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AI automation payback calculator

Estimate the working time saved by automation after human checks, error correction and maintenance. Compare the value of the freed capacity with the labour costs you expect to save in practice.

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01

Your inputs

The starting values are an example.

Include time spent on human review.
Enter 0% if automation only frees capacity. Enter 100% only if all the corresponding labour costs can actually be avoided.

Decimals: 12.5 · Thousands: 1,234.56. Follow the field instructions for lists.

02

Your result

Enter your values and select Calculate.

Your calculation will appear here.

Your result will include the relevant values and units.

Understand the calculation

Formula and example

How it is calculated

Saved hours = tasks × (old minutes − new minutes − error rate/100 × repair minutes) / 60 − monthly maintenance hours. Labour cost saving = saved hours × hourly cost × realisable share/100 for non-negative time savings; extra working hours are charged at full cost. Net monthly benefit = labour cost saving − monthly system cost.

Worked example

For 600 tasks, manual work falls from 8 to 2 minutes per task. With a 10% error rate and 5 extra minutes per repair, this saves 55 hours; deducting 5 hours of maintenance leaves 50 hours. At 6,000 currency units per hour, 50% realisable savings and a monthly system cost of 30,000, the net benefit is 120,000 currency units per month. Setup costs of 240,000 are recovered in 2 months.

Things to check

  • The value of capacity alone is not cash revenue. For negative time savings, we account for the extra work at the full hourly cost. The monthly benefit is constant; we do not calculate interest or implementation ramp-up. There is no calculable payback for zero or negative monthly benefit.
  • The starting values are illustrative examples. Enter your own data on a consistent cost basis. The result is a conditional calculation; it does not model taxation or future market changes.
  • Use one currency throughout. Amounts are illustrative currency units, not a currency conversion or a provider quote.

Frequently asked questions

What should I enter for the realisable proportion?

Enter the share of saved time whose labour cost you can actually avoid. The capacity figure separately shows the value of the time freed up. If wage costs and revenue stay unchanged, the share that reduces costs may be 0%.

What counts as monthly system cost?

Subscriptions, API usage, additional electricity, operation and other new costs. Maintenance time is entered separately; do not count its labour cost twice.