How much does manual data entry cost?
Measure one repeated task, such as moving invoice fields from a PDF into an accounting system. Count active work time rather than the whole time a document waits in a queue.
A simple cost model
Monthly hours = people × hours per person per week × 52 ÷ 12. Monthly labour cost = monthly hours × loaded hourly cost. Loaded cost can include employer costs as well as wages; use a consistent internal estimate.
Illustrative example: 3 people × 6 hours per week = 78 hours per month. At €28 per hour, that is €2,184 in monthly labour value. A 50% time-recovery scenario represents 39 hours per month and €13,104 per year in capacity value. These are calculated examples, not customer results.
Time value is not cash savings
If staff remain employed, recovered time may support other work without reducing payroll. Subtract development, hosting, software, maintenance and review effort before considering net value. A scenario percentage is an assumption to test.
Choose a small first workflow
Identify the source fields, destination, validation rules and exception cases. Direct structured data transfer may be enough without AI. Start with read-only or draft output, then compare it with staff-reviewed records.
Use the free work cost calculator