What automating your admin actually saves per year
The annual value of an hour a day saved is not an hour. It is 250 hours. Here is the math and the real number.
Nikolas Gannon · · 1 min read · Automation
The single most useful number in automation is also the simplest: what is an hour a day worth?
The hour-a-day math
A working year is about 250 days. One hour a day is 250 hours a year. At a loaded cost of $60 an hour, that is $15,000 a year. At $100 an hour, it is $25,000.
One hour a day is the smallest meaningful win, and the math already justifies most builds.
The realistic range
In admin-heavy roles, repeated manual work often takes up a large part of each day. Even a fraction of that, automated, can beat the hour-a-day figure.
The bigger half
The hours are the visible saving. The recovered revenue is usually larger: faster follow-up converts leads that used to go cold, and reliable invoicing collects work that used to slip. Both are measurable, and both are on the same page of the audit.
How to keep it honest
Measure before, measure after. The before and after of one workflow is the report. No invented figures, no vague percentages.
The summary
An hour a day is $15,000 a year before you count recovered revenue. That is the simplest possible case for looking at your admin, and it is the case the free systems audit starts with.
Free resource: Workflow automation audit workbook
Free resource: Software bill review checklist
Read next: Automation ROI: how to calculate it · The payback period for a workflow build · What does a small business automation consultant do?
Questions
How much is an hour a day worth?
About 250 working hours a year, which at a loaded cost of $60 an hour is $15,000.
What is the real saving usually?
Often more than an hour a day for staff in admin-heavy roles. Time the repeated tasks for a week to find your own number.
What is the largest saving?
Recovered revenue, from faster follow-up and reliable invoicing, often exceeds the hours saved.