Free tool
Automation savings calculator
Your task
Pick one repetitive task, such as entering orders or chasing invoices. Results update as you type.
Only changes how amounts are written. Nothing is converted.
Wages plus any on-costs you want to count, such as taxes and benefits.
Be honest: count only the steps a computer could do without a person checking each one.
Your result
1,664 hours a year go into this task now
Hours freed up per year
Calculated1,165
Capacity value per year
Calculated$29,120
This is capacity, not cash
Capacity value is what the freed-up time costs you today. Your bank balance only changes if paid hours, overtime, hiring or contractor spend actually go down. Otherwise the gain is time your team can spend on other work.
Three ways it could go
EstimatedAutomations rarely cover everything planned, so compare your estimate with smaller ones.
Cautious
35% automated
- Hours a year
- 582
- Capacity value
- $14,560
Likely
52.5% automated
- Hours a year
- 874
- Capacity value
- $21,840
Your estimate
70% automated
- Hours a year
- 1,165
- Capacity value
- $29,120
What this assumes
- 52 working weeks a year, with the same hours every week.
- The automatable share is the same for everyone who does the task.
- The hourly cost is what one hour of their time costs you, as you entered it.
- Time to set up, check and look after the automation is not taken off.
- Amounts are in US dollars, exactly as you entered them. Nothing is converted.
- Calculated
- worked out from the numbers you entered, using the formula shown on this page.
- Estimated
- a reasoned guess built on assumptions. Treat it as a range, not a promise.
How the calculation works
First, the hours your team spends on the task in a year: the number of people, times the hours each spends on it per week, times the working weeks in a year. Four people spending eight hours a week for 52 weeks is 1,664 hours.
Next, the hours freed up: that yearly total times the share you think could be automated. At 70%, those 1,664 hours become about 1,165 hours freed up. Last, the capacity value: the hours freed up times what one hour of their time costs you. At 25 an hour that is 29,120 a year. If you enter a build cost, payback is the build cost divided by the monthly capacity value.
What makes a good task to automate
The best candidates are dull, frequent and predictable. Look for work that:
- follows the same steps each time, with clear rules for the exceptions
- moves information from one place to another, such as copying orders from emails into a spreadsheet or accounting system
- happens often enough to add up, every day or every week rather than once a quarter
- uses information that is already digital, rather than handwritten notes or phone calls
Tasks that need judgement, a personal touch or a different approach every time are harder to automate well. Often the right answer is to automate the preparation and leave the decision to a person.
Why capacity is not the same as cash
If an automation frees up ten hours a week but everyone is still paid for the same hours, your costs have not changed. What you have gained is time: your team can take on more work without hiring, answer customers faster or stop working late. That is often worth a lot, but it only becomes a saving on paper when you spend less on paid hours, overtime, new hires or contractors.
Treat the capacity value as an upper limit on what the freed-up time is worth, and decide what you would actually do with it.
How to estimate the automatable share honestly
Write down the steps of the task as it really happens, including the awkward cases. Mark each step a computer could do on its own, then add up the time those steps take. Leave out steps that need someone to check, approve or fix things, and remember that a person will still review the odd result. If you are unsure, start low: the cautious scenario is a sensible figure to plan around.
Common questions
Is the capacity value money I will save?
Not automatically. It is the cost of the staff time that automation frees up. You only save cash if you then pay for fewer hours, cut overtime, avoid a hire or spend less on contractors. Otherwise the gain is time your team can put into other work.
What hourly cost should I enter?
Use what one hour of the person's time costs your business. For an employee that is usually their hourly wage plus on-costs such as payroll taxes and benefits. If you are not sure, enter the hourly wage alone for a more cautious figure.
Why are there three scenarios?
Automations often cover less of a task than planned, because of exceptions, checks and edge cases. The cautious and likely scenarios use half and three quarters of your estimate so you can see how the result holds up if it covers less.
Do you store the numbers I enter?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent to us. You do not need an account or an email address to see, print or copy your results.
What does the payback figure mean?
If you enter a build cost, payback is how many months of capacity value it takes to add up to that cost. It does not include running costs such as software subscriptions, so add those to the build cost if you want a stricter figure.