The Productivity Cost Calculator
Don’t just calculate what the work costs. Calculate what it prevents.
Most businesses only count wages. The real cost is wages plus the revenue, expertise and customer value those people could have created instead. Five sliders: hourly cost, billable rate, lost minutes per day, weeks per year, and headcount. Defaults match one consultant at £35 / £95, 96 minutes a day, 48 weeks.
Salary + employer NI + pension + overheads, if known
What they could charge — or the value of the work they are not doing. Set to £0 for non-billable roles.
Copying, checking, chasing, typing, updating, searching, scheduling. Assumes 5 working days — 8.0 hrs/week.
48 allows for holidays, bank holidays and training. Use 52 if you want a full calendar year.
One person is an admin problem. Five is a capacity problem.
(£35 + £95) × 8 hrs × 48 weeks = £49,920
Minutes per day ÷ 60 × 5 working days = hours per week, then × weeks × people.
GeekyBee observation
Most businesses underestimate the cost of repetitive work because they only look at wages. The real cost is wages plus the revenue, expertise and customer value those employees could have created instead. Before investing in AI or hiring more staff, quantify both. That is when the business case for automation becomes obvious.
A simple exercise — three people, three days
Choose three experienced employees. Ask each to record every task they perform over three working days. Highlight every activity that involves copying, checking, chasing, typing, updating, searching or scheduling.
Turn that into lost minutes per day. Add their hourly cost to you and their billable rate to a customer. Multiply by hours per day, then by 5 working days, then by the weeks they actually work.
Now ask: what could those people achieve if they got even half of that time back?