Automation ROI: How to Calculate If It Pays
By Johannes Jäger, CEO & Founder
"Saves up to 80 percent" doesn't help you make a decision. What helps is a calculation with your own numbers. The ROI of automation can be estimated in three steps, with no spreadsheet required.
The three figures you need
The formula
Take a recurring workflow and calculate: hours per week × fully loaded hourly rate × 52. That's what this workflow costs you per year in manual labor. You set that figure against the one-time cost of building the automation.
A worked example
Say someone on your team spends 8 hours a week on reporting, at a fully loaded hourly rate of 60 euros. That's 8 × 60 × 52 = 24,960 euros a year, for a single workflow. Automate it, and a one-time build typically pays for itself within a few months, then keeps running without costing you again.
Rented tools cost you again every month. A system you build once is paid for and keeps working. Over a few years, the math isn't even close.
What the build itself costs and what drives the price, you can read in What does AI automation cost?. The workflow with the highest ROI for service firms is usually reporting, see End the Excel grind.
Want to run the ROI for a specific workflow? Book a free call, we'll do it with you.
Key takeaways
- ROI of automation: hours per week × hourly rate × 52.
- That gives the annual cost of doing it by hand, which the build is set against.
- A system you build once often pays for itself within a few months.
- Calculate with real numbers, not percentage promises.
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