What is automating that process actually worth?
Enter how much time a task eats today and what automation would cost. Get the annual savings, payback period, and 3-year net value — the three numbers a budget conversation needs.
Where it comes from
The business case
Conservative math: 52 weeks, freed time redeployed (not headcount cuts), and only half of rework cost recovered. Assumptions are spelled out under “How it works.”
Get a real estimate for your processHow it works
Labor savings are computed from the people doing the task, their weekly hours on it, and their loaded hourly cost, multiplied by the share of the work you expect automation to take over. We use 52 working weeks and assume freed time is redeployed to other work rather than eliminated.
Error savings assume automation removes about half of rework cost, estimated as your error rate applied to the task’s labor cost. Payback divides your one-time implementation cost by monthly savings; 3-year net value is three years of savings minus that implementation cost. Every assumption is deliberately conservative — a business case that survives conservative math is one you can defend.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate ROI for automation?
Annual savings = (hours spent on the task × loaded hourly cost × share automated) + recovered error costs. Payback period = implementation cost ÷ monthly savings. Three-year net value = three years of savings minus implementation cost. This calculator does all three from six inputs.
What is a good payback period for automation?
Most process-automation projects we see pay back in 3–12 months. Under 6 months is a strong case; over 24 months usually means the process is a poor first candidate — pick a higher-volume or higher-error workflow instead.
What does “loaded hourly cost” mean?
Salary plus benefits, payroll taxes, and overhead — typically 1.25–1.4× base pay. Using base salary alone understates what the manual work really costs you.
What implementation cost should I assume?
Simple workflow automations often land in the $5k–$25k range; AI-powered automations with integrations commonly run $15k–$75k. If you want a real estimate for your process, that is exactly what our free 30-minute assessment produces.
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