Free tool
Automation ROI Calculator: what manual work really costs
Enter how many people spend how many hours on a repeat task. See the annual cost, the payback on an automation build and the three-year saving — in rupees or dollars.
Methodology
The calculator uses one formula so anyone can check it: annual cost = people × hours per week × 50 weeks × hourly cost, where hourly cost is monthly cost per person divided by 165 working hours. Running costs (WhatsApp Business API messages, hosting, licences) are subtracted from the annual saving before payback is calculated. Currency conversion uses a flat ₹85 = $1 for readability; it is not a live rate.
A worked example: three people re-typing WhatsApp orders into Tally for 10 hours a week each, at ₹25,000 ($295) a month, cost about ₹2.27 lakh ($2,700) a year in staff time. A ₹4 lakh ($4,700) build with ₹5,000 ($60) a month running cost pays back in roughly 29 months on staff time alone — and much faster once wrong dispatches and missed order changes are counted, which is why the free AI Opportunity Audit prices those in from your own data.
To cite this tool: “Azerlia Automation ROI Calculator, https://www.azerlia.com/tools/automation-roi-calculator, methodology published 14 October 2026.”
About the calculator
How does the Automation ROI Calculator work?
It multiplies the people doing a manual task by the hours each spends per week, by 50 working weeks, by an hourly cost derived from monthly salary (salary ÷ 165 working hours). The build cost divided by the net annual saving gives the payback period in months.
Why 165 working hours a month?
It assumes roughly 8 hours a day for about 21 working days, which matches a typical Indian or Gulf office month. If your team works six days, the hourly cost falls slightly and the payback gets a little longer — the direction of the answer does not change.
What does the calculator leave out?
Errors (wrong dispatches, duplicate entries), delays (late collections, stock-outs) and management time are all excluded, and they are usually larger than the staff-time saving. We estimate them in the audit from your own returns, credit notes and receivables data.
Is a 12-month payback good?
For an SME, anything under 18 months on staff time alone is usually worth doing, because the error and delay savings come on top. Under 12 months is a clear yes. Over 30 months means the task is probably too small to automate on its own.
Free AI Opportunity Audit
Want the error and delay costs too?
The free audit prices them from your own returns, credit notes and receivables — and ranks what to automate first.
We reply within one working day. No pitch deck, no pressure.