Automation ROI calculator: what the repetitive work is costing you.

What counts as repetitive work

Anything that follows the same steps every time and could be explained with rules or examples: answering the questions customers always ask (by phone, WhatsApp, email), copying data between a form, a CRM and an invoice tool, building the weekly report, chasing quotes and invoices, sorting and naming files, screening applications. The calculator prices those hours with your own cost per hour; the employee cost calculator gives you that number if you do not have it.

What it looks like in practice

• A content agency handed hiring steps, file management and reporting to five AI tools, work that used to fill several hours a day; see the ContentJet case study.
• An AI receptionist answers calls around the clock for $200 to $500 a month, against $3,000 to $5,000 for a human agent: our phone assistant case study quotes 30 times lower cost.
• An online store runs WhatsApp support and six marketing workflows on n8n, so the founders stopped answering the same questions by hand; see HeroStoryBook.

How to read the result

• Payback under six months is the usual bar for a first automation project; most single agents clear it easily because the setup is paid once and the saving repeats.
• Keep the "share automated" honest: 50% to 70% is realistic for most tasks, because the exceptions still need a person.
• Add the revenue side yourself: hours are only half the story when the automation also answers leads faster or catches calls you used to miss.
• Start with the task that combines the biggest hours with the simplest rules. That is exactly what the free strategy call maps, with a fixed quote at the end; see AI consulting.