Free calculator
How much time is that manual workflow costing you?
Enter how often a task happens, how long it takes, and how often it needs fixing. The calculator shows the hours it consumes each month and each year, and, if you choose, what that time costs. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you ask for a review.
Calculator
Count every instance across the whole team.
Typing, copying, checking, chasing. Not waiting time.
Corrections, duplicates, missing information.
Wages plus payroll taxes and benefits. Leave blank to see hours only.
Your own estimate, for comparison. Not a promise of savings.
Your estimate
- Hours per month
- 9
- Hours per year
- 108
- Of which rework, per month
- 1
This is a planning estimate built from your inputs. It leaves out waiting time, delays to customers, and the cost of errors that are never caught, so the real cost is often higher. A change would not remove all of it: design, review, exceptions, and adoption take time too.
How the calculation works
Hands-on hours are the number of times the task happens each month multiplied by the minutes each one takes, divided by 60. Rework hours are the share of instances that need fixing, multiplied by the minutes each fix takes.
The annual figure is twelve times the monthly total. If you add an hourly cost, the calculator multiplies the annual hours by it. Use a fully loaded figure only if you have one you trust; otherwise compare hours, which are harder to argue with.
Questions about measuring workflow cost
How do I estimate how long a task takes?
Ask the people who do it to time the next few instances, start to finish, counting only hands-on time. Use the typical case rather than the best one, and note the slowest one separately.
What hourly cost should I use?
A fully loaded cost includes wages, payroll taxes, and benefits. If you do not have a figure you can defend, leave it blank and compare workflows by hours instead.
Does the result mean automation would save this much?
No. It shows what the workflow costs today. A redesign or automation usually removes part of that, and adds some new work for review, exceptions, and upkeep. Measure again after any change.
What happens if I send my numbers for a review?
Your inputs, name, and company go to the EmpowerFrame inbox. A person reads them and replies directly. Your results on this page work the same whether or not you send them.
Keep exploring
Next step
When several workflows compete for attention, the AI Opportunity Map measures and compares them and recommends what to change first.