Automation ROI Calculator
Put a number on automating one process: yearly savings, first-year ROI, the break-even month and five years of cash flow, from your own inputs.
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Automation ROI Calculator
The process today
One process at a time. Use the hours of everyone who touches it.
Used for the team-change advice, not the maths.
Salary plus overhead. Monthly labour cost: $8,667
Rework time, refunds, write-offs.
What drives the number
Three inputs move the result more than the rest. Get these right before you trust the ROI.
Hours that really disappear
Coverage times time saved decides the labour saving. A process that is 70% automated but only 40% faster frees far less than it seems.
The upfront cost
Build, integration and training land in year one, so they decide first-year ROI. Cheap tools with expensive builds often pay back slower than expected.
Where the time goes
Freed hours turn into money only if people move to other work. Plan that move as part of the project, not after it.
Questions
Automation ROI questions
What counts as the build and rollout cost?
Everything you pay once to get the automation live: the build itself, integration with your systems, testing and the time your team spends on rollout. Use a quote if you have one; otherwise your team’s hours at their loaded cost.
Why does break-even include the setup period?
Savings do not start on day one. The calculator ramps them up in a straight line over the setup weeks you enter, and the break-even month is the first month in which cumulative savings cover the build cost plus the tool fees paid so far.
What if only part of the process can be automated?
Set the share of the process automated to the part that really runs without a person. The time-saved slider then covers how much faster that part gets, including any checks a person still does.
Are freed 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 results say this, because ROI figures often hide it.
Why are the growth assumptions zero by default?
Because any growth number is a guess about your business. If you expect more volume each year, or your vendor raises prices at renewal, enter those rates and the five-year view updates.
Can I compare several processes?
Run the calculator once per process and compare the yearly savings and payback. To score many processes at once, use the Workflow Automation Audit.
Related tools
From estimate to working system
We build the automation and measure the saving
Bring the process you just priced. We will check the numbers with you and tell you what it takes to make them real.