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Cost savings tracker
A cost savings tracker is the list of every improvement project with what it saves, kept the same way for every project so the total means something. The two numbers that matter are the cost per year before and after the change; the difference is the annual saving. Savings are usually split into hard savings, where spending goes down and Finance can see it in the accounts, and soft savings, where a cost is avoided or time is freed but nobody pays less yet. A tracker earns its keep when Finance checks each saving against the books before it is reported, so the CI team and the controller quote the same figure. Page 1 of this template is the log: project, area and owner, category, hard or soft, cost per year before and after, annual savings, one-time cost, payback in months, when the saving starts, and Finance's decision with the verified amount. Page 2 explains hard and soft savings with examples, has a worked example and a month-by-month glide path against the target. The Excel version works out the savings, payback and status, totals claimed against verified savings by type and category, and draws the glide path of verified savings against the year's target.
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
Fields for site, year, target and Finance contact, a key for hard, soft, pending, verified and rejected, and a log with project, area, category, type, cost before and after, annual savings, one-time cost, payback, start and Finance sign-off.Savings logHard or softCost before and afterPayback in monthsFinance sign-offVerified savingsGlide path to target
When to use it
When to use a cost savings tracker
- When a CI program has to show what it saved, not just how many projects it closed.
- When the savings the engineers report and the savings Finance can find are different numbers.
- To track a yearly savings target month by month.
- Before a budget review, to separate the savings that are real from the ones still waiting to be checked.
How to fill it in
- 1
Agree the rules with Finance
What counts as hard, which labor and scrap rates to use, when a saving starts and how many months it is counted. Write them on page 2.
- 2
Log the project
Owner, area, category and whether the saving is hard or soft. One row per project, even small ones.
- 3
Write the cost before and after
Cost per year as it was and as it is now, from real data: scrap reports, overtime hours, invoices. Annual savings is the difference.
- 4
Add the one-time cost
What the change cost to make: a fixture, a part, contractor hours. Payback in months = one-time cost ÷ annual savings × 12.
- 5
Get Finance to verify it
Finance checks the numbers against the accounts and marks the saving verified or rejected, with the amount they accept.
- 6
Track the glide path
Each month, verified savings to date against the target to date. The gap shows early whether the year's target is in reach.
A filled-in example
Illustrative, not a benchmarkAn example: one project in a machining plant (illustrative numbers).
The example project's hard saving and payback
Scrap cost a year
- Before
- $122,400
- After fixture
- $40,800
Hard saving: $81,600 a year.
Payback (months) = cost ÷ annual saving × 12
- Payback =$12,000 ÷ $81,600 × 12= 1.8 months
- Soft (not counted) =5 h a week × 52 × $32= $8,320 a year
Scrap cost fell from 122,400 to 40,800 dollars a year, a hard saving of 81,600. A 12,000 dollar fixture pays back in 1.8 months. 8,320 dollars of freed time stays a soft saving.
- Before: 1,200 parts scrapped a month at $8.50 each, $122,400 a year.
- After a new fixture: 400 a month, $40,800 a year. Annual savings $81,600, hard, because less material is bought.
- The fixture cost $12,000: payback = $12,000 ÷ $81,600 × 12 = 1.8 months.
- The same project freed 5 hours a week of searching after 5S: 5 × 52 × $32 = $8,320 a year, logged as soft because nobody is paid fewer hours.
Finance checked the scrap cost against the material account and verified the $81,600. The $8,320 stayed in the soft column and was not counted toward the hard savings target.
Common mistakes
Mixing hard and soft
Adding freed hours to cash savings makes a total Finance will not accept. Keep two columns and report them apart.
No baseline
A saving with no cost before the change is a guess. Take the baseline from real data before the work starts.
Counting a saving forever
Agree how long a saving is counted, often 12 months from its start, so the same project does not inflate every year's total.
Reporting before Finance checks
Unverified savings are claims. Report them separately until Finance has signed them off.
Download the template
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
Run this template in LeanSuite
In LeanSuite every improvement project and its savings sit in one portfolio, workflow rules can require Finance to sign off on savings before a project closes, and hard and soft savings, cost avoidance and CapEx are tracked separately.
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FAQ
Cost savings tracker: common questions
Hard savings lower spending that shows in the accounts: less material bought, fewer overtime hours paid, a contract cancelled. Soft savings are costs avoided or time and space freed without anyone paying less yet, such as hours freed with no change in headcount or overtime.
Take the cost per year of the process before the change and after it, from real data, and subtract. The one-time cost of making the change is kept separate and used for the payback: one-time cost divided by annual savings, times 12, gives the payback in months.
So the CI team and the plant controller report the same number. Finance checks that the saving shows up in the accounts, or agrees it is a real avoided cost, before it counts toward the target.
Agree it with Finance. A common rule is 12 months from the month the saving starts, after which it becomes part of the normal budget. The Excel version lets you set the number of months.
A month-by-month line of savings to date against the target to date. If verified savings fall behind the line early in the year, there is still time to start more projects.
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- I-MR chart template (individuals and moving range)Up to 100 single readings with moving ranges, limits from a baseline, five run-rule flags, both charts, a second phase and a reaction log.
- Kaizen event preparation checklistEverything that has to be ready before a kaizen event and done after it: 44 items with owners and due dates from 6 weeks before day 1 to 30 days after, five go or no-go gates and a day-by-day agenda.
- Attribute control chart template (p, np, c and u charts)p, np, c and u charts in one workbook: a chart selector, a sample size check, limits for each subgroup, signal flags and four worked examples.
- Critical spare parts list and stocking levelsAssets ranked by consequence, each part classed and given a stocking policy, and min and max worked out from usage and lead time, with the downtime each stock-out would cost.
- Tier 2 meeting agenda and escalation sheetA 15-minute tier 2 agenda in ten timed blocks, fixed roles and rules, escalation triggers with time limits, and a log that ages every escalation and sends the answer back down.
- HACCP plan template: hazard analysis and CCP worksheetThe Codex 12 steps in one workbook: team and product, process steps checked on site, hazard analysis with the CCP decision tree, the CCP table with completeness checks, an allergen matrix and a verification schedule.
- Forklift operator training and evaluation recordPer-operator training and evaluation record, a register with three-year due dates and refresher triggers, and a weighted practical evaluation scoresheet.
- REBA worksheet (Rapid Entire Body Assessment)Score up to six postures with REBA: body-part drop-downs, Tables A, B and C as lookups, final score and action level, and a before and after comparison.
- Mock recall template: traceability exercise worksheetTrace a finished lot back to every input lot and forward to every first customer, reconcile the quantities against a tolerance and time it against your target.
- ISO 9001 internal audit checklist (production area)46 audit questions for the production floor in 11 processes, each with its ISO 9001:2015 clause, what evidence to look for and the sample to take, plus five defined grades, a findings log, a finding report and a summary by clause.
- ISO 45001 internal audit checklist44 audit questions for the plant floor in 16 safety topics, each with its ISO 45001:2018 clause, the evidence to look for and the sample to take, plus 12 worker interview prompts, a findings log and a summary by clause.
- Plan for every part (PFEP) templateOne row per part: supplier, pack, container, usage, lead time and locations, with ABC classes, market and line kanban counts and a lineside space check.
- Food plant GMP inspection checklist (21 CFR 117 subpart B)55 checks in the order of 21 CFR 117 subpart B, each citing its paragraph and saying what to look at, with a grade, finding, owner and due date; results by section and grade, a walk route and a bakery example.
- Master sanitation schedule with pre-op verificationA master list of cleaning tasks by area and equipment with frequency, chemical, lockout, who and next due date, a weekly on-time count, and the pre-operational verification log with a release step.
- Changeover matrix templateA from-to matrix of changeover minutes with the clean each transition needs (allergen, colour, format), and a weekly planner that totals the order and suggests a shorter one.
- Overhead crane inspection checklist: frequent and periodic34 crane checks tied to OSHA 1910.179: an operator's pre-shift card, frequent and periodic inspections with signed records, a deficiency and tag-out log, and a register of next due dates.
- Measurement uncertainty budget templateA GUM uncertainty budget: Type A and B rows, divisors by distribution, sensitivity coefficients, uc, νeff, k from the t-table, U, TUR and a guard band check.
- Maintenance job plan templateOne job planned on one sheet: steps and craft hours, parts checked against stock, tools, lockout and permits, documents, a ready check for the schedule, and technician feedback.
- Video time study filming checklistA pre-shoot checklist and shot log for filming a time study on video: camera, light, people, settings, power and review.
- Reorder point and safety stock sheet (many parts)Safety stock, reorder point, order quantity and an order list for up to 500 parts, worked out from each part's own demand and lead time history.
- OSHA compliance calendar (general industry)37 recurring federal OSHA duties with the paragraph, interval, owner, next due date and an overdue flag, plus a 12-month view and counts by owner.
- TRIR and DART rate trackerMonthly hours, OSHA 300 case counts and near misses in; rolling 12-month TRIR and DART rate, a case budget against your target and a trend chart out.
- FIFO lane sizing sheetThe maximum for a FIFO lane from the stop it must cover, in whole containers, with length, refill and wait checks for up to eight lanes.
- Pugh matrix templateCompare up to 8 concepts with a datum as better, same or worse on up to 12 criteria, flag must-haves, and carry the strongest into a second round.
- Machine guarding inspection sheetA machine register with due dates and a status per machine, 21 checks tied to OSHA 1910.212, .219 and .147, a guard opening check against Table O-10, and an action log.
- Condition monitoring route sheetA route of measuring points with baselines, alert and alarm limits, a check interval from the P-F interval, readings with rising and overdue flags, and an exceptions list worst first.
- Fire extinguisher inspection logOne row for every portable extinguisher: hydro test interval from OSHA Table L-1, annual and 6-year due dates, a 12-month check grid and open issues.
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A shift handover sheet, a red tag log, a changeover checklist for one machine: if your team uses it on the floor, ask.