Tool
Automation ROI calculator
Put a monthly dollar figure on the work your team retypes, and see how long an automation would take to pay for itself. Everything is calculated in your browser.
Your inputs
Think of one specific repetitive workflow, not everything your team does. The numbers are far more useful when they describe a single task you could name out loud.
Payroll tax, benefits and software seats on top of the wage. 25–40% is typical.
Most workflows keep a human review step. 60–85% is the realistic band.
Planning range: $2,000–$12,000 for most small-business workflows.
Platform fees, API usage and maintenance.
Result
What this workflow costs you
Spent on it monthly
$2,837
78 hours a month at $36 loaded.
Net monthly saving
$1,866
55 hours returned, less running cost.
Payback period
3.2 months
First-year position
$16,391
Net saving over twelve months minus the build.
Strong case. This pays for itself inside two quarters and keeps paying after that.
Calculated in your browser · nothing is stored
Method
How the math works
The calculator starts from time, not from software. People multiplied by weekly hours multiplied by 4.33 gives monthly hours on the task. That is multiplied by a fully loaded hourly rate — the wage plus the overhead loading you set — to produce what the workflow costs you today.
It then applies a coverage percentage, because almost no automation removes a task entirely. What remains is the honest saving. The monthly running cost is subtracted from that before anything is compared to the build cost, so the payback period reflects the real ongoing bill rather than a launch-day snapshot.
Payback is build cost divided by net monthly saving. First-year position is twelve months of net saving minus the build. Nothing is discounted or annualised beyond that — a simple number you can check by hand is more useful in a decision than a model you have to trust.
Loaded rate, not wage
Wages understate cost by a quarter or more once payroll tax, benefits and software seats are counted. The overhead slider defaults to 30 percent, which is typical for a small service business.
Coverage keeps it honest
Set coverage to the share of the task that can genuinely run unattended. Most workflows we ship land between 60 and 85 percent because a human still confirms exceptions.
Running cost comes off first
Platform fees, API usage and maintenance are real. Subtracting them before payback is what stops an automation business case from quietly overselling itself.
Next step
What to do with the number
A payback figure is only useful if it changes what you do next. Here is how we read the three common outcomes.
- 01
Under six months — build it
The workflow is repetitive enough and expensive enough that delaying costs more than the build. Start with the single highest-volume step so value lands before the whole scope is finished.
- 02
Six to eighteen months — scope it down
Usually the scope is too wide. Split the workflow into steps, price the busiest one on its own, and the payback on that piece typically halves.
- 03
Beyond eighteen months — wait
The volume does not justify a custom build yet. Fix the process and the data first; when volume grows the same calculation flips without any new argument.
Questions
Frequently asked
Anything a person repeats to the same script: retyping form submissions into a CRM, copying invoice details between systems, chasing quotes by hand, assembling the same weekly report, re-entering job details into scheduling software. If the steps are the same every time and only the data changes, it belongs in the number you enter.
Use fully loaded cost — wage plus payroll tax, benefits and software seats. For most small businesses that is roughly 1.25 to 1.4 times the hourly wage. Using the raw wage understates the saving by a quarter and makes the payback period look worse than it is.
It is a planning range, not a quote. Most small-business automations we ship land between $2,000 and $12,000 depending on how many systems have to talk to each other and whether the data is clean. The calculator defaults to the middle of that band so the payback figure stays honest.
That is the normal outcome, which is why there is an automation coverage slider. A booking workflow might remove 80 percent of the typing but still need a human to confirm edge cases. Set coverage to what you genuinely believe can run unattended and the result stays credible.
Yes. The monthly running cost field covers the platform fees, API usage and maintenance a live automation needs. Net monthly saving is gross saving minus that figure, and payback uses the net number.
Under six months is strong and usually an easy decision. Six to twelve months is normal for workflows that touch several systems. Beyond eighteen months, either the task is too small to automate or the scope is too wide and should be cut down to the single most repetitive step.
Where this leads
Next step
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