The figures in the example vary from client to client. They are shown openly so you can replace them with your own.
01 Why most calculations are wrong
They compare the price of the software with a feeling instead of with measured hours.
02 The three cost blocks
One-off build, ongoing operation, and your own internal effort — the third is usually forgotten.
03 Cost block 1: the build
The price of the first workflow is fixed before anything is built.
04 Cost block 2: operation
Ongoing support covers monitoring, adjustment and the cases the workflow does not know yet; it costs from CHF 800 · from 800 € per month, depending on scope.
05 Cost block 3: your own effort
Time in conversation, example documents, access and approval — a few days in total, spread over four weeks.
06 The saving: only measured hours count
How many hours a week does the process bind today? Without that baseline there is no calculation, only a hope.
07 What an hour of work costs
Not the gross wage but the fully loaded cost per hour — and your finance team knows it.
08 The worked example
See the box below: incoming invoices, calculated through, every figure open.
09 When the numbers do not add up
When the process happens rarely, the inputs look different every time, or nobody can name the hours it takes today.
10 The second benefit that is not in the calculation
Errors that no longer happen, and cases that no longer sit waiting — both are real but not cleanly quantifiable, so we do not count them in.
11 What we commit to and what we do not
What we promise has to be measurable. What we cannot measure, we do not promise.
Worked example · incoming invoices
Example process: recognise incoming invoices, match them to the project, put them forward for approval and file them.
The inputs
| Figure | Example | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Invoices per month | 360 | varies from client to client |
| Handling time per invoice today | 5 minutes | varies from client to client |
| Hours per month today | 30 hours | 360 × 5 minutes ÷ 60 |
| Fully loaded cost per hour | CHF 80 | varies from client to client |
| Share that runs automatically | 60 % | varies from client to client, established during the pilot |
| One-off build of the first workflow | CHF 2'410 | CHF 4'900 less CHF 2'490 for the analysis · SAITS price list, as of 09.2026 |
| Ongoing support per month | CHF 800 | the minimum, from CHF 800 · from 800 € · SAITS price list, as of 09.2026 |
The calculation
| Line | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of the process today, per month | 30 hours × CHF 80 | CHF 2'400 |
| Hours saved per month | 30 hours × 60 % | 18 hours |
| Saving per month | 18 hours × CHF 80 | CHF 1'440 |
| Running cost per month | Support | CHF 800 |
| Net per month | CHF 1'440 − CHF 800 | CHF 640 |
| Payback | CHF 2'410 ÷ CHF 640 | about four months |
The figures vary from client to client. Put your own in.
If payback is beyond twelve months it is the wrong first process — then we look for another one. That is our rule of thumb, not an industry benchmark.
The calculation stands or falls on one number: how many hours the process binds today.
See also: How to tell whether a process is worth automating · What the company analysis delivers