Free tool · AI and automation
Automation ROI Calculator: Hours and Money Saved
The short answer
An automation pays when the staff time it saves is worth more than it costs to run. Multiply minutes per run by runs a week, the share of runs it finishes without help and 52/12 to get hours a month, then value those hours at the full cost of the person, which is about the wage divided by 0.70 in the US. A 15-minute task done 40 times a week, 80% automated, saves about 34.7 hours a month, worth about $1,150 at a $23.23 wage plus employer costs.
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How the calculator works
The calculator compares the cost of doing a task by hand with the cost of having software do most of it. It needs the task's size and the automation's costs:
| What | Formula |
|---|---|
| Hours saved a month | Minutes per run × runs a week × share automated × 52 ÷ 12 ÷ 60 |
| Hourly cost of the work | Wage ÷ 0.70 with employer costs, or the wage alone |
| Value of the time saved | Hours saved × hourly cost |
| Running costs a month | Software subscriptions + upkeep hours × hourly cost |
| Net saving a month | Value of the time saved − running costs |
| Payback | One-off build cost ÷ net saving a month |
| Net after the first year | 12 × net saving − build cost |
The 52 ÷ 12 turns weekly runs into an average month of about 4.33 weeks.
A worked example: an office logs new enquiries from a web form into a CRM and sends a first reply. It takes 15 minutes a time, 40 times a week. An automation handles 80% of them, and the rest still need a person. That saves 15 × 40 × 0.8 × 4.33 ÷ 60 = 34.7 hours a month. At a $23.23 wage plus employer costs ($33.19 an hour), the time is worth about $1,150 a month. With $50 a month of software and 2 hours of upkeep, the net saving is about $1,034 a month, so a $3,000 build pays back in 2.9 months and leaves about $9,409 after the first year.
The real cost of an hour of staff time
The wage is not what an hour of work costs a business. Employers also pay for benefits, paid leave, insurance and payroll taxes. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics' Employer Costs for Employee Compensation for June 2026, released September 9, 2026, puts private-industry compensation at $46.89 per hour worked. Wages and salaries were $32.82 of that, or 70.0%, and benefits $14.07, or 30.0%. So the calculator divides the wage by 0.70 when "add employer costs" is ticked. That split is a US average. In another country, untick the box and enter the full hourly cost if you know it.
The default wages come from official statistics, and you should replace them with your own:
| Currency | Default wage | Source |
|---|---|---|
| USD | $23.23 an hour | BLS, median pay for secretaries and administrative assistants, May 2025 |
| GBP | £20.81 an hour | ONS, Employee earnings in the UK: 2026, median for full-time employees excluding overtime, April 2026 |
| AUD, EUR, PKR | None | Enter the wage of the person who does the task |
Why most automation ROI estimates are too high
Most ROI calculators on this search multiply the task time by a wage and stop there. Three costs get left out, and each one makes an automation look better than it is:
- Runs that still need a person. Some runs always need help: a form arrives with the phone number in the email field, or a payment fails. The share automated covers that. If you do not know it yet, 80% is a cautious place to start.
- Running costs. Tools such as Zapier and Make charge by the number of tasks or operations, so the bill grows with volume. Our comparison of n8n, Make and Zapier shows how each one prices.
- Upkeep. Apps change their forms and connections, and someone has to notice when a run fails and fix it. Count an hour or two a month for a simple workflow and more for one with many steps.
The calculator also values time at the full employer cost, which other calculators often skip. That makes the saving larger, so it is only fair if the hours freed are used for paid work.
Choosing what to automate
The best returns come from tasks that are frequent, follow written rules, use data that is already digital and do little harm when they fail. Run the calculator for each candidate task and start with the one with the shortest payback. Our guide to what a small business should automate first ranks the usual candidates, and automating lead follow-up covers the one that most often pays back fastest. If you are pricing the build, see what automation agencies charge.
Sources
All checked November 4, 2026.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026, released September 9, 2026.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, median pay May 2025.
- Office for National Statistics, Employee earnings in the UK: 2026, released October 22, 2026 (provisional).
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate the ROI of automation?
Work out the hours the automation saves each month, value them at the full hourly cost of the person who does the task, and subtract the monthly running costs: software subscriptions and the time spent looking after it. Divide the one-off build cost by that net monthly saving to get the payback period in months.
What hourly cost should I use for staff time?
The full cost to the business, not just the wage. In the US, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that wages and salaries were 70.0% of private-industry employer compensation costs in June 2026, with benefits making up the other 30.0%. Dividing the wage by 0.70 gives a fair estimate of the full hourly cost.
Why does the calculator ask what share of runs the automation finishes?
Because real automations meet cases they cannot handle: a form with a missing field, an app that changes, a customer who replies in an unexpected way. Those runs still go to a person. Assuming 100% overstates the saving, so start at 70% to 90% and adjust once you see the logs.
What is a good payback period for an automation?
There is no published standard, so judge it against how long the task will stay the same. A workflow tied to a process you expect to keep for years can justify a longer payback than one tied to a tool or offer you may change in six months.
Do saved hours mean money saved?
Only if the time is used for something else that earns or saves money, or if it means you can avoid a hire or overtime. If the person simply has a quieter afternoon, the saving is real time but not cash. The calculator shows the value of the time so you can judge which applies.
Which tasks give the best automation ROI?
Tasks that happen often, follow rules you can write down, use data that is already digital and do little harm if they fail. Lead capture and first replies, data entry between apps, booking reminders and recurring reports usually come first.