Cost calculator · 5 steps, 9 cost lines
Cost per invoice calculator
Your cost to process one supplier invoice, step by step, today and after automation.
AI automation ROI calculator
This AI automation ROI calculator estimates what automating one workflow is worth. Enter your monthly volume, handling time, loaded hourly cost, exception rate and the share that can run straight through, then your own build and running quote. You get hours saved, annual savings and payback in months, with every formula shown. No email required.
Calculate your AI automation ROI
Estimated result
- Hours saved per month
- 155
- 1,860 hours a year, about 1 FTE at 1,800 hours each
- Annual savings
- $89,700
- Before running cost: add your quote
- Payback
- Add your build cost
- A build up to $82,973 pays back within 12 months
- First-year ROI
- Needs a quote
- Year one, including the build
- Gross saving per month
- $7,475
- Labor and errors, before running cost
Team hours per month
200 hours today, 45 hours after automation.
An estimate from your inputs. Freed hours are a cash saving only if staffing, overtime or hiring plans change. See how an audit measures these numbers
The formulas, with your numbers
Every result above comes from these lines. Check them, or copy them into your own spreadsheet.
- Hours today
- = 2,000 items × 6 min ÷ 60
- 200 h
- Hours after
- = 600 assisted × 1.5 min ÷ 60 + 200 exceptions × 6 min ÷ 60 + 10 h oversight
- 45 h
- Hours saved
- = 200 − 45
- 155 h / month
- Cost today
- = 200 h × $45 + 40 errors × $25
- $10,000
- Cost after
- = 45 h × $45 + 20 errors × $25
- $2,525
- Gross saving
- = $10,000 − $2,525
- $7,475 / month
- Net saving
- = $7,475 − running cost (not entered)
- $7,475 / month
- Annual savings
- = $7,475 × 12, at full rollout
- $89,700
- 12-month budget
- = First-year gross saving $82,973 (ramp-up 40%, 70%, then 100%) − 12 × $0 running
- $82,973
How to calculate AI automation ROI
The calculator follows the same four steps as our guide to the ROI of AI automation and the estimate section of the sample audit. Human review, oversight and running cost are counted.
- 1
Measure what the workflow costs today
Items per month × handling minutes ÷ 60 × loaded hourly cost gives the labor. Add errors per month × the cost of fixing one.
- 2
Split the volume three ways
Straight-through items need no touch. Exceptions stay fully manual. Everything else is assisted: the system does the work and a person checks it.
- 3
Count the human time that remains
Review minutes on every assisted item, full handling time on exceptions, a few oversight hours a month and the errors that still get through.
- 4
Subtract running cost, then find payback
Gross saving minus the monthly running cost is the net saving. Payback is the first month in which cumulative net saving covers the build.
Where to find each input
An automation ROI calculator is only as good as what goes in. These are the sources we use in an audit, and the shortcuts that make a business case fall apart later.
| Input | Where to get it | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Items per month | Counts from your ERP, helpdesk or inbox for the last three months | Using the busiest month |
| Handling time per item | A timed sample of 30 to 50 items, start to finish | Asking for an estimate in a meeting |
| Loaded hourly cost | Your finance team's standard loaded rate | Using salary alone |
| Straight-through share | A prototype run on a few hundred past cases | Taking a figure from a vendor demo |
| Exception rate | Items that needed a person to step in last month, by type | Leaving out the rare exception types |
| Build and running cost | A written quote, plus your own team's project time | Leaving out monitoring and maintenance |
Scroll sideways to see every column.
A worked example: 2,000 invoices a month
The numbers are invented to show the arithmetic. An accounts payable team keys 2,000 supplier invoices a month at 6 minutes each, with a loaded cost of $45 an hour. About 2% need rework, at $25 each.
Tests on past invoices suggest 60% can run straight through and 10% stay manual. The other 30% get a 1.5-minute check. The quote is hypothetical, not our pricing: $40,000 to build and $2,500 a month to run.
- Hours saved / month
- 155
- Annual savings
- $59,700
- Payback
- Month 10
- First-year ROI
- 18.5%
- Hours today
- = 2,000 items × 6 min ÷ 60
- 200 h
- Hours after
- = 600 assisted × 1.5 min ÷ 60 + 200 exceptions × 6 min ÷ 60 + 10 h oversight
- 45 h
- Hours saved
- = 200 − 45
- 155 h / month
- Cost today
- = 200 h × $45 + 40 errors × $25
- $10,000
- Cost after
- = 45 h × $45 + 20 errors × $25
- $2,525
- Gross saving
- = $10,000 − $2,525
- $7,475 / month
- Net saving
- = $7,475 − $2,500 running cost
- $4,975 / month
- Annual savings
- = $4,975 × 12, at full rollout
- $59,700
- Payback
- = First month where cumulative net saving ≥ $40,000 (ramp-up 40%, 70%, then 100%)
- Month 10
- First-year ROI
- = ($82,973 − $40,000 − 12 × $2,500) ÷ ($40,000 + 12 × $2,500)
- 18.5%
A first-year ROI of about 18.5% looks modest, and that is normal: the build cost sits entirely in year one. In year two the same workflow returns $89,700 of gross saving against $30,000 of running cost. The 155 hours a month are a cash saving only if staffing or hiring plans change.
What the calculator leaves out
It is a first estimate. These are the gaps a measured audit closes.
- Exceptions are assumed to take the average handling time. If yours take longer, raise the handling time or the exception rate.
- Benefits that are hard to price, such as shorter cycle time, captured early-payment discounts and a full audit trail. List them beside the ROI.
- Staffing changes. Freed hours are capacity until overtime, temporary staff or a planned hire actually changes.
- Your own team's time on the project. Add it to the build cost so the payback is honest.
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Self-assessment · 12 questions
AI readiness assessment
Twelve questions that score one workflow for automation and tell you what to fix first.
Questions about AI ROI
How do you calculate the ROI of AI automation?
Work out what the workflow costs today (volume × minutes per item × loaded hourly cost, plus the cost of errors). Subtract what it costs after automation: review time on assisted items, full handling time on exceptions, oversight hours and the errors that remain. Subtract the monthly running cost to get the net saving. Payback is the month in which cumulative net saving passes the build cost. First-year ROI is first-year gross saving minus the build cost and 12 months of running cost, divided by that same total cost.
Is there any ROI on AI automation?
Often, yes, when volume is steady, inputs are digital and most cases follow clear rules. The return is weak for low-volume work, workflows that change every month and tasks that hinge on judgment nobody has written down. The calculator shows the trade-off directly: drop the volume to 50 items a month and the running cost alone can cancel the saving.
What is a good payback period for an automation project?
There is no universal figure. We usually look for the build cost to be recovered within the first year of running, with clear savings in year two. If payback lands beyond 18 to 24 months at realistic inputs, that workflow is rarely the right first project.
Why do I have to enter the build and running cost?
We do not publish prices, and a calculator with an invented price gives you an invented payback. Enter the quote you have, from us or anyone else. With no build cost entered, the calculator shows the largest build budget that would still pay back within 12 months at your running cost.
Are hours saved the same as money saved?
Only when staffing changes. Freed hours turn into cash when overtime stops, temporary staff end or a planned hire is not needed as volume grows. Otherwise the saving is capacity, which is still worth having. Label it as capacity in the business case so finance is not surprised later.
Why does the calculator model a ramp-up?
Rollout is staged, so a new system rarely handles full volume in its first month. With ramp-up on, the calculator counts 40% of the gross saving in month one, 70% in month two and the full saving from month three, while running cost applies from month one. Switch it off to see the steady-state case.
How accurate is the estimate?
As accurate as the inputs. The straight-through share and the handling time move the result most, and both are guesses until they are measured on your own past cases. A workflow audit measures them, which is why its estimate is usually smaller and easier to defend.
Get a measured ROI for one of your workflows.
A 30-minute call with an engineer. You will leave knowing what a system could do for that workflow and what it would take to build.
What happens next
- 1
Strategy call
We learn how the workflow runs today and what a good outcome would be.
- 2
Workflow audit
We map the process and measure where a system would save the most time.
- 3
Proposal
A written scope, timeline and fixed price for your first system. No obligation to build.