How to Calculate Automation ROI

You don’t need a perfect spreadsheet to decide if automation is “worth it”. A simple estimate based on time saved and ongoing costs is enough.

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The 4 numbers you need

1. Runs per month
2. Minutes saved per run
3. Loaded hourly cost (€ / hour)
4. Tool + maintenance costs (€ / month)

Step 1 — Monthly savings

Monthly labor savings (€) = runs/month × minutes saved/run ÷ 60 × loaded hourly cost

Step 2 — Monthly recurring costs

Include:

• subscription (Zapier/Make/n8n cloud)
• hosting (if self-hosted)
• monitoring & small fixes (often 0.5–2 hours/month)

Step 3 — One-time build cost

One-time cost (€) = build hours × hourly rate

Step 4 — Payback period (sanity check)

Payback (months) = one-time cost ÷ (monthly savings − monthly recurring costs)

Mini example

• 400 runs/month, 3 minutes saved/run
• €35 loaded cost/hour
• €65/month recurring
• €840 one-time

Monthly savings = 400×3/60×35 = €700
Monthly net = 700 − 65 = €635
Payback ≈ 1.3 months

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