The business case for workplace software almost never rests on the software. It rests on real estate, which typically costs an order of magnitude more, and the software’s job is to tell you how much of it you don’t need.

So the CFO’s evaluation reduces to one question: can this platform produce occupancy evidence solid enough to act on a lease?

Establish your cost per desk

Add annual rent, utilities, facilities services, and cleaning for a site, then divide by desk count. This is your unit of savings, and most organisations have never calculated it.

Find your real peak utilization

Do not use the total number of employees or the average attendance for finding your required number of desks. Use the peak instead. If 1,000 employees share 1,000 desks but the busiest day sees 600 in the office, you are paying for 400 desks that are never simultaneously used.

Add a buffer of 10–15% for growth and bad-day variance, and you get your actual desk requirement. Here’s a formula you can use to calculate your savings:

Desks released × cost per desk = annual saving.

Smaller lines worth counting

• Cafeteria waste reduction from accurate pre-order volumes
• Reception hours reclaimed by self-service visitor check-in
• Avoided fit-out cost on space you no longer lease

These are real but secondary. So don’t lead with them.

What to insist on during evaluation

A three-month baseline measurement before any decision, and utilisation reporting you can export and audit yourself.