Free calculator

Should I hire someone or automate this work?

Automation rarely removes all the work. Include the exceptions it misses and the time it takes to supervise, then compare against doing it by hand.

Example: 15 hours a week of order entry at $30/hour

Hours of the task per week (hrs)Loaded hourly cost of a person ($)Share of the work automation handles (%)One-time build cost ($)Automation running cost per month ($)Supervision hours per week (hrs)

Automating pays back in 3.1 months and saves $1,280 per month after that.

Monthly cost of doing it by hand: $1,950
Hours still needed each week after automating: 4
Monthly cost with automation: $670
Monthly saving: $1,280
Payback on the build: 3.1 months
First-year net: $11,360

How this is calculated (v1.0.0)

manual monthly = hours per week × 52 ÷ 12 × hourly cost
automated monthly = running cost + (uncovered hours + supervision) × 52 ÷ 12 × hourly cost
payback = build cost ÷ monthly saving
Loaded cost should include payroll taxes, benefits and management time.

Continuing carries these exact inputs and results into Business Ontology — 3 free runs, no account needed.