Cost calculator: what does the problem cost you?
A process that takes too long costs money every week, even if it never shows up as a separate item in the accounts. Enter your numbers and see what it costs you per year and when a solution pays for itself.
Move the sliders or enter your own numbers. The defaults are an example: three people put together quotes by hand from several spreadsheets.
Adjust assumptions (42 working weeks, 80 % time saved, €50 running cost per month)
I would recommend this solution. Even if things go worse, it pays for itself within 12 months.
The solution pays for itself after 3.5 months. After that, every month without it costs you about €1,182.
Show as table
| Month | Keep it as it is | With the solution | If things go worse (half the savings, one and a half times the effort) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | €0 | €4,188 | €6,282 |
| 6 | €9,240 | €6,336 | €12,126 |
| 12 | €18,480 | €8,484 | €17,970 |
| 18 | €27,720 | €10,632 | €23,814 |
| 24 | €36,960 | €12,780 | €29,658 |
An estimate, not a quote. Calculated at €1,396 per day. What you enter stays in your browser. It only leaves it if you copy the question and pass it on yourself.
How to fill in the calculator
Hours per week: Add up the time of everyone involved. If three people each spend two hours a week on quotes, that is 6 hours. If you do not know exactly, estimate first. It gets more accurate if your team writes down for two weeks how long the task really takes.
Internal hourly rate: This is not the gross wage, but what one working hour costs the company. That includes employer social security contributions, holidays, the workplace and administration. As a rough rule of thumb, take the gross hourly wage times 1.5 to 2.
Effort in days: This is how long I need for analysis and implementation. A simple import or a template is often done in a few days. An interface between several programs takes longer. If you are unsure, leave the default. How much effort it really is for you, we work out in the first call.
Adjust assumptions: The calculation uses 42 working weeks a year, which is 52 weeks minus holidays, public holidays and sick leave. Time saved is set to 80 %. Some effort almost always remains, for checks and special cases. Automating that remainder as well usually costs more than it brings in.
This is also where you enter what the solution costs every month, for example for licenses, hosting and maintenance. The default is 50 €. If you know what errors in the process cost, for example a quote with the wrong price or rework, enter how much of that the solution avoids per month.
How to read the result
The orange line shows what the process costs over time if everything stays as it is. The blue line starts at the one-time cost of the solution and then rises more slowly, because only the remaining effort and the running costs are left.
Where the two lines cross, the solution has paid for itself. The blue area before that point is money you have invested and not yet recovered. The orange area after it is the cost of waiting. It grows with every month in which nothing changes.
Estimates usually turn out too optimistic. That is why the dashed blue line shows what happens if the solution saves only half as much and takes one and a half times the effort. When it then pays for itself is also shown right below "Pays for itself after".
My recommendation follows that number: I only recommend a solution if it pays for itself within 12 months even then. Anything longer is too uncertain for me. A lot usually changes within a year, in the company and in the market, and more important things come up. Then a smaller solution is often better, or you first sort out the process, without any software at all.
Question the calculation
"Copy as a question for ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot" gives you your calculation as a ready-made question for an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant. Add one or two sentences at the top about what the task is. The assistant then checks your assumptions, suggests smaller solutions, names risks and sums up the decision briefly. What you paste there goes to the provider of the assistant, so leave out names and customer data.
What the calculator does not show
The calculator counts working time, running costs and the cost of errors you enter. Some of what a bad process costs is hard to put a number on:
- Customers who wait too long for an answer
- Knowledge that depends on one person, who is then ill or on holiday
- Frustration in the team, up to people leaving
These costs are often higher than the hours. So calculate cautiously and keep them in mind.
What is worth running through it
- Putting together quotes or invoices from several spreadsheets
- Typing data from emails or PDFs
- Creating reports by hand every week or month
- Copying orders, appointments or customer data from one program into another
Not sure whether the task can be automated at all? The automation check helps with that. How I work and what it costs is on the consulting page.
If the numbers work out for you, write to me. The first call is free, and I will tell you honestly whether I can help.