Estimate the cost of manual work.
Put a rough number on the task your team keeps doing by hand, then use the result to decide whether it is worth a free audit.
YOUR MANUAL PROCESS
Annual cost of doing this manually
$118K
$105K labour + $13K error rework
Estimated automation cost
$36K
one-time build
Annual saving (40% reduction)
$47K
per year
ROI multiple (year 1)
1.3×
Payback period
10 mo
Based on these inputs, automating this process would save $47K per year and pay for itself in 10 months. First-year net benefit: $11K.
Assumptions
Labour cost uses 50 working weeks per year. Error rework is estimated at 2.5× the original time cost per error. Automation investment is a rough planning estimate based on process complexity. Savings use a 40% default reduction in manual time. Actual results depend on workflow quality, data access, review needs, and adoption.