Understanding master templates
Master templates are Google Slide presentations that define how your business case will be rendered on export. They use variables to act as placeholders - when you export a business case, each variable will be replaced with its appropriate value. This saves you the time and hassle of building custom decks and copy/pasting content. The master template applies to all users in your organization and is configured by the Minoa Support team. Please reach out to us if you want to create your custom master template, make edits to an existing master template, or remove it from your organization. The slide export functionality scans the master template and intelligently splits content. For example, if multiple use cases are selected, slides that include a variable for a use case will be repeated in the final deck for each use case. Empty placeholders will be removed. Slides without any variables will show up in every deck and can be used to separate dynamic content or include static information (e.g. company overview, product information, disclaimers, …).Variable reference
Variables are wrapped in double curly braces:{{variableName}}. The following sections document all available variables organized by category.
Global variables
These variables are available anywhere in the deck.Account & user info
Account & user info
Use these variables to display account details, user information, and the current date on your slides.
Account name
Displays the name of the account associated with the business case.Tenant name
Displays the provider or tenant name for your organization.Author user name
Displays the name of the user who created or owns the business case.Author email
Displays the email address of the business case author.Current date
Displays the current date in a localized format based on user settings.
Business case info
Business case info
Use these variables to display metadata about the opportunity and business case.
Opportunity name
Displays the name of the sales opportunity linked to this business case.Business case link
Provides a URL link to the online version of the business case.Collaborators count
Displays the number of collaborators who have access to the business case.Benefit values
Benefit values
Use these variables to display calculated benefit totals and time intervals.
Total benefit value
Displays the total calculated benefit value across all selected use cases.Net benefit value
Displays the net benefit calculated as total benefit minus total cost.Benefit time interval
Displays the time period for benefits, such as “for 24 months”.Contract duration in years
Displays the contract duration expressed in years.ROI metrics
ROI metrics
Use these variables to display ROI calculations, payback periods, and cost of inaction metrics.
ROI value
Displays the ROI as a multiple, such as “3.5x”.ROI time interval
Displays the time period over which ROI is calculated.Breakeven date
Displays the projected breakeven date, such as “March 2025”.Breakeven starting text
Displays contextual text like “Starting now” for breakeven calculations.Payback period
Displays the calculated payback period for the investment.Payback delay months
Displays text describing any delayed payback period.Cost of inaction
Displays the calculated cost of not taking action.Cost of inaction time interval
Displays the time period for the cost of inaction calculation.
Offer/pricing
Offer/pricing
Labels (i18n)
Labels (i18n)
Use these localized label variables to ensure consistent terminology across different languages and regions.
Gross benefit label
Displays the localized “Gross Benefit” label.Net benefit label
Displays the localized “Net Benefit” label.Investment label
Displays the localized “Investment” label.TCO label
Displays the localized “TCO” (Total Cost of Ownership) label.Use case benefit label
Displays the localized “Use Case Benefit” label.Overview heading
Displays the localized “Overview” heading text.Historic scenario values
Historic scenario values
Use these variables to display realized values from the historic scenario. These are useful for expansion deals where you want to show delivered value alongside new projected value. Variables return empty strings if no historic scenario exists.
Historic benefit value
Displays the total realized benefit from the historic scenario.Historic net benefit
Displays the net realized benefit (benefit minus cost) from the historic scenario.Historic ROI
Displays the realized ROI as a multiple from the historic scenario.Historic payback period
Displays the realized payback period from the historic scenario.Historic investment cost
Displays the investment cost from the historic scenario.Other global variables
Other global variables
Additional global variables for miscellaneous content.
Intro subheadline
Displays the subheadline text for introduction slides.Use case variables
These variables are used on slides that display use case information. Slides containing use case variables will be repeated for each selected use case.Use case header
Use case header
Use these variables to display the name, description, and value of individual use cases.
Use case name
Displays the name of the use case.Use case description
Displays the manually entered description for the use case.AI-generated description
Displays an AI-generated description of the use case based on its inputs and context.Use case value
Displays the total calculated benefit value for the use case.
Formula
Formula
Use the formula variable to render calculation breakdowns as formatted math expressions. Formulas span the full width of the slide and inherit styling from the placeholder box.
Formula placeholder
Renders the use case calculation as formatted math showing the breakdown (e.g., Input A × Input B + Subtotal = $50,000). Supports multiple formulas per slide with automatic layout. Works best with fewer than six inputs.
Calculation line items
Calculation line items
Use these variables to display calculation breakdowns as individual line items. Add multiple placeholders for inputs, totals, and formulas - the export will only include up to the number of placeholders you provide.
Input name
Displays the name of a calculation input.Input value
Displays the value of a calculation input.Subtotal name
Displays the name of a subtotal in the calculation.Subtotal value
Displays the calculated subtotal value.Total name
Displays the name of the final total.Total value
Displays the final calculated total value.
Tag group variables
Variables for displaying totals grouped by tags. If there are no use cases with the corresponding tag assigned, the placeholder will be filled with 0. If a use case belongs to multiple tags within a tag category, its value will be equally distributed between tags. Use cases not belonging to any tags within a category will be assigned to “other”.Tag group value
Tag group value
Use tag group variables to automatically calculate and display totals for use cases grouped by specific tag categories and values. Tag names are normalized (spaces and camelCase are converted to lowercase).
Tag value format
Displays the total value for all use cases with a specific tag. ReplacecategoryName and tagName with your actual tag category and tag name.Example: PBO increase revenue
Displays the total value for use cases tagged with “increaseRevenue” in the “pbo” category.Other/untagged use cases
Displays the total value for use cases that don’t have any tags in the specified category.
Custom AI variables
Custom AI text slides allow you to generate flexible, deal-specific text content in your presentation. Instead of only pulling predefined fields from the business case, you can create your own variables and generate them using AI.Custom variable syntax
Custom variable syntax
Use custom variables to generate AI-powered content tailored to each business case. Place a prompt instruction and your custom variables on the same slide. The system extracts all custom variables, makes one AI call per slide with full business case context, and replaces all variables with generated content.
Custom prompt
Defines instructions for the AI to generate content. This placeholder is removed from the final output after processing.Custom variable
A placeholder that will be replaced with AI-generated content based on the prompt. You can define any variable name aftercustom..Example usage
Combine a prompt with multiple custom variables on a single slide. The AI receives context including business case data, account information, executive summary content, and slide context.
Chart variables
Variables for embedding charts from the business case. Adding a placeholder for a chart will render the chart in that place on your slide. It’s usually best to give these charts a standalone slide with only a title to ensure there is enough space.ROI chart
ROI chart
Use ROI chart variables to embed the ROI visualization. You can use the standard chart or reference a custom-designed chart from a specific Google Sheet.
Standard ROI chart
Embeds the default ROI chart from the business case.Custom ROI chart
Embeds an ROI chart from a specific Google Sheet and tab. ReplacesheetId with the spreadsheet ID and tabName with the sheet tab name.
Cost benefit chart
Cost benefit chart
Use this variable to embed a chart comparing costs versus benefits.
Cost benefit chart
Embeds the cost vs benefit comparison chart from the business case.Cost of inaction chart
Cost of inaction chart
Use this variable to embed a chart showing the cost of not taking action.
Cost of inaction chart
Embeds the cost of inaction visualization from the business case.Overview and text content
Variables for including content from the Overview tab and other text-based tabs.Slide content
Slide content
Use this variable to include the full content of text-based tabs like the Overview. This slide will be recognized as the generic template for any text-based slide in the deck.
Full slide content
Includes the complete content from text-based tabs. If no slide with this variable exists, content from other tabs will not be exported.
AI-extracted content
AI-extracted content
Use AI prompts to extract or summarize specific parts of the Overview tab. If using slides with AI prompts, you may want to remove the unformatted slide with 
{{slide.content}}.AI content extraction
Use a custom prompt to extract and format specific content from the overview.
Resource variables
Variables for including a list of resources that act as hyperlinks to URLs or files added to the business case. The number of resources included will be capped at the number of placeholders - add multiple instances of these variables to include more resources.Resource list
Resource list
Use these variables to display linked resources on your slides. Add multiple instances of each variable to include more resources in the export.
Resource name
Displays the name or title of a resource linked to the business case.Resource URL
Displays the URL for a resource. Use alongside resource name to create clickable links.
Timeline variables
Variables for timeline slides showing phases and milestones.Timeline
Timeline
Use this variable to embed a timeline visualization showing project phases and milestones.
Timeline placeholder
Embeds the timeline from the business case showing phases and key milestones.
Advanced slide types
Beyond standard variable placeholders, you can create advanced slides that use a settings text box to configure special behavior. These slide types give you fine-grained control over which use cases appear and how they’re displayed.Use cases list slide
Display multiple use cases on a single slide with optional filtering and overflow handling. This is ideal for summary slides, category breakdowns, or compact use case overviews.Settings and configuration
Settings and configuration
Add a text box anywhere on your slide with the following settings. The text box will automatically be removed during export.
Settings syntax
Settings reference
| Setting | Required | Values | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
UseCaseListSlide | Yes | true | — | Must be true to enable this slide type |
filterByTag | No | tagGroup.tagName | Show all | Only show use cases with this tag (e.g., department.sales) |
ifNotIncludedInBusinessCase | No | delete / fillBlank | delete | delete removes the slide if no use cases match; fillBlank keeps the slide with empty placeholders |
overflow | No | slice / repeat | slice | slice shows only what fits; repeat creates extra slides for remaining use cases |
aiPrompt | No | text | — | Instructions for AI to generate {{useCases.custom.*}} content |
useCaseAiPrompt | No | text | — | Instructions for AI to generate {{useCases.N.custom.*}} content for each use case |
isHistoric | No | true / false | false | Set to true to use data from the historic scenario of the business case |
Overflow behavior
- slice (default): Show only as many use cases as you have placeholder groups. Extra use cases are not displayed.
- repeat: Duplicate the slide to accommodate all matching use cases. For example, if you have 3 placeholder groups and 7 use cases, the export creates 3 slides.
Variables reference
Variables reference
Global variables
These apply to the entire filtered set of use cases:Use-case-level variables
Create placeholder groups for each use case slot. Use case slots are numbered starting at 1:AI-generated custom variables
AI-generated custom variables
Generate dynamic content using AI by combining prompts in your settings with custom variable placeholders. There are two separate prompts for different scopes:Settings:Settings:
aiPrompt→ For slide-level variables ({{useCases.custom.*}})useCaseAiPrompt→ For use-case-level variables ({{useCases.N.custom.*}})
How it works
- Add the appropriate prompt in your settings with instructions
- Add placeholder variables on the slide
- Reference the variable names in your prompt so the AI knows what to generate
Slide-level AI variables (aiPrompt)
Generate content based on ALL matching use cases. The AI sees the full list of use cases when generating.Placeholders:Use-case-level AI variables (useCaseAiPrompt)
Generate unique content for EACH use case individually. The AI makes a separate call for each use case, receiving only that use case’s context.Placeholders:Use
aiPrompt when you need content that considers all use cases together (like a summary). Use useCaseAiPrompt when each use case needs unique, individually-tailored content.Tag filtering
Tag filtering
Use Tag names are normalized (spaces removed, converted to lowercase) when matching.
filterByTag to show only use cases with a specific tag. The format is tagGroup.tagName.Example
To show only use cases tagged with “Enterprise” in the “Customer Segment” tag group:Historic scenario data
Historic scenario data
Set
isHistoric: true to display realized values from the historic scenario instead of projected future values.This is useful for expansion deals where you want to show the value already delivered alongside new projected value.
Use case detail slide
Display a specific use case by ID with custom layouts and AI-generated content. Use this for featured use cases that need special treatment beyond the standard repeating slides.Settings and configuration
Settings and configuration
Add a text box anywhere on your slide with the following settings. The text box will automatically be removed during export.
Settings syntax
Settings reference
| Setting | Required | Values | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
UseCaseDetailSlide | Yes | true | — | Must be true to enable this slide type |
useCaseId | Yes | ID string | — | The ID of the use case to display (copy from Value Framework) |
ifNotIncludedInBusinessCase | No | delete / fillBlank | delete | delete removes the slide if use case isn’t selected; fillBlank keeps the slide with empty placeholders |
aiPrompt | No | text | — | Instructions for AI to generate {{useCase.custom.*}} content |
isHistoric | No | true / false | false | Set to true to use data from the historic scenario of the business case |
Getting the use case ID
In the Value Framework, select a use case, click the three-dot menu in the top right, and select Copy ID.Variables reference
Variables reference
AI context available
AI context available
When generating custom variables, the AI has access to rich context about the use case:
- Name and description — Full use case content
- Total value — Calculated benefit with currency formatting
- Category — Cost reduction, revenue increase, risk mitigation, etc.
- Calculations — Formula breakdowns with math explanations
- Benefit breakdown — Value split by calculation block
- Timeline — Start and end dates if configured
- Timeline notes — Implementation notes
- Highlighted inputs — Key inputs marked for emphasis
- Input notes — Assumptions and sources for inputs
When to use detail slides
When to use detail slides
Use
UseCaseDetailSlide when you need:- Custom layouts — Different design for a flagship use case
- Case study slides — Dedicated slides for proven customer outcomes
- Industry-specific content — Tailored messaging for key use cases
- Historic comparisons — Show realized value for specific outcomes
Static slides for use cases
You can add specific slides with pre-formatted content to a use case. Include a hashtag of the Use Case ID in a textbox on the template slide. This textbox will be removed and the slide will be inserted after the use case slides in the generated deck. Example content of textbox:Additional template examples
Below are additional examples of master template slides. Layout, colors, fonts, background elements, etc. can be completely customized. Please message us to get an editable copy of this sample slide deck. Cover Slide
Final Slide
