A lab manager walks into a budget meeting with a $500,000 proposal for a new liquid handler, knowing the request will face intense scrutiny while the lab’s capital budget remains tight. Securing approval for major investments like this requires more than explaining the technical need. Success depends on knowing how to prioritize needs, explain why the investment matters in language business leaders understand, and develop a strong business case with a competitive return on investment (ROI).
This was the heart of a discussion during a session, “Capital Planning that Scales with Science” at the Lab Manager Leadership Summit, held in Phoenix, AZ, from April 20-22, 2026. Lab managers from different types of labs and with different levels of experience participated in a conversation that extended well beyond the details of purchasing a liquid handler and explored the important aspects of getting large capital investments approved by line management.
By sharing experiences, tips, advice, and telling stories, the lab managers helped each other understand the key steps to getting approval for capital purchases. The discussion was driven by questions and aided by a few executives who provided the perspective of line manager approvers for these types of investments. The group left the session with several key things that can help them get approval for these kinds of investments.
Rank the needs
Gather data about what the lab needs. Ensure you hear from all your key stakeholders, including lab staff, line management, and clients. Build a list of potential investments that includes both replacement and new items. Every lab will have a different ratio of replacement versus new equipment, depending on the lab’s role. A quality control lab may need mostly replacement items, while an academic core lab might need to constantly acquire equipment near the cutting edge of technology.
Once a list is built, prioritize it with items that will solve problems at the top—those are the needs—and items that solve inconveniences at the bottom—those are the wants.
Many labs have a closed capital budgeting process where lab managers don’t really know how much capital might be available and who else might be competing with them for that funding. It is important to rank the top items in the priority list so that line management can provide an indication of how far down the list there might be money to invest.
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Capital budgets
A best practice shared by the Leadership Circle participants is to develop a rotating three-year capital budget. This communicates to both staff and line management about anticipated future investment needs. Each year, the list should be prioritized and ranked.
Align with long-term goals
Requested capital investment is more likely to be approved if it is closely aligned with the long-term strategy and key values of the organization. Companies with a strong safety culture are more likely to invest in equipment that helps to improve lab safety. Institutions with strong research requirements are more likely to invest in cutting-edge technology to enable novel innovation.
Aligning with the strategy and culture of the organization also helps to build an emotional resonance with the proposal. While proposals depend on solid, data-driven arguments, there is always an emotional response to investment requests, too.
Business case
Participants emphasized that a strong business case is critical to consistently get investment approval. The business case often has two closely related components that concisely and clearly communicate the arguments for investment:
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Narrative business case
A brief written business case can clearly explain why the investment is important, what is being requested, how the problems will be solved through the investment, and any risks involved with the project, including the risks of denying this investment.
Spreadsheet business case
The numbers associated with the proposal are all included in a brief spreadsheet. It is vital that the spreadsheet include the total all-in cost. It is hard to go back to line management a second time, asking for more money. The sheet also needs to include the monetized benefits. Business leaders will evaluate competing proposals based on the numbers. Monetizing technical benefits can be challenging, but this is a necessary step for success.
Return on investment
A key element of the business case is the ROI. Line managers want the largest return on the capital funding available. There are different ways to calculate ROI in different organizations. Our participants suggested talking with colleagues in finance and purchasing to learn how it is done in your organization. One common approach is to measure the ROI in time—when will the benefits of the investment repay the costs?
Learn from others
Ask your peers and colleagues about their investment proposals. Learn from them about trends and approaches that correlate with approvals. Avoid actions that correlate with the rejection of proposals. As you build your own history of investment proposals, document what went well, what could be improved, and what you can learn to help future proposals get approved.
Use influence
Educate influential people in your organization. The line managers to whom you will present the proposals are likely to talk to people they trust before making a decision. Learn who these influencers are and educate them about the needs and risks associated with your proposal. Sometimes you won’t have direct access to some of the influencers. This is a good time to ask for help from your manager to carry the message to those individuals.
Take action
Prepare for success. If your proposal is approved, be prepared to take action immediately. Develop an action plan that documents in sufficient detail who, what, and when can move forward with the purchase, installation, and move the equipment into production. Delays could see the promised capital funds reallocated to another project.
Building trust
A key element of getting investment approval is to build a successful track record with capital investments. Move quickly to get the new equipment into production, track the results of the investment, and compare them to the business case. Strive to reach the promised ROI to show that investing in your lab brings positive results. Document your success with investments to include with future investment requests.
Final thought
This Leadership Summit session prompted an open and thoughtful discussion between lab managers about how to approach capital investment proposals to generate greater success. It was interesting to hear from participants at very different places in their careers and with different perspectives on capital funding. We all learned from the executives in the room about how they view proposals and how they evaluate the data they’ve been provided. Everyone had the opportunity to learn how to build more data-driven and robust investment requests.
