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Honor Tech

Free automation ROI calculator

Put a number on
the repetitive work.

Would automating a workflow justify the cost? Estimate the usable time recovered, include the cost to build and run it, and see how the decision holds up when assumptions change.

One workflow. Three scenarios. An estimate you can share with the people making the decision.

Build your estimate

Planning worksheet / USD · Model v1

No signup required
01 / The work today

Measure one workflow. Use a typical month, including exceptions.

Total across the team. Do not multiply by employee count again. Unit: runs.

Include entry, follow-up, and average rework per run. Unit: min / run.

Keep human approvals, exceptions, and checks in this number. Unit: min / run.

Wages plus employer taxes and benefits; not your billing rate. Unit: USD / hour.

Allow for adoption, fragmented time, and work you can actually reassign. Unit: %.

For example, a retired subscription. Exclude labor already valued above. Unit: USD / month.

02 / The full cost

Count the project and the people and tools needed to keep it running.

Build, integration, migration, testing, and external training costs. Unit: USD.

Valued at the hourly cost above. Exclude hours already in implementation cost. Unit: hours.

New licenses, connector fees, API calls, or AI usage. Unit: USD / month.

Incremental hosting, storage, backups, and monitoring. Unit: USD / month.

Support, updates, and ongoing internal administration in dollars. Unit: USD / month.

03 / Time and uncertainty

Give the project time to launch, then test how sensitive the decision is.

Whole months for delivery and adoption. No benefits during this period. Unit: months.

Includes the delivery and adoption period. Unit: months.

Vary benefits and costs in opposite directions to test the decision. Unit: ± %.

All starting values are hypothetical, not Honor Tech pricing or customer results. Calculations run in your browser. Shared links contain your numbers; use only assumptions you are comfortable sharing.

Illustrative example

Does the work
earn its keep?

Expected net value over 24 months

$10,640

Benefits including usable staff capacity, less all modeled costs.

Return on investment
52.8%
Payback from project start
14.3 months
Usable staff time / month
35 hours
Net value / live month
$1,100

Where the expected value comes from

Staff capacity value / live month
$1,400
Other cash costs avoided / live month
$0
Operating cost / month
$300
One-time cost, including internal time
$12,960
Total benefit · 22 live months
$30,800
Total cost · 24 months + setup
$20,160

Freed time is capacity, not automatically payroll savings. The estimate mixes capacity value and avoided cash costs; it is not a cash-flow forecast.

Test the decision

One estimate. Three possible outcomes.

Variation of ±25% changes benefit and cost assumptions. These are sensitivity scenarios, not probabilities or a statistical confidence interval.

Scenario comparison over 24 months from project start
ScenarioTotal benefitsTotal costsNet valueROI
Conservative$23,100$25,200-$2,100-8.3%
Expected$30,800$20,160$10,64052.8%
Optimistic$38,500$15,120$23,380154.6%

Conservative: lower benefits, higher setup and operating costs. Optimistic: higher benefits, lower costs. Staff time recovered never exceeds time removed from the workflow. Launch timing stays fixed; change it separately to test a delay.

Open assumptions

Know what is
in the number.

Use the same baseline and avoid counting one improvement twice. Replace the sample inputs with measured workflow data and written cost estimates.

How the expected case is calculated

  1. Hours removed per month = workflow runs × (minutes before − minutes after) ÷ 60.
  2. Monthly capacity value = hours removed × loaded hourly cost × usable-time percentage. If the process adds work, all added hours count at the full labor cost.
  3. Monthly benefit = capacity value + other avoided cash costs. Monthly operating cost = software + hosting + maintenance and oversight.
  4. One-time cost = implementation + internal setup hours × loaded hourly cost. Benefits run for the planning period minus the launch delay, with a minimum of zero months.
  5. Net value = total benefits − one-time cost − operating costs across the full planning period. ROI = net value ÷ total costs × 100.
  6. Payback from project start = launch delay + (one-time cost + operating costs during the delay) ÷ monthly net value after launch. If ongoing benefit does not exceed ongoing cost, the model shows no payback.

What the scenarios change

At ±25%, the conservative case reduces benefits by 25% and increases setup and operating costs by 25%. The optimistic case increases benefits by 25% and reduces costs by 25%. Recovered labor is capped at the time removed from the workflow. If the new workflow adds labor, the conservative case increases that burden and the optimistic case reduces it. Timing and volume stay fixed.

What to check before approving a project

The model assumes steady monthly volume, constant costs, and full modeled benefit after the launch delay. It conservatively charges operating costs from project start. It excludes tax, financing, inflation, discounting, revenue growth, and unpriced risk reduction. Use the variation to test uncertainty, then change timing separately. Validate adoption and actual costs with a pilot.

Freed time only becomes cash savings when a real expense disappears. Do not also enter that same labor in avoided cash costs. Enter ongoing internal oversight as a monthly dollar cost, and keep internal setup hours separate from implementation charges.

Make the assumptions stronger

Start with a workflow you can measure.

Map the process, time a representative sample, and include the exceptions. A small pilot can tell you whether the expected gain survives real use.

Explore a workflow assessment