Where do my numbers go?

Nowhere, unless you choose to send them. Every figure is computed locally in the browser. Inputs are only transmitted if the visitor fills in the optional form to have the breakdown emailed.

Is the capacity release a savings promise?

No. It is the annual workflow cost multiplied by the automation share the visitor chose on the slider, an assumption the visitor controls, not a claim Vertical Edge AI makes. Whether a given workflow reaches that share depends on its exception rate, systems, and compliance constraints, which a discovery engagement establishes.

What should I do with the result?

Run the Workflow Fit Finder to pressure-test whether the workflow is the right one to automate first, or bring the figure to a consultation for a preliminary read on feasibility, including the compliance constraints the calculator deliberately does not model.

Free tool · ~2 minutes · Private to your browser

What is the manual workflow actually costing you?

Most back-office workflows are never costed. This calculator puts an annual figure on one — the labor it consumes, the rework it generates, and the capacity a governed AI workflow could release — using the same inputs a discovery engagement would start from.

Every figure is computed from your inputs, in your browser, with the formulas published below. Nothing you enter leaves this page unless you choose to have the breakdown emailed to you. This is an indicative model — not a quote or a promised outcome.

Run the numbers↓ Not sure which workflow? Run the Fit Finder

This calculator needs JavaScript

The calculator computes every figure in your browser, which requires JavaScript. If you prefer, describe the workflow directly and we will respond with a preliminary read on its economics.

Request a consultation→

The workflow

Pick the workflow consuming the most staff time. You can rerun this for others.

People who touch it weekly

Hours per person, per week

Fully loaded hourly cost (USD)

Salary plus benefits and overhead, divided by ~2,080 working hours. $50–$75 is a common range for operations and compliance roles; use your own figure if you know it.

How often does the work come back?

Errors, exceptions, and re-touched items. Applied as a modeled multiplier on labor cost.

Share of the work you assume automates 50%

This is your assumption, not our claim — we default it at 50%. Published benchmarks for mature, document-centric workflows often run higher; the honest number for your workflow comes out of a scoped audit.

What your inputs imply

Annual cost of the manual workflow

Labor plus modeled rework, at your loaded rate

Staff hours consumed per year

Modeled annual capacity release

Three-year modeled figure

Straight-line; before any volume growth

An indicative model, not a quote. These figures reflect only the inputs you entered and the automation share you chose. They are not a promised outcome, a savings guarantee, or an engagement price. A discovery engagement validates the real economics — workflow by workflow, against your actual volumes — before anything is built.

Which workflow first? Run the Fit Finder→ Request a consultation

Have this breakdown sent to you

Optional. Send your figures to a senior practitioner and we will reply by email with a short read on whether the workflow is a realistic automation candidate — no obligation. Your inputs are only transmitted if you submit this form.

Method

How every figure is calculated

The model is deliberately simple and fully published — the same discipline we apply to audit evidence. If a number cannot be traced to an input you control, it is not in the model.

Annual labor cost

people × hours/week × 52 × loaded rate

Rework multiplier

Applied to labor cost: ×1.02 (rare) · ×1.04 (occasional) · ×1.08 (frequent) · ×1.13 (chronic). A modeled convention, stated so you can disagree with it.

Annual cost of the workflow

annual labor cost × rework multiplier

Modeled capacity release

annual cost × the automation share you set. Released capacity is time your team gets back for higher-value work — it is not automatically a budget-line saving.

What the model excludes

Implementation cost, software cost, volume growth, error-consequence cost (a missed filing can cost more than a year of labor), and opportunity cost. Exclusions are named so the figure stays honest.

How to read your result

An honest model, deliberately

What it is

A first-order estimate of what one manual workflow consumes per year, built from inputs you control and a published formula. It is designed to make the cost of doing nothing visible — the number most automation conversations skip — and to give you a defensible starting point for an internal business case.

What it is not

Not a quote, a savings guarantee, or an engagement price. It does not know your systems, your exception rates, or your compliance constraints — the things that decide what actually automates. Those come out of a scoped discovery engagement, where the economics are validated before anything is built.

FAQ

About this calculator

Nowhere, unless you choose to send them. Every figure is computed locally in your browser. Your inputs are only transmitted if you fill in the optional form to have the breakdown emailed to you.

No. It is your annual workflow cost multiplied by the automation share you chose on the slider — an assumption you control, not a claim we make. Whether a given workflow reaches that share depends on its exception rate, its systems, and its compliance constraints, which is precisely what a discovery engagement establishes.

Because we will not publish a generic price and pretend it applies to your workflow. Engagements are scoped against an exposure map, not a rate card. The model prices the problem — what the manual workflow costs you every year — and names its exclusions so the figure stays honest.

Two useful next steps: run the Workflow Fit Finder to pressure-test whether this workflow is the right one to automate first, or bring the figure to a consultation and we will give you a preliminary read on feasibility — including the compliance constraints the calculator deliberately does not model.

Next step

Put a real number under the modeled one

The calculator prices the problem from your inputs. A discovery engagement validates it — the actual volumes, the exception rate, the compliance constraints, and whether the workflow can carry audit-grade evidence in production.

Request a consultation→ Run the Workflow Fit Finder →