name	roi-calculator
description	Calculate the ROI of AI automation for your business
version	1.0.0
author	KOINO Capital
license	MIT
tags	["roi","automation","calculator","ai","business-case","savings"]

AI Automation ROI Calculator

Get a concrete dollars-and-cents estimate of what AI automation would save your business. No fluff, no inflated projections -- just math you can take to your team, your partner, or your bank account.

Usage

Provide the following:

Required Inputs

Field	Example	Notes
Industry	"Digital marketing agency"	Helps benchmark against similar businesses
Team Size	8	Total people (including you)
Manual Hours per Week	35	Total hours your team spends on repetitive tasks
Average Hourly Cost	$45	Loaded cost (salary + benefits + overhead / hours)

Optional Inputs (improve accuracy)

Field	Example	Notes
Annual Revenue	$1.2M	Used for revenue-impact calculations
Top 3 Time Sinks	"Reporting, client emails, invoice creation"	Get specific automation estimates
Current Tool Spend	$2,400/month	Factor in tools that automation might replace
Growth Target	"Double revenue without adding headcount"	Changes the framing of ROI
Error/Rework Rate	"~10% of deliverables need rework"	Hidden cost most businesses ignore

Calculation Engine

Step 1: Baseline Cost Analysis

CURRENT STATE:
  Manual hours/week:              [X] hours
  Team members involved:          [X] people
  Avg hourly cost (loaded):       $[X]/hour
  Weekly cost of manual work:     $[hours x cost]
  Annual cost of manual work:     $[weekly x 50 weeks]

Loaded hourly cost guide (if they don't know):

For employees: (Annual salary x 1.3) / 2,080 hours
- The 1.3 multiplier accounts for benefits, taxes, office costs
For the business owner: Use your target hourly rate, or revenue / hours worked
For contractors: Their rate is already loaded

Step 2: Automation Savings Estimate

Not all manual hours can be automated. Apply realistic automation rates by task type:

Task Category	Automation Rate	Examples
Data entry & transfer	85-95%	CRM updates, spreadsheet population, cross-system data sync
Report generation	75-90%	Weekly reports, dashboards, client updates
Email & communication	50-70%	Follow-ups, templates, meeting scheduling, auto-responses
Content creation	40-60%	Social posts, email drafts, basic copywriting
Client onboarding	60-80%	Welcome sequences, form processing, account setup
Invoicing & billing	80-95%	Invoice creation, payment reminders, expense tracking
Scheduling & coordination	70-85%	Calendar management, resource allocation, task assignment
Quality assurance	30-50%	Review checklists, error detection, compliance checks
Research & analysis	40-60%	Market research, competitor monitoring, data analysis
Customer support	40-65%	FAQ responses, ticket routing, status updates

Conservative estimate: Use the LOW end of each range Realistic estimate: Use the MIDPOINT Aggressive estimate: Use the HIGH end (only if you have strong technical execution)

AUTOMATION POTENTIAL:
  Total manual hours/week:          [X]
  Automatable hours (conservative): [X] ([Y]%)
  Automatable hours (realistic):    [X] ([Y]%)
  Automatable hours (aggressive):   [X] ([Y]%)

Step 3: Financial Impact

ANNUAL SAVINGS (using realistic estimate):

  Direct labor savings:
    [Automatable hours] x $[hourly cost] x 50 weeks = $[X]/year

  Error reduction savings:
    [Rework rate] x [total project hours] x $[hourly cost] x 50% reduction = $[X]/year

  Tool consolidation savings:
    [Tools replaced] x $[monthly cost] x 12 = $[X]/year

  Speed-to-revenue improvement:
    [Faster delivery/response] → estimated [X]% improvement in close rate
    [Current revenue] x [improvement %] = $[X]/year potential

  ─────────────────────────────────
  TOTAL ESTIMATED ANNUAL SAVINGS:    $[X]
  TOTAL ESTIMATED ANNUAL SAVINGS:    $[X] (conservative)
  TOTAL ESTIMATED ANNUAL SAVINGS:    $[X] (aggressive)

Step 4: Implementation Cost Estimate

IMPLEMENTATION COSTS:

  Automation tools/platforms:       $[X]/month → $[X]/year
  Setup & configuration:            $[X] (one-time)
  Training & transition:            $[X] (one-time, usually 2-4 weeks of reduced productivity)
  Ongoing maintenance:              $[X]/month → $[X]/year

  ─────────────────────────────────
  YEAR 1 TOTAL COST:                $[X]
  YEAR 2+ ANNUAL COST:              $[X]

Tool cost benchmarks by business size:

Team Size	Typical Monthly Tool Cost	What It Covers
1-3	$50-$200/mo	Zapier/Make, email tool, basic CRM
4-10	$200-$800/mo	CRM, automation platform, AI tools, integrations
11-25	$800-$2,500/mo	Enterprise CRM, custom automations, AI agents, dashboards
25-100	$2,500-$10,000/mo	Full stack, custom development, dedicated support

Step 5: ROI Summary

ROI SUMMARY:
  ═══════════════════════════════════════════════
  Annual savings (realistic):       $[X]
  Year 1 implementation cost:       $[X]
  ─────────────────────────────────
  NET YEAR 1 SAVINGS:               $[X]
  YEAR 2+ ANNUAL NET SAVINGS:       $[X]

  PAYBACK PERIOD:                   [X] months
  3-YEAR ROI:                       [X]%
  HOURS RETURNED TO YOUR TEAM:      [X] hours/year
  ═══════════════════════════════════════════════

Payback period formula: Total implementation cost / (Monthly savings - Monthly tool cost) = Months to payback

3-Year ROI formula: ((3-year savings - 3-year costs) / 3-year costs) x 100 = ROI %

Step 6: Recommended Automations

Based on the industry and time sinks provided, recommend the top 5 specific automations to implement:

For each:

#[Rank]: [Automation Name]
Hours Saved: [X]/week
Annual Value: $[X]
Difficulty: [EASY / MEDIUM / HARD]
Tools Needed: [Tool 1, Tool 2]
Free Option: [Free alternative if budget is tight]

What It Does:
[2-3 sentences explaining exactly what gets automated and how]

Implementation:
[1-2 sentences on how to set this up]

Step 7: The Opportunity Cost Frame

Most businesses only think about savings. The bigger number is what you could DO with the reclaimed time:

OPPORTUNITY COST ANALYSIS:

  Hours freed per week:             [X]
  That's equivalent to:             [X] full-time employees
  
  What you could do with that time:
  - Close [X] more deals/month (at current close rate)
  - Create [X] more content pieces/week
  - Onboard [X] more clients/month
  - Reduce delivery time by [X]%
  
  If you redirected 50% of freed hours to revenue generation:
  [Hours] x $[revenue per hour] x 50 weeks = $[X] additional revenue potential

Industry Benchmarks

For reference, here are typical automation results by industry:

Industry	Avg Hours Saved/Week	Avg Annual Savings	Typical Payback
Marketing Agency	25-40 hrs	$65K-$150K	2-4 months
Real Estate	15-25 hrs	$40K-$80K	1-3 months
E-commerce	20-35 hrs	$50K-$120K	2-4 months
Professional Services	15-30 hrs	$60K-$140K	2-5 months
SaaS Company	20-40 hrs	$80K-$200K	3-6 months
Construction/Trades	10-20 hrs	$30K-$70K	1-3 months
Healthcare Practice	15-25 hrs	$50K-$100K	2-4 months
Financial Services	20-35 hrs	$80K-$180K	3-6 months

These are based on teams of 5-20 people. Adjust proportionally for your team size.

What This Calculator Does NOT Account For

Be honest about what the numbers miss:

Transition costs: There's a productivity dip during implementation (usually 2-4 weeks)
Learning curve: Your team needs time to adopt new tools
Edge cases: Automations handle 80% of cases well; the other 20% still needs humans
Maintenance: Automations break when APIs change, tools update, or processes evolve
Compound effects: The calculator is LINEAR, but real automation benefits COMPOUND -- year 2 savings are usually 30-50% higher than year 1

Next Steps

Your ROI estimate is done. Here's what to do with it:

If payback period is under 6 months -- this is a no-brainer. Start with automation #1 this week.
If payback period is 6-12 months -- start with the quick wins (EASY difficulty items) to build momentum.
If payback period is 12+ months -- you may need to focus on higher-impact areas or reduce implementation costs.

Want the full audit with implementation? We've done this for dozens of businesses. We'll audit your workflows, build the automations, and guarantee measurable results.

Book your full audit at koino.capital/audit

Powered by KOINO Capital -- we don't just calculate ROI, we deliver it.