Time cost calculator
Manual work carries a cost that never appears on an invoice. Someone re-keys the same information into a second system, someone chases a document by hand, someone rebuilds the same report every month. None of it is billed and all of it is paid for.
This calculator puts a rand figure on it. Add a process, say how long it takes and how often it runs, and it returns what that process costs you over a year.
What you need
For each process the calculator asks for a name, how long one occurrence takes in hours and minutes, how many times a month it runs, how many people are involved, and what an hour of that person’s time costs. It also asks how often the process goes wrong, which adds a rework allowance of 5%, 15% or 30% shown as a separate line so the assumption stays visible. You can set the currency, and you can add several processes and compare them, which is usually more useful than any single total.
What are your processes costing you?
Add a process and the calculator returns what it costs to keep running by hand, each month and each year. Add several and compare them. Nothing you enter leaves your browser until you choose to send it.
Processes added
| Process | Labour a year | Rework allowance | Total a year | Action |
|---|
What the figure means
This figure is what the work costs to keep doing by hand. It is the floor for any automation budget: if a supplier quotes more than the process costs you to run, the arithmetic does not work and you have a straight answer.
It is an estimate built on the numbers you entered. It does not account for the cost of errors reaching a client, or the risk carried when only one person knows how the work is done.
Get a copy of this calculation
Enter your details for a copy of the figures and what they mean. We send the calculation, and we add you to our updates only if you tick that box.
What the figure is for
The annual cost of a process tells you what fixing it is worth. A process costing you R40,000 a year justifies a different level of investment to one costing R4,000, and most owners are surprised by which is which.
It also gives you a floor for any automation budget. If a supplier quotes more than the process costs you to keep running, the maths does not work and you have a straight answer.
Who this is for
Owners of South African businesses running 1 to 50 people, weighing up whether a process is worth automating and wanting a number before the conversation rather than after it.
Two companion pieces: the operational dependency audit scores where your business depends on one person, and the guide to choosing an automation partner covers what to ask a supplier before you sign.