Ostrolea Facilities: $1.1M Cost Reduction Proposal
Cost reduction proposal deck: $1.1M found, line by line
A cost reduction proposal has to prove to a board that the savings are specific, achievable on a stated timetable and will not damage the service customers pay for. Ostrolea Facilities, an invented Melbourne cleaning company, finds $1.1M a year in five initiatives, costs the change at $260K, compares two rejected options and lists the five things it will not touch.
Every slide, in order
The whole deck as it renders, one slide after another. Read it the way the audience would.
The structure
What each slide is doing, so you can reuse the order even with different content.
- Slide 1cover
- States the saving, the timing and what is protected, before the first initiative.
- Slide 2intro
- Why cost has to come down now, tied to the margin target in the three year plan.
- Slide 3metrics
- The waterfall of savings, one bar per initiative, building to the $1.1M total.
- Slide 4comparison
- Each initiative with saving, effort and risk, so the board can see which savings are easy and which are not.
- Slide 5timeline
- When the savings arrive, quarter by quarter, so the margin targets in the plan can be checked.
- Slide 6investment
- The one off cost of getting the savings and how fast it pays back.
- Slide 7comparison
- The options considered, including the ones rejected, so the board sees why this mix was chosen.
- Slide 8checklist
- What the proposal deliberately protects, so staff and clients hear what is not on the table.
- Slide 9closing
- Asks for approval and states how progress will be reported.
Slide by slide
Slide one states $1.1M and the timing. Slide two explains why now: $22.2M of costs on $24.0M of revenue, 71 percent of it labour, and a margin target of 10 percent by FY29. Slide three is the savings waterfall. Slide four is the initiative table with saving, effort and risk. Slide five phases the savings by half year. Slide six costs the change at $260K, about three months of the annual saving. Slide seven compares three options. Slide eight lists what is protected. Slide nine asks for approval and sets the first progress report for February 2027.
How to adapt this deck
A business cutting cost because revenue has fallen should lead with the cash position rather than the margin target, and add a slide on how quickly each saving reaches the bank. If any initiative involves redundancies, give it its own slide with the consultation steps and get employment advice before the paper goes out. A manufacturer should replace the fleet and office lines with materials, energy and scrap, and show unit cost before and after on the waterfall.
What business guidance says
Business.gov.au advises reviewing costs regularly, especially as costs rise, noting that some costs cannot be avoided but small changes can make a big difference. Its pricing guidance stresses knowing the full cost of delivering a service and the margin needed to cover it. For an award covered workforce, the Fair Work Commission's annual wage review sets minimum rates each year, which is why this proposal finds savings outside pay rates rather than inside them.
What makes this deck work
The total is built, not asserted
The waterfall on slide three stacks $400K from rostering, $250K from the fleet, $200K from consumables, $150K from window cleaning and $100K from the office into a $1,100K total. Each bar matches a row in the table on slide four, where the effort and risk sit beside it.
Timing is honest about the slow lines
Slide five shows the run rate at the end of each half year: $200K, $550K, $850K, then the full $1.1M by June 2028. The largest saving, rostering, comes last because it needs an app. A board can match these steps against the margin targets it already approved.
It says what is off the table
Slide eight protects contracted hours, pay rates, safety training, supervisor numbers and the healthcare investment. Slide seven shows why: cutting hours by 7 percent was costed and rejected because it puts 94 percent client retention at risk. Staff and clients can hear the plan without fearing it.
Questions people ask
What goes in a cost reduction proposal presentation?
Why costs must fall, each initiative with its annual saving, the effort and risk to deliver it, when the savings arrive, the one off cost, the options considered and rejected, what is protected, and the decision you need. Nine slides is enough for a board.
How do I show cost savings in a waterfall chart?
Give each initiative one bar, in descending size, and end with a total bar that equals their sum. Use one unit throughout, such as thousands of dollars, and put the sum in the description so nobody reads values from the axis. Short bar labels keep the axis readable.
Should a cost cutting deck show the options that were rejected?
Yes. Boards and staff will ask why you did not simply cut hours or raise prices. Costing those options and saying why they were rejected, with a number for each, shows the recommendation was chosen, not defaulted to, and answers the obvious questions in advance.
How do I make cost savings believable to a board?
Tie every saving to a specific action, an owner and a date, rate the effort and risk honestly, phase the savings over time rather than claiming them all at once, and report progress against the run rate each quarter. Boards trust smaller numbers with a timetable over big round ones.
Do one off costs belong in a savings proposal?
They do. Show them on their own slide with a payback period, such as $260K recovered in about three months at full run rate. Hiding the cost to change makes the savings look larger in the first year than they will be, which finance will spot at once.
Can I keep updating the savings figures after the board meeting?
Yes. Edit the chart values and table cells directly on the slides and save. Every save is kept as a version, so the deck the board approved can be previewed or restored later, and a share link always shows the latest saved figures.
Build your own in about a minute
The button below opens the generator with this use case already described. Change the wording to match your own, generate, then edit anything you like.
Make one like thisOther presentation examples
3 year business plan presentation with a revenue bridge
A 3 year business plan presentation has to prove to a board that the end number is built from named drivers the business can control, and that it can hire the people and protect the margin to get there. Ostrolea Facilities, an invented Melbourne cleaning company, bridges FY26 revenue of $24.0M to $38.0M in FY29 in five steps, then shows the headcount, margin and assumptions behind each one.
Headcount plan presentation: roles by quarter and cost
A headcount plan presentation has to prove to the executive team and finance that every new role is tied to work the business has already committed to, that the team can actually hire at that pace, and what it costs this year and next. Trackhollow, an invented route planning software company, takes engineering from 46 to 60 people in 2027 with fourteen roles, each with a quarter, a level and a cost.
Reorganisation announcement presentation: why, what changes, when
A reorganisation announcement presentation has to tell every employee, in the first minutes, why the structure is changing, what it means for their job and pay, and when it happens, before rumours fill the gap. Selkirrin Group, an invented kitchen equipment maker, moves 1,140 staff into three business units on 1 October and says on one slide what does not change.
Want the steps in the builder? Read Add charts, maps and diagrams to slides, then Export a presentation to PowerPoint or PDF. For everything this generator can do, see the presentation maker.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .