AI Automation ROI Calculator

Put in how much time a repetitive task eats each week and see what it costs you over a year — and what automating it could give back. The numbers appear as you type; the email is only if you want the full breakdown.

Calculate your automation ROI

Your numbers

Rough figures are fine — this is an estimate, not a quote.

e.g. invoice entry, lead triage, report building

$

Salary plus overhead — roughly 1.3× base pay

The estimate

What this costs you now, per year

$24,960

What automating it could save, per year

$12,480 – $19,968

At a typical single-workflow build of $5,000–$12,000, a saving like this pays it back in roughly 3–4 months — in line with the 2–4 months a single workflow usually takes.

See how I actually price this.

Get the full breakdown

I'll email you this estimate with the assumptions spelled out, plus how a scoped build is priced. No sequence of sales emails.

How this estimate works

The annual cost is simple arithmetic: people × hours per week × 52 × loaded hourly cost. That's what the task costs you in wages and overhead every year, whether or not anyone thinks of it as a line item.

The saving range assumes a well-built workflow removes 50% to 80%of that time. The low end leaves plenty of room for a human review step and the cases software can't handle; the high end is a clean, high-volume process with clear rules.

The payback line compares that saving against a typical single-workflow build. When the math lands outside the 2–4 months a single workflow usually takes to pay for itself, the calculator says so rather than forcing the number. How I price a build explains where the real figure comes from.

What this doesn't capture

A time-and-cost model only sees the hours. It misses the things that often matter more: fewer errors and the rework they cause, faster turnaround for customers and colleagues, work that actually happens on nights and weekends, and the difference it makes to morale when people stop doing the same dull task by hand.

It also can't see your specifics — the one step that's harder than it looks, the system with no API, the exceptions that make up half the volume. That's what a free audit is for: I map the real process end to end and come back with the actual number, not an estimate.

ROI calculator FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the ROI calculator work?
It multiplies the people on a task by their hours per week, by 52 weeks, by their loaded hourly cost, to get the annual cost of doing it manually. The saving range assumes automation removes 50% to 80% of that time. Everything is calculated in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere unless you ask for the emailed breakdown.
What is a loaded hourly cost?
Base pay plus the overhead that comes with an employee — payroll tax, benefits, software, space, management time. A common shortcut is roughly 1.3 times base hourly pay. Using loaded cost instead of raw salary is what makes the estimate realistic.
Why is the saving shown as a range?
Because no automation removes 100% of a task. Some steps still need a person, and there's always a review layer. Fifty to eighty percent of the manual time removed is a conservative, defensible band for a well-scoped workflow.
Is this a quote?
No. It's a back-of-envelope model to see whether a task is worth looking at. The real number comes from a free audit, where I map the actual process, find the edge cases, and give you a fixed-scope proposal.

Want the real number for your process?

The audit is free and ends with a fixed-scope proposal. No obligation.

Book Your Free Audit