The basic calculation
Start with time per task × frequency × fully loaded hourly cost. Eighteen minutes, forty times monthly at €24 or $28 per hour is roughly €288 or $336 per month in execution alone.
Do not present all of that as savings. The tool still takes time to use, maintain and review.
Four costs often missed
Rework
Correcting data, recreating a document or requesting information again.
Waiting
Time in which an order, customer or colleague cannot move forward.
Context switching
Opening systems, searching email and reconstructing history.
Dependency
Work only one person knows how to complete.
A cautious example
Three people spend six hours a week copying requests, checking files and updating status. At €24 per hour that is €7,488 annually; at $28 it is $8,736.
If a tool removes half, apply a further safety margin and compare the result with development, subscriptions, training and maintenance.
Valuing mistakes and delays
Use actual cases from the last quarter: corrections, hours, discounts, extra shipments and affected customers.
One documented case is more useful than ten optimistic assumptions.
Opportunity cost
A tool may not reduce headcount. It can free capacity to answer sooner, prepare more quotes or serve customers better.
That value exists only when the business knows how recovered time will be used.
When it may pay for itself
Compare conservative annual benefit with first-year total cost and ongoing cost. A focused improvement with a credible one- or two-year return can make sense.
Traceability, compliance or serious risk reduction may also justify it without large time savings.
The best estimate is not the one that makes the project look profitable. It is the one that supports a calm decision using conservative assumptions.