This document defines cost-benefit analysis and outlines its key steps and applications. It begins by defining costs and benefits. It then explains that cost-benefit analysis is a systematic approach used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives by estimating their total expected costs and benefits. The document lists the main steps of cost-benefit analysis as: 1) specifying the project clearly, 2) describing the project's quantitative inputs and outputs, 3) estimating the social costs and benefits of these, and 4) comparing the total benefits to total costs. It concludes by stating that cost-benefit analysis is used to determine if a project is financially feasible and which of multiple projects provides the best return on investment.