Time Savings Calculator
What this tells you
The cost of a manual task is the hours it takes multiplied by what an hour of your time is worth, plus the value of what you would have done instead. Compare that against the cost of automating or delegating it and the payback period is usually much shorter than it feels.
Capacity · free tool
Time savings calculator
Be honest, measure a week
Your billable rate
Rarely 100%
Tool subscription or contractor
Implementation and training
At those numbers
- Current annual cost of the task
- $28,080
- Hours returned / year
- 218 h
- Net saving / year
- $17,968
- Payback period (months)
- 0.4
This is arithmetic on the numbers you entered — nothing here is a forecast or a promise about results.
The formula
annual cost = hours per week × 52 × hourly value · saving = annual cost × share automated − solution cost · payback = solution cost ÷ monthly saving
How to read the result
- Use your billable rate, not your salary rate. An hour spent on admin is an hour that could have been sold.
- Nothing automates completely. A realistic automation share is usually 60–80%, not 100%.
- If payback is under three months, the decision is not really a decision.
- Use your billable rate, not your salary rate. An hour on admin is an hour you could have sold, which is why 'I'll just do it myself' is the most expensive sentence in a service business.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate the ROI of automating a task?
Multiply the hours the task takes by what an hour of your time is worth, apply the share you can realistically automate, and subtract the cost of the tool or hire. Divide the setup cost by the monthly saving to get payback.
What hourly rate should I use for my own time?
Your billable rate, because an hour spent on internal admin is an hour you could have sold. Using your salary rate understates the cost substantially.
How much of a task can realistically be automated?
For most manual workflows, somewhere between 60% and 80%. Exceptions, judgement calls and cleanup rarely disappear entirely.
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