What is a loaded hourly cost?
It is the total hourly cost of the people doing the work. You can include wages or salary, employer payroll costs, benefits, and relevant overhead.
Free business tool
Business Automation ROI Calculator
See what repetitive work may be costing your business, how much team capacity automation could free up, and whether the investment could pay off.
Full results, no signup Your entries stay in your browser Assumptions remain visible
Start calculating
3 short steps · about 1 minute
Live estimate
Your process at a glance
Enter the three fields in Step 1 to see the annual hours and cost of this process.
How calculations work
From your entries to your results
We calculate the time spent on the process each year, apply your manual-work reduction percentage, then value the hours returned using your loaded hourly cost. Results use full precision and are rounded only when shown.
- 1. Annual manual hours:Weekly manual hours × weeks the process runs each year.
- 2. Estimated annual cost of manual work:Annual manual hours × loaded hourly cost.
- 3. Hours returned:Annual manual hours × manual-work reduction percentage.
- 4. Estimated annual capacity value:Hours returned × loaded hourly cost.
- 5. Year 1 cost:Implementation cost + other one-time costs + annual recurring operating cost. Recurring costs are converted to an annual amount for the calculation. Monthly costs are multiplied by 12.
- 6. Net value:Ongoing annual net value = annual capacity value − annual recurring operating cost. Year 1 net benefit = annual capacity value − Year 1 cost.
- 7. Year 1 ROI:Year 1 net benefit ÷ Year 1 cost × 100.
- 8. Estimated payback:Total one-time investment ÷ monthly net modeled value. Monthly net modeled value = annual capacity value ÷ 12 − the monthly equivalent of recurring operating cost. Payback is calculated only when monthly net modeled value is positive.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about the calculator
Does the result represent guaranteed savings?
No. Returned employee time gives your team more capacity. It becomes cash savings only when overtime, contractor spending, or hiring costs actually fall.
What should I use for the manual work reduction?
Choose a percentage based on the work that could realistically be automated. Leave room for exceptions, reviews, approvals, and tasks that still need a person.
Why are project costs optional?
You can calculate potential hours returned and estimated annual capacity value before you know the project cost. ROI and payback appear only when you enter project costs.