How to calculate what repeat work costs your team, with a simple formula

Time is money, literally

You pay for every hour your team works. When an employee spends an hour typing the same reply, copying a lead into a CRM or building a report by hand, you pay full price for that hour. One person doing 10 hours a week of repeat work at AED 45 an hour costs AED 23,400 a year. The formula below turns your own team's hours into that kind of number.

The formula

Monthly cost of repeat work = people × hours per week × cost per hour × 52 ÷ 12

Monthly value given back = monthly cost × share you can automate

Payback in months = one time setup cost ÷ monthly value given back

Multiplying by 52 and dividing by 12 turns a weekly figure into an average month. You can run these numbers in the calculator on the Scaldora home page.

Step 1: count people and hours honestly

List the people who answer enquiries, chase leads or build reports. For each, list their repeat tasks and how long each takes in a normal week. The best method is to time a real week. If that is not possible, estimate with the person, not about them. People who do the work know where the hours go.

Step 2: work out the cost per hour

Use the fully loaded monthly cost of the role: salary plus allowances, plus the other costs of employing someone in the UAE, such as visa, insurance and end of service provision. Divide by the working hours in a month.

Example only: a loaded monthly cost of AED 9,000 divided by 176 working hours is about AED 51 per hour. Use your own figures.

Step 3: choose a realistic share to automate

Not every repeat task can be automated, and not fully. For a first estimate, only count the tasks you listed and use a conservative share. In the calculator the default is 40%. If you are unsure, try 20%, 40% and 60% and see whether the decision changes.

A worked example

Three people each spend 10 hours a week on repeat work, at AED 45 per hour, with 40% automated. Setup is the starting price of AED 999 per person.

Check how sensitive the answer is

If the decision only makes sense in the high case, the case is weak. If it still makes sense in the low case, it is strong.

Mistakes that inflate the result

• Treating saved hours as cash. Hours become money only if they go to selling, serving customers, avoiding overtime or avoiding a hire.
• Ignoring running costs. Add software subscriptions, AI usage fees and someone's time to look after it.
• Double counting. Two people should not both claim the same task.
• Guessing instead of timing. Estimates made by managers are usually too high or too low.

Value that is not in the formula

The formula only counts time, and time is the benefit that is easiest to prove. Fewer copying steps also mean fewer errors, and a team that is not drowning in admin is easier to keep. Note these benefits, but do not put a number on them unless you can measure it. To find the hours in the first place, run the one week time audit.