What is this problem costing you?

How to use the cost calculator

1. Name one problem. Something specific that keeps coming back, such as re-keying orders into a spreadsheet or hunting for the latest version of a file. Type it in the first box if you want it on the printed sheet.
2. Add up the hours a week. Count everyone's time, not just yours: the person who does the job, the person who checks it and anyone who gets pulled in when it goes wrong.
3. Put in the hourly cost. What an hour of that time costs the business, which is more than the pay. An estimate is fine.
4. Read the sums. The weekly and yearly cost are worked out in front of you, so you can check them, and each Vault shows how long it would take to pay for itself.
5. Copy or print the sheet. The result appears as a one-page sheet you can copy as text or print to take to whoever decides.

How the calculator works

It multiplies two things you give it: the hours a week a problem takes from your team, added up across everyone, and what an hour of that time costs the business. That gives the cost a week, and 52 weeks gives the cost a year. It then divides each price by the weekly cost, to show how many weeks of saved time would cover it.

Hourly cost means what an hour of someone's time costs the business, which is more than their hourly pay. A simple estimate is the yearly cost of employing them (pay plus employer costs such as tax and pension) divided by the hours they work in a year.

A worked example

The boxes start with 2 hours a week at $30 an hour. That's $60 a week, and $60 × 52 = $3,120 a year. A Mini Vault at $75 would cover itself in about 1 week of that saved time. These are example figures, not an average, so change them to yours.

Reading the result, and common mistakes

• Counting only your own time. A problem that takes you ten minutes can take three other people twenty each. Add them all.
• Using hourly pay as the hourly cost. Employer costs come on top of pay, so the real figure is higher.
• Guessing the hours. If you're unsure, keep a tally for a normal week before you trust the yearly figure.
• Reading payback as a promise. It assumes the fix wins back all of the time. That only happens if the systems are used.

What the number doesn't tell you

The payback assumes the systems win back all of that time, and that only happens if you use them. The figure also leaves out the costs that are harder to count, such as mistakes that reach a client or a job that waits on one person. A rough figure is still useful: it shows whether a problem is worth an afternoon of your attention.