A capital request is judged against every other request on the plan, so a manager who asserts urgency without numbers rarely gets the money. This capex request template sets out the capacity problem, the machine, the payback and quality gains, and the ask, in the order a finance committee checks them. The do-nothing cost sits next to the purchase cost, so the choice is visible.

The sample describes Larkspur Capital's request for a $640K fiber laser cutter at an Ohio plant, with a 3.8-year payback, a 19% IRR and a $204K NPV. Replace the need, the quotes, the cash flows and the discount rate with your own data, and recalculate the returns using your finance function's asset life. Keep the do-nothing option in the table, because committees test it first.