How to Calculate the Time Lost to Repetitive Tasks

By Sofiane Jelloul, founder of Scaly AI · Published November 10, 2026 · 3 min read

To calculate the time lost to repetitive tasks, multiply the number of people involved by the hours they spend on those tasks each week, then by 52 weeks and by the share you think could be automated. Multiply by the fully loaded hourly cost to get the figure in euros. That’s the formula behind our ROI calculator.

The formula

In hours you can get back each year:

people × hours per week × 52 × automated share

In euros:

people × hours per week × hourly cost × 52 × automated share

Leave out the automated share and you get the total annual cost of those tasks. Keep it in and you get what automation could save.

How to estimate the hours

The most reliable way is to track one week. Ask the people involved to note, each day, the time spent on tasks that repeat: data entry, retyping, sorting email, follow-ups, formatting documents.

A few tips:

• pick a normal week, with no time off or unusual rush;
• round to the nearest quarter hour, no finer;
• count the ten-minute tasks too, since they add up fast;
• average it per person.

A week of tracking beats a guess. People almost always underestimate the time these tasks take.

How to work out the fully loaded hourly cost

The fully loaded hourly cost isn’t take-home pay. It’s everything an hour of work costs the business.

Add up gross pay, employer taxes, and the costs tied to the role, then divide by the hours worked. Your accountant can give you the exact figure.

A worked example

Take the calculator’s default values:

• 5 people involved;
• 5 hours per week, per person, on repetitive tasks;
• a fully loaded hourly cost of €30;
• an estimated automated share of 30%.

The result:

• annual cost of these tasks: €39,000;
• estimated annual savings: €11,700;
• hours back: 390 per year.

That’s time and money currently going into tasks that don’t pay.

Turning it into days and full-time staff

A number in hours doesn’t say much on its own. The calculator puts it two ways, matching the two choices you have.

Breathe. At 7 hours a day, 390 hours is 56 working days back every year. Time to decide, instead of putting out fires.

Grow. At 1,607 hours a year for a full-time employee, the French legal baseline, 390 hours is the equivalent of 0.2 full-time person. Capacity to take on more clients, without hiring.

Why the audit gives you the real number

This is an estimate based on your numbers, not a promised result. It has two limits.

The first is the automated share. You eyeball it, but it varies a lot from one task to the next. The second is the hour count, which stays approximate.

The audit fixes both. In 1 to 2 days, fully remote, it measures your actual hours task by task and puts an exact figure on what can be automated. You get an interactive action plan and a fixed quote. The audit costs €1,400 (≈ $1,600), credited toward your project if you sign within 30 days.

Learn more

• Run the numbers with your own figures
• Explore the AI audit