Manual data entry cost calculator
Use this manual data entry cost calculator to measure monthly and yearly labour, rework, tools and seats. Compare an automation scenario you set yourself.
Free and without sign-up. The arithmetic runs in your browser, so nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Use your own numbers. No wage, error rate or automation success rate is assumed. Amounts are in USD.
Enter a whole number, including zero. Use the monthly total across your team.
Required. Use your own measured or planned value.
Include pay, employer costs and overhead per productive hour.
Errors, rework, tools and seats
Optional. Blank excludes this cost; enter 0 to state zero.
Optional. Blank excludes this cost; enter 0 to state zero.
Optional. Blank excludes this cost; enter 0 to state zero.
Optional. Blank excludes this cost; enter 0 to state zero.
Optional. Blank excludes this cost; enter 0 to state zero.
Do not add software here if it is already included in your hourly overhead.
Formula: volume times handling and error rework minutes, divided by 60, times loaded hourly cost, plus tools and seats.
Enter valid volume, minutes and hourly cost. Large totals must remain within safe precision.
Set your automation scenario
Optional. Blank excludes this cost; enter 0 to state zero.
Costs and errors after automation
Optional. Blank keeps your current value; enter 0 to remove it.
Optional. Blank keeps your current value; enter 0 to remove it.
Optional. Blank keeps your current value; enter 0 to remove it.
Optional. Blank keeps your current value; enter 0 to remove it.
Optional. Blank keeps your current value; enter 0 to remove it.
Optional. Charged for every incoming item, including escalations. Exclude charges already counted in the model budget.
Optional. Blank excludes this cost; enter 0 to state zero.
Enter your costs and expected share automated to compare. Clear or invalid inputs do not use a hidden estimate.
Released time is capacity. Cash savings require an actual reduction in spending.
Automation comparison is incomplete.
Sensitivity to volume and time
AIGROW view setting, 12 October 2026: a 20% scenario range. Change it to your own range; it is not a forecast.
All inputs stay in this browser. Blank optional costs exclude those costs from the estimate.
Monthly cost is items times handling and error rework minutes, divided by 60, times hourly cost with overhead, plus tools and paid seats. Yearly cost is twelve months. Enter your own costs and expected share automated to compare manual work, review, errors, usage and setup. No wage or success rate is assumed.
How the number is worked out
Every figure the calculator assumes is on this page, so the result can be checked with a pencil.
- Your work
- Use total items per month and average handling minutes per item across the team. Add the share needing correction and minutes per correction. A completed item is counted once, with rework added separately.
- Your costs
- Enter hourly cost including pay, employer costs and overhead per productive hour. Add monthly tools and seats only if they are outside that hourly cost. Optional blank costs are excluded, not estimated from industry averages.
- Your automation scenario
- Set the expected share completing automatically. Remaining items keep manual handling and rework. Automated items add the review minutes and error rework you enter. Blank after-state tools, seats and error rates keep current values; enter zero to remove them.
- Savings and payback
- Compare monthly running cost, twelve months of running cost and the first year including setup. Setup divided by positive monthly savings gives payback in months. Released hours are capacity; cash savings need an actual reduction in spending.
- Sensitivity and limits
- Change volume and handling minutes independently while holding other inputs constant. The adjustable 20% starting range is an AIGROW view setting dated 12 October 2026, not a forecast. Missing, negative, fractional counts and totals outside safe precision stop the estimate.
Questions people ask about this number
Hand the repetitive hours to an agent
An agent handles incoming work in your own tools and records its steps. The audit measures your workflow before the build is sized.