What manual retyping costs — the sum nobody does
Nobody decides to lose a working week every month. The decision is taken three minutes at a time — the length of one order, one invoice, one row in a report. That is why the cost of manual work is invisible: it never sits on a single line anywhere. Here is how to make it visible in ten minutes.
The one-sheet sum
The formula is simple and needs no consultant:
operations per month × minutes per operation ÷ 60 = hours per month
Three examples with numbers we see constantly:
| Process | Volume | Time | Hours/month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order → courier | 900 orders | 3 min | 45 h |
| Invoice → accounts | 200 invoices | 5 min | ~17 h |
| Weekly Excel report | 4 reports | 3 h | 12 h |
The hours are only half the sum, though. Multiply them by the person's full cost (salary + contributions ÷ working hours) — not their net pay. Then add the second line everyone skips: the cost of errors. One wrong address is a returned parcel and a reshipment; one mistyped figure on an invoice is a mismatch someone chases at quarter end.
Why the sum never gets done
Because the pain is distributed. Three minutes hurt nobody; they happen "in passing". They only start hurting when the person absorbing them quits, goes on holiday, or simply hits their ceiling — at which point it looks like a staffing crisis, not like a process that should have been automated a year ago.
When automation pays back — and when it doesn't
Our rule is public: under ~5 hours a month per process, it isn't worth it — leave it alone. Above 20 hours a month, the sum usually closes in 4–5 months. In between, it depends on what the errors cost.
You don't have to trust our numbers — put in your own. The calculator takes two minutes and returns the sum in leva and hours. If the result is under the threshold, we will tell you honestly: don't automate.