Business automation ROI calculator.
Get a quick estimate of how much employee time a repetitive task consumes today and how much labor capacity a focused automation tool could potentially return.
What this calculator tells you
ROI means return on investment. In plain language, this calculator asks:
The calculator does not tell you what a custom tool should cost. It gives you a screening estimate so you can decide whether the process is worth investigating.
Calculate your current process
Count everyone who regularly touches the process.
Use 8 hours for one full workday.
Default example: $35/hour. Replace it with your own estimate.
Use the total employee time remaining, not computer processing time.
Optional. WorkOffload pricing is not published here; enter any hypothetical cost you want to test.
How to read the result
- Current annual labor hours: the approximate employee time consumed by the process today.
- Current annual labor value: those hours multiplied by the hourly labor assumption.
- Labor capacity returned: the hours no longer required for the repetitive portion of the process.
- Illustrative annual labor value returned: the approximate value of the returned capacity at the hourly rate entered.
- Simple payback: if you enter a hypothetical tool cost, the calculator divides that cost by the estimated monthly labor value returned.
Labor capacity returned is not the same as payroll savings
If a process returns 500 employee hours per year, that does not necessarily mean payroll drops by the dollar value shown. It means those hours can potentially be redirected to purchasing follow-up, analysis, customer work, exception resolution, faster close activities, or other work the business would otherwise need people to perform.
Three real workflow examples
| Workflow | Approximate before | Approximate after | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| ERP / Shopify reconciliation | 80 labor hours | 0.5 hour | Monthly |
| UPS invoice checking | 32 labor hours | 0.5 hour | Monthly |
| Import reconciliation | 24 labor hours across 3 people | 0.5 total hour | Weekly |
Times are approximate and use an 8-hour workday or 40-hour workweek when converting days or weeks to labor hours.
When the calculator says a process may be worth looking at
A high annual labor value does not automatically mean you should automate. The process also needs to be understandable, repeatable, and stable enough to build around. The strongest candidates usually have predictable inputs, recognizable business rules, and a defined output.
Questions businesses commonly ask
What should I use for loaded hourly labor cost?
Use your own best estimate of what an employee hour costs the business. The calculator defaults to $35/hour only as an illustration.
Should I include managers who review the work?
Yes, if their time is a recurring part of the process. The goal is to measure the total labor consumed across the workflow.
Should I include computer processing time?
Only include employee time. If a tool processes files for five minutes while the employee can do something else, that five minutes is not the same as five minutes of active labor.
Does a short payback automatically mean we should build a tool?
No. Process stability, data quality, business risk, maintenance, and ownership still need to be considered.