# AI automation ROI calculator

Enter the hours a manual process eats today and what automating it costs. You get the annual saving, the break-even point in months and the three-year return.

- Human version: https://rubitec.co/tools/ai-automation-roi-calculator
- All tools: https://rubitec.co/tools
- llms.txt: https://rubitec.co/llms.txt

Free tool by Rubitec. No sign-up required and the calculation runs in the browser.

## What it asks for

| Input | Default value |
| --- | --- |
| People involved in the process | 2 |
| Hours a week each of them spends | 6 h |
| Cost per hour to the company | 25 € |
| Share of the process that can be automated | 70% |
| Implementation cost (one-off) | 4,000 € |
| Recurring monthly cost | 200 € |

## Example with default values

| Result | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Hours saved per year | 386 h |
| Net saving in year one | €3,260 |
| Break-even point | 6.6 months |
| Value of time freed per year | €9,660 |
| First-year ROI | 50.9% |
| Cumulative saving over 3 years | €17,780 |

## How it is calculated

Hours saved = people × hours per week × 46 effective weeks × automatable share. It uses 46 weeks rather than 52 because nobody works 52: holidays and public holidays take the other six.

The value of freed time uses the cost per hour to the company, not the wage. If you do not have it, the employee cost calculator derives it from the annual gross salary.

Break-even divides implementation cost by the net monthly saving, that is, after subtracting recurring costs. If recurring costs eat the whole saving there is no return, and the tool says so instead of showing an impossible number.

The saving is capacity, not cash: freeing 400 hours does not lower payroll, it frees 400 hours for something else. It becomes an accounting saving only if those hours avoid a hire or enable more billing.

## Frequently asked questions

### What ROI is reasonable to expect from automating a process?

For repetitive administrative processes, a payback of 4 to 10 months is typical when the process consumes more than 5 hours a week across several people. Below 2 or 3 hours a week it rarely justifies the implementation and maintenance cost.

### Why should the automatable share not be 100%?

Because exceptions always remain. A well-automated process handles 60% to 85% of cases on its own and routes the rest to a person. Setting 100% inflates the ROI and guarantees the project disappoints.

### Should I count my own time during implementation?

Yes, and it is the most commonly forgotten cost. Add the hours your team will spend explaining the process, reviewing outputs and fixing early errors. On a small project that is usually 15 to 40 hours spread over the first weeks.

## Related links

- [Work out your team's cost per hour](https://rubitec.co/tools/employee-cost-calculator-spain)
- [AI process automation](https://rubitec.co/automatizacion)
- [How to calculate automation ROI, step by step](https://rubitec.co/insights/como-calcular-roi-automatizacion-ia)