Skip to main content
Business Cases can be exported to PDF, PowerPoint, or Google Slides using a custom master template that affects your business case deck’s content, structure, and visual appearance.

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.
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.
{{accountName}}

Tenant name

Displays the provider or tenant name for your organization.
{{tenantName}}

Author user name

Displays the name of the user who created or owns the business case.
{{user.name}}

Author email

Displays the email address of the business case author.
{{user.email}}

Current date

Displays the current date in a localized format based on user settings.
{{date}}
Title Slide Web
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.
{{oppName}}
Provides a URL link to the online version of the business case.
{{businessCase.link}}

Collaborators count

Displays the number of collaborators who have access to the business case.
{{collaboratorsCount}}
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.
{{benefit.value}}

Net benefit value

Displays the net benefit calculated as total benefit minus total cost.
{{benefit.netValue}}

Benefit time interval

Displays the time period for benefits, such as “for 24 months”.
{{benefit.timeInterval}}

Contract duration in years

Displays the contract duration expressed in years.
{{benefit.timeIntervalYears}}
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.value}}

ROI time interval

Displays the time period over which ROI is calculated.
{{roi.timeInterval}}

Breakeven date

Displays the projected breakeven date, such as “March 2025”.
{{roi.breakevenDate}}

Breakeven starting text

Displays contextual text like “Starting now” for breakeven calculations.
{{roi.breakevenStarting}}

Payback period

Displays the calculated payback period for the investment.
{{roi.paybackPeriod}}

Payback delay months

Displays text describing any delayed payback period.
{{roi.paybackDelayMonths}}

Cost of inaction

Displays the calculated cost of not taking action.
{{roi.costOfInaction}}

Cost of inaction time interval

Displays the time period for the cost of inaction calculation.
{{roi.costOfInactionTimeInterval}}
RO Ichart Web
Use these variables to display pricing and contract duration information.

Annual cost

Displays the annual cost of the offer or solution.
{{offer.cost}}

Offer time interval

Displays the contract duration for the offer.
{{offer.timeInterval}}

Contract duration months

Displays the contract duration in a formatted string.
{{contractDurationMonths}}
Use these localized label variables to ensure consistent terminology across different languages and regions.

Gross benefit label

Displays the localized “Gross Benefit” label.
{{label.grossBenefit}}

Net benefit label

Displays the localized “Net Benefit” label.
{{label.netBenefit}}

Investment label

Displays the localized “Investment” label.
{{label.investment}}

TCO label

Displays the localized “TCO” (Total Cost of Ownership) label.
{{label.tco}}

Use case benefit label

Displays the localized “Use Case Benefit” label.
{{label.useCaseBenefit}}

Overview heading

Displays the localized “Overview” heading text.
{{heading.overview}}
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.benefit.value}}

Historic net benefit

Displays the net realized benefit (benefit minus cost) from the historic scenario.
{{historic.benefit.netValue}}

Historic ROI

Displays the realized ROI as a multiple from the historic scenario.
{{historic.roi.value}}

Historic payback period

Displays the realized payback period from the historic scenario.
{{historic.roi.paybackPeriod}}

Historic investment cost

Displays the investment cost from the historic scenario.
{{historic.offer.cost}}
Additional global variables for miscellaneous content.

Intro subheadline

Displays the subheadline text for introduction slides.
{{intro.subheadline}}

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 these variables to display the name, description, and value of individual use cases.

Use case name

Displays the name of the use case.
{{useCase.name}}

Use case description

Displays the manually entered description for the use case.
{{useCase.description}}

AI-generated description

Displays an AI-generated description of the use case based on its inputs and context.
{{useCase.generatedDescription}}

Use case value

Displays the total calculated benefit value for the use case.
{{useCase.value}}
Use Case Slide Web
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.
{{formula}}
Screenshot2025 10 24at12 36 46PM Pn
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.
{{useCase.input.name}}

Input value

Displays the value of a calculation input.
{{useCase.input.value}}

Subtotal name

Displays the name of a subtotal in the calculation.
{{useCase.subtotal.name}}

Subtotal value

Displays the calculated subtotal value.
{{useCase.subtotal.value}}

Total name

Displays the name of the final total.
{{useCase.total.name}}

Total value

Displays the final calculated total value.
{{useCase.total.value}}
Screenshot2025 10 24at12 33 25PM Pn

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”.
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. Replace categoryName and tagName with your actual tag category and tag name.
{{tag.categoryName.tagName.value}}

Example: PBO increase revenue

Displays the total value for use cases tagged with “increaseRevenue” in the “pbo” category.
{{tag.pbo.increaseRevenue.value}}

Other/untagged use cases

Displays the total value for use cases that don’t have any tags in the specified category.
{{tag.pbo.other.value}}
Value Summary Web

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.
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.prompt:Your instructions here}}

Custom variable

A placeholder that will be replaced with AI-generated content based on the prompt. You can define any variable name after custom..
{{custom.executiveTitle}}
{{custom.keyMessage}}

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.
{{custom.prompt:Write an executive title that highlights the main value proposition}}
{{custom.executiveTitle}}
{{custom.keyMessage}}
Custom AI Text Web

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.
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.
{{roiChart}}

Custom ROI chart

Embeds an ROI chart from a specific Google Sheet and tab. Replace sheetId with the spreadsheet ID and tabName with the sheet tab name.
{{roiChart.sheetId.tabName}}
RO Ichart Web
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.
{{costBenefitChart}}
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.
{{costOfInactionChart}}

Overview and text content

Variables for including content from the Overview tab and other text-based tabs.
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.
{{slide.content}}
Overview Web
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.
{{custom.prompt:Summarize the key pain points from the executive summary}}
Custom Pain Web

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.
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.name}}

Resource URL

Displays the URL for a resource. Use alongside resource name to create clickable links.
{{resource.url}}
Additional Resources Pn

Timeline variables

Variables for timeline slides showing phases and milestones.
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.
{{timeline}}
Timeline Web

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.
Add a text box anywhere on your slide with the following settings. The text box will automatically be removed during export.

Settings syntax

UseCaseListSlide: true
filterByTag: customerSegment.enterprise;
ifNotIncludedInBusinessCase: delete;
overflow: repeat;
aiPrompt: Summarize the overall value proposition.
Return the headline variable.;
useCaseAiPrompt: For each use case, write a one-sentence summary.
Return the tagline variable.;
isHistoric: false;

Settings reference

SettingRequiredValuesDefaultDescription
UseCaseListSlideYestrueMust be true to enable this slide type
filterByTagNotagGroup.tagNameShow allOnly show use cases with this tag (e.g., department.sales)
ifNotIncludedInBusinessCaseNodelete / fillBlankdeletedelete removes the slide if no use cases match; fillBlank keeps the slide with empty placeholders
overflowNoslice / repeatsliceslice shows only what fits; repeat creates extra slides for remaining use cases
aiPromptNotextInstructions for AI to generate {{useCases.custom.*}} content
useCaseAiPromptNotextInstructions for AI to generate {{useCases.N.custom.*}} content for each use case
isHistoricNotrue / falsefalseSet 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.

Global variables

These apply to the entire filtered set of use cases:
{{useCases.totalValue}}
Total formatted value of all matching use cases.
{{useCases.count}}
Number of use cases that match the filter.

Use-case-level variables

Create placeholder groups for each use case slot. Use case slots are numbered starting at 1:
{{useCases.1.name}}
{{useCases.1.description}}
{{useCases.1.value}}
{{useCases.2.name}}
{{useCases.2.description}}
{{useCases.2.value}}
Add as many numbered groups as you want to display on one slide.
Generate dynamic content using AI by combining prompts in your settings with custom variable placeholders. There are two separate prompts for different scopes:
  • aiPrompt → For slide-level variables ({{useCases.custom.*}})
  • useCaseAiPrompt → For use-case-level variables ({{useCases.N.custom.*}})

How it works

  1. Add the appropriate prompt in your settings with instructions
  2. Add placeholder variables on the slide
  3. 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:
{{useCases.custom.headline}}
{{useCases.custom.summary}}
Settings:
aiPrompt: Create a compelling headline and 2-sentence summary for this group of use cases.
Return the headline variable with an executive-friendly title.
Return the summary variable with a brief overview.;

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:
{{useCases.1.custom.tagline}}
{{useCases.2.custom.tagline}}
{{useCases.3.custom.tagline}}
Settings:
useCaseAiPrompt: Write a one-line value tagline for this use case.
Return the tagline variable.;
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.
Use 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:
filterByTag: customerSegment.enterprise;
Tag names are normalized (spaces removed, converted to lowercase) when matching.
Create separate slides for each tag in a group to build category breakdowns. For example, with a “Department” tag group: one slide for Sales, one for Operations, one for Finance.
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.
isHistoric: true;
Example: Use Case List slide example

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.
Add a text box anywhere on your slide with the following settings. The text box will automatically be removed during export.

Settings syntax

UseCaseDetailSlide: true
useCaseId: abc-123-def-456;
ifNotIncludedInBusinessCase: delete;
aiPrompt: Generate 3 key benefits as bullet points.
Return the benefits variable.;
isHistoric: false;

Settings reference

SettingRequiredValuesDefaultDescription
UseCaseDetailSlideYestrueMust be true to enable this slide type
useCaseIdYesID stringThe ID of the use case to display (copy from Value Framework)
ifNotIncludedInBusinessCaseNodelete / fillBlankdeletedelete removes the slide if use case isn’t selected; fillBlank keeps the slide with empty placeholders
aiPromptNotextInstructions for AI to generate {{useCase.custom.*}} content
isHistoricNotrue / falsefalseSet 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.

Standard variables

{{useCase.name}}
The use case name.
{{useCase.description}}
The use case description (plain text).
{{useCase.value}}
The total calculated benefit value, formatted with currency.

AI-generated custom variables

Generate custom content by combining aiPrompt in settings with placeholders:
{{useCase.custom.benefits}}
{{useCase.custom.summary}}
{{useCase.custom.talkingPoints}}
Example settings:
aiPrompt: Based on this use case, generate executive-ready content.
Return the benefits variable with 3 bullet points.
Return the summary variable with a 2-sentence overview.
Return the talkingPoints variable with key discussion topics.;
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
This context allows the AI to generate highly relevant, deal-specific content.
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
Use UseCaseDetailSlide when you need a completely custom layout for a specific use case that differs from the standard repeating slides.
Example: Use Case Detail slide example

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:
#usecase-abc123 Use Case Name
You can copy this entire text snippet from the Value Framework Editor. On the Use Case Drawer, click on the three dots and click Copy slide marker.
Note: The text validation matches only against the hashtag and the ID. It’s recommended to add the name of the use case so that editors can more easily identify what use case the slide relates to.

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 Title Slide Web Final Slide Final Slide Web