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You can’t improve what you haven’t measured. Every CFO knows it, yet most teams still approve software budgets by gut feel. Let’s flip the script. In the next 15 minutes you’ll:
List the key cost levers automation attacks.
Copy‑paste a handful of formulas into Google Sheets.
Run a live scenario to see savings materialise.
Walk away with a share‑ready ROI figure for your next board slide.
No embedded wizard, no loading spinners—just raw math that anyone can replicate.
1 | Why ROI Beats “Sounds Cool”
“Automation sounds nice, but first show me the cash flow.”
— Every sensible executive ever
Automation doesn’t just shave minutes; it compounds profit. When a bot saves one employee an hour per day, that’s 250 hours a year. Multiply by dozens of staff and the math escalates quickly. Yet teams often stop at “hours saved.” Don’t. Convert those hours into dollars and error‑related fines, and automation suddenly sells itself.
2 | Variables You’ll Need
Open a blank Sheet and label four input cells (Column B is tidy):
| Cell | Variable | Typical Source |
|---|---|---|
| B2 | Hourly Fully‑Loaded Wage (A$) | Payroll or finance HR data |
| B3 | Hours Spent on Task / Week | Quick time‑tracking audit |
| B4 | Weekly Error Cost (A$) | Chargebacks, rework, refunds |
| B5 | % Time/Errors Eliminated by Automation | Holistc™ discovery estimate |
Tip: Keep inputs in blue text so execs know where to tweak.
3 | Plug‑and‑Play Formulas
Move to Column C for calculations:
| Cell | Formula | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| C2 | =B2*B3*52 |
Annual Labour Cost of the task |
| C3 | =B4*52 |
Annual Error Cost |
| C4 | =C2+C3 |
Total Annual Cost (TAC) |
| C5 | =C4*B5 |
Savings / Year after automation |
| C6 | =(One‑Time Automation Fee) / C5 |
Payback Period (yrs) |
Replace “One‑Time Automation Fee” with the quote you receive (yes, Holistc™ will help you estimate it in discovery).
4 | Worked Example
Let’s assume:
Hourly wage: A$48
Hours/week: 7 hrs on manual invoicing
Weekly error cost: A$180 in late fees & reversals
Automation impact: 85 % reduction (bot drafts & sends invoices, double‑checks data)
Crunch the Sheet
| Step | Value |
|---|---|
| Annual Labour Cost | 48 × 7 × 52 = A$17 472 |
| Annual Error Cost | 180 × 52 = A$9 360 |
| TAC | A$26 832 |
| Savings/Year | 26 832 × 0.85 = A$22 807 |
| One‑Time Automation Fee* | A$25 000 |
| Payback | 25 000 ÷ 22 807 = 1.1 years |
*Typical Holistc™ invoice to automate this workflow in the client’s AWS stack.
Takeaway: After the first 13 months, this single invoicing bot spins pure profit—forever.
5 | What If Numbers Shift?
Scenario Tweaks
Lower Wage, Same Errors
Blue‑collar warehouse task at A$32/hr, same 7 hrs/week.
Payback slides to ~1.6 years—still attractive if the process repeats daily.
High Wage, Few Errors
Specialist engineer at A$90/hr but only 3 hrs/week of data‑entry.
Labour cost dominates; automation pays back in < 8 months.
Error‑Heavy Process
Small wage, but error fines of A$800/week (hello, penalty fees!).
ROI spikes; payback falls below 5 months.
Sensitivity Check
Duplicate your Sheet and adjust B5 (impact %) to see breakpoints. If ROI evaporates below 50 % impact, maybe the task isn’t ripe…yet.
6 | Common “Gotchas” to Watch
| Red Flag | Fix |
|---|---|
| Hidden Support Hours | Interview frontline staff—they often exclude “minor” time drains. |
| Under‑counted Error Costs | Include brand damage & SLA penalties, not just refund dollars. |
| Inflated Automation Fees | Quote apples‑to‑apples: Holistc™ builds in your cloud, no license markup. |
| Ignoring Maintenance | Serverless infra & CI/CD keep annual upkeep to < 10 % of build cost. |
7 | From Spreadsheet to Boardroom
Boards love:
One‑ball headline: “Bot pays for itself in 13 months.”
Clear risk Mitigation: “Fails over to manual if AWS queue stalls.”
Ownership statement: “We hold the repo; no vendor lock‑in.”
Package your Sheet, a two‑slide summary, and you’re meeting‑ready.
8 | Need a Head Start? Request the Template
Don’t want to recreate cells? Drop your email on our ROI Calculator Request Form and we’ll share a Google Sheet with:
Pre‑formatted inputs in blue.
Built‑in sensitivity toggles (±10 % sliders).
A chart that auto‑plots payback and 3‑year net savings.
(We’ll send the link manually—promise, no spam.)
9 | Ready to Validate Your Numbers?
A 20‑minute discovery call with Holistc™ gives you:
Real‑world impact % from 120+ automation sprints.
A refined automation fee quote (not a vague ballpark).
A sanity‑checked Sheet that CFOs won’t poke holes in.
Book My ROI Discovery Call → Schedule here
TL;DR
Input wage, hours, error cost, impact %.
Run formulas; get annual savings & payback.
If payback < 18 months, drop us a line—automation is practically writing cheques.
Holistc™ – Build once, scale forever. Because spreadsheets are great, but bots never sleep.
