speeding up issue resolution 
• Proving an organization’s commitment to patient safety, allowing them to secure a valuable new Sponsor or client

And the list goes on. It’s just up to the Quality team to prove the ROI of their activities – and of course, the tools they use – in order to secure the budget and resources they need to continue to provide value. 

Calculating the ROI of Quality: How to prove the value of QMS software

Quality teams know the impact faster, smoother quality management processes can have on their GxP organizations. But how do you get leadership to see it? 

Sometimes, it comes down to data. That’s why we built an eQMS ROI Calculator. 

Instead of simply talking about the high-level benefits of the right QMS software, you can actually estimate the difference in time, resources, and dollars spent between your current quality processes and an eQMS. 

Plus, the eQMS ROI Calculator is completely customizable, letting you adjust the data inputs to give you information specific to your organization. 

Here’s how it works: 

• Plug in a few details about your organization’s quality activities, like document volume, size of employee base, number of quality events, etc. 
• Review and/or adjust the pre-set assumptions, such as average document approval time, average salary, etc.
• Let the pre-built formulas do their thing 
• Get an estimate of what your current processes cost in terms of time and dollars

Once you get the calculator’s estimate, you can compare it to the cost of any eQMS you’re evaluating to see the tangible resource and cost-savings of an eQMS. If you can show leadership an eQMS actually costs less than your manual quality management processes, you’re in business. 

Make the case for the quality management software you need

When Quality leaders have a seat at the budget table, they tend to find it easier to get leadership buy-in for better quality management tools. Unfortunately, too often Quality isn’t involved in those critical resource allocation decisions. That’s when it takes a little extra convincing. 

When building the case to secure budget for the right QMS software for your organization, here’s what we’ve seen work: 

• Tapping into the metrics that showcase the value of quality management
• Sharing examples of other GxP organizations that saw a tangible ROI from their eQMS
• Learning the type of data your CFO wants to see before making a decision
• Showing how quality is actually a strategic business asset

For more resources on showcasing the ROI of Quality, check our information hub with guides and insights from other GxP Quality leaders.