Automation Payback Calculator
How many months an automation takes to pay for itself, from task volume, minutes saved and the cost to build and run it.
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- Formulas shown
Automation Payback Calculator
The work you want to automate
Your numbers. Results update as you type.
Time a person spends. Time a sample, do not guess.
Salary plus overhead per hour of the people doing it.
Tasks that still need a person do not count as saved. Max 100%.
Platform fees, API usage, monitoring. Starts when savings start.
Build and testing period.
Cash position over 24 months
Starts at −$12,000 for the build and crosses zero at month 3.5.
The formulas
- Hours saved / month
- = tasks x minutes x share handled / 60
- Gross saving / month
- = hours saved x loaded hourly cost
- Net saving / month
- = gross saving - running cost
- Payback (months)
- = months before savings start + build cost / net saving
- First 12 months, net
- = net saving x (12 - months before savings start) - build cost
Have a workflow with a short payback? We build and run it for you. AI agents and automation
What drives the number
Payback is the build cost divided by the net monthly saving. Three inputs move it most.
Minutes per task
Hours saved scale with the minutes a person spends today. Time a sample of real tasks: guesses are often far off.
Share fully handled
Only tasks that need no person count. Handling 50% of tasks instead of 70% cuts the gross saving by more than a quarter.
Build time
Every month before savings start adds a month to payback, and cuts the first-year figure by a full month of savings.
Questions
Automation payback questions
What counts as the share of tasks fully handled?
Tasks the automation finishes with no person stepping in. If someone still checks or fixes a task, it does not count as saved. Start low and raise it once you have measured the live workflow.
Are saved hours the same as saved money?
Only if the time goes to other paid work or a role is not refilled. Otherwise it is capacity: useful, but not cash. The payback figure assumes the saved hours are worth the loaded hourly cost.
What if payback shows never?
The running cost is at least as large as the monthly saving, so the build cost is never paid back. Raise the share handled, cut the running cost, or pick a workflow with more volume.
Why does the running cost start with the savings?
The calculator counts the running cost from the month savings start, so the build period costs only the build. If you pay platform fees during the build, add them to the build cost.
Why does payback over ten years read “Over 10 years”?
When the net saving is only a little above zero, the maths gives a payback of hundreds of months. Past ten years the exact number means little, so we say so instead.
Related tools
From estimate to working system
We build the automation and measure the payback
Bring the workflow you just priced. We will check the numbers with you and tell you what it takes to make them real.