Calculator · Other decisions
The answer
Multiply the hours the task takes each month by what an hour of the person doing it costs: that is the monthly budget automation can save. Below a few hours a month, carrying on by hand is often the most sensible. For a common task (invoices, reminders, forms into a spreadsheet), an off-the-shelf tool pays for itself quickly. A custom build is only justified with many hours, rules specific to your business and a stable process.
Updated · Market Switzerland
This analysis is available in French and English.
A repetitive task — entering, copying, chasing, formatting — takes you hours every month, and you do not know whether automating it will return more than it costs.
The comparison
Ratings from 0 to 4, from the point of view of someone in your situation — higher is better. The reasoning behind each rating is in the analysis.
| Criterion | By hand | Tool | CustomBynilson service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up-front costWhat you pay or invest before the automation works. | |||
| Monthly costSubscription, upkeep, hosting. | |||
| Time recoveredThe share of the task that no longer needs human work. | |||
| ReliabilityFewer errors and omissions. | |||
| Fit with your processHow much of your real cases the solution covers. | |||
| IndependenceWhat changing provider or your mind costs. |
Keep the task as it is, perhaps better organised (template, checklist).
For
Against
Software or a no-code automation tool that covers the task, configured by you or your team.
For
Against
A build that follows your rules, connects your tools and handles your special cases.
For
Against
The analysis
The calculation starts with a multiplication: hours per month × the cost of an hour of the person doing the task (their loaded salary, or the value of your time). Ten hours at CHF 60 is CHF 600 a month, CHF 7,200 a year. No automation can save more than that; it saves a share of it, minus what it costs.
The calculator’s defaults (10 hours a month, CHF 60 an hour, a CHF 40-a-month tool automating 70% of the task, a CHF 15,000 build automating 90%) are editorial assumptions for illustration. Replace them with your figures and quotes.
If many businesses have the same task — sending invoices, chasing unpaid bills, copying forms into a spreadsheet — an off-the-shelf tool almost always exists, and it pays for itself in a few months. Custom only adds something when your rules are specific to your business, or when the task connects systems nothing else connects.
A process that still changes every month is a poor candidate for custom: every change is a new build. Stabilise the process first, by hand or with a simple tool.
The calculator adds up, month by month, what each option costs — remaining work included — and shows the month from which the automation costs less than doing it by hand. With the default assumptions, the tool pays back in two months and the custom build in just under four years: it is the order of magnitude that matters, not the exact number.
Your recommendation
Five questions are enough; one more refines it. Every rule applied is shown under the result.
Recommendation
Answer 4 more key questions: without them, a recommendation would be a guess.
Missing
Decision rules v1.0.0
The costs
Every value is an editorial assumption: replace them with your hours, costs and quotes.
Cheapest over 36 months Tool
By hand
Tool
Custom
What this calculation shows
What it does not prove
A weekly report
Under five hours a month, a common and stable task, little at stake, a small budget.
Keep doing it by hand. Automation would cost more than it returns; a good template is enough.
Why →Invoices and reminders
Five to twenty hours a month, a common task, costly errors, a small budget.
An off-the-shelf tool. It pays back quickly and reduces errors.
Why →An SME’s operations
Over 80 hours a month, business-specific rules, costly errors, a substantial budget, a team.
Custom automation is justified. First check that no off-the-shelf tool covers your rules.
Why →A moving process
20 to 80 hours a month, a common task that changes often, a small budget.
An off-the-shelf tool, easier to adapt than a build at every change.
Why →What we do not know
The most uncertain part: the share of the task a solution really automates, and how long your process will stay stable. Vary both.
There is no universal threshold. Compare what the task costs each month (hours × hourly cost) with set-up and subscription; the calculator gives the month the automation pays for itself.
An off-the-shelf tool for a common task or a changing process; custom only with many hours, business-specific rules and a stable process.
Rarely with custom: every change becomes a build. Stabilise the process first.
No external fact on this page: every amount is an assumption you replace with your own figures.
No vendor mentioned pays to appear here, and no link on this page is an affiliate link. What Bynilson sells is labelled as such and plays no part in the recommendation rules.
Research and writing assisted by AI tools; every fact was read on its source on the date shown, and the decision rules are written and tested by hand.
Useful steps whatever you decide.