Follow the savings through to cash.
In this hypothetical example, ten people each spend ten hours a week on eligible work. At 48 working weeks and a fully loaded hourly cost of $60, a faster workflow could release meaningful capacity.
Assume a 50% time reduction, 80% adoption, and review work consuming 10% of the time released. The result is 1,728 hours a year, valued at $103,680. But only 30% is assumed to avoid a cash expense.
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Annual net capacity recovered | 1,728 hours |
| Labor-cost value of that capacity | $103,680 |
| Annual cash savings before costs | $31,104 |
| Annual software and running costs | ($12,000) |
| One-time implementation | ($15,000) |
| Months to full benefit | 3 |
| First-year net cash benefit | $1,512 |
The three-month ramp reaches one-third of full benefits in month one, two-thirds in month two, and full benefits from month three. Running costs start immediately.
The pilot should answer a commercial question.
This business case needs about 28.4% of the released capacity to become avoided spending to cover its first-year costs. The assumed 30% leaves little room for slower adoption or extra review work.
The next step is to test the workflow and the route to cash savings together. Could it reduce outside spending, overtime, or the need for an additional hire? Who would use the released time, and how?
Capacity can be worth having even without a cost reduction.
More time for customers, faster turnaround, or better review can justify a project. Those are different business cases. Knowing which one you are funding makes the investment easier to evaluate.