The economic analysis in full, with its inputs and methodology; the construction and operating budgets; signed contracts supporting major expenditure lines; the business plan; and the offering documents describing how jobs are allocated among investors. For a directly operated enterprise, read the hiring plan, payroll projections and any existing employment records instead.
Compare the budget with the model
Put the expenditure figures used in the economic analysis next to the current project budget and note any difference. Models are often prepared early and not refreshed after redesigns or cost savings. Ask when the analysis was written, whether it has been updated, and who would update it if the plan changes.
Keep the dated versions rather than a single summary, so an adviser can see how the assumptions have moved. Add one further comparison to that exercise: put the economic analysis next to the construction schedule as well as the budget. Job creation methods that rely on expenditure depend on money actually being spent within a relevant period, so a project whose phases have slipped may have an intact budget and a materially different profile of when that budget is deployed.
Ask when each phase was expected to spend when the analysis was written, and when it is expected to spend now. Keep both schedules, dated, rather than accepting a revised one as though it had always been the plan. Hypothetical example: an investor reviewing a fibre network build finds the analysis assumed three construction seasons beginning in a particular year, while the current programme begins two years later across four seasons, and although the total is unchanged, the timing question is the one that matters for evidence at the conditional stage.