What payback period is good enough?

Under 12 months is an obvious project. Under 18 months is worth doing. Between 18 and 30 months, only if it also removes a real constraint on growth. Over 30 months, find a higher-frequency process instead.

Why 70% automatable rather than 100%?

There is almost always a remainder — exceptions, judgment calls, and the review step. Automating the last 5% frequently costs more than the first 95%, and a plan built on 100% is a plan that disappoints.

Why multiply the wage by 1.3?

Payroll taxes, benefits, and overhead. The fully loaded cost of an employee is meaningfully higher than their hourly wage, and using the raw wage understates what the manual process actually costs you.

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Does this actually pay for itself?

The arithmetic that decides whether an automation project is worth doing. Deliberately conservative — if it looks good here, it usually looks better in reality.

Your numbers

People doing this task2

Hours each, per week6 hrs

Hourly wage$24/hr

$31/hr fully loaded (+30% for taxes, benefits, overhead)

Realistically automatable70%

70% is a realistic default. There is always a remainder.

Build cost$12,000

Monthly run cost$200/mo

What it means

Hours spent on this, per year600 hrs

What that costs you annually$18,720

Hours returned per year420 hrs

Gross annual saving$13,104

Less annual run cost− $2,400

Net, year one (after build)-$1,296

Net, every year after$10,704

Payback

13.5 months

Under eighteen months. Worth doing.

How this is calculated

Annual hours = people × hours per week × 50 weeks. We use 50 rather than 52 to account for holidays and time off.

Fully loaded wage = hourly wage × 1.3. The 30% covers payroll taxes, benefits, and overhead. If your actual burden rate is higher, the case is stronger than this shows.

Payback = build cost ÷ (annual gross saving − annual run cost), expressed in months. Everything here is deliberately conservative, and none of it is a quote.

Want the real number?

Send us what you put in and we will tell you whether the build estimate is realistic for your situation. If your payback is over two years, we will say so rather than quote you.