Product
Hours-saved estimator
Put in your own workload and assumptions, and it shows the preparation time a machine takes on each month: first the hours taken on, then the hours you get back after the extra review, corrections and running time that come with it. Worked out from your figures; a pilot measures the real number.
Try it
Every figure is yours to change. The defaults are starting points.
Preparation hours taken on, per month
Hours back, per month, after review, corrections and running time
How this was worked out
Quarterly updates are spread across the months they fall due: 40 income sources × 1.5 hrs ÷ 3 is 20.0 hrs a month. Add 20 VAT returns × 2 hrs and 10 packs × 3 hrs, and preparation comes to 90.0 hrs a month. At an assumed 40% machine share, that is 36.0 hrs taken on. Checking 43.3 prepared items a month at 10 extra minutes each costs 7.2 hrs, correcting 20% of them at 30 minutes each costs 4.3 hrs, and running it costs 4 hrs, leaving 20.4 hrs back.
All results are monthly equivalents. Real workload is seasonal and peaks before each deadline, so a quarter's MTD work doesn't arrive evenly.
Worked out from your own figures. A pilot measures the real number.
Questions partners ask
Frequently asked questions
Is this a real measurement?
No. It's worked out from figures you supply, with every assumption shown as an assumption. A pilot measures the real number, on your own workload.
Why are quarterly updates divided by three?
MTD quarterly updates happen once a quarter, while VAT returns and packs here are counted per month. Dividing by three turns quarterly work into a monthly equivalent, so the figures can be added fairly. With the defaults that gives 36 hours taken on a month, or 432 a year.
What is the difference between the two figures?
The first is the preparation time the machine takes on. The second takes off the time it adds back: a reviewer checking each prepared item, correcting the ones that are wrong, and keeping the system running. It can be zero; the estimator says so when it is.
Does any of this data leave my browser?
No. Nothing is sent anywhere, stored, or seen by Cast & Rule. The whole calculation runs in your browser and resets when you leave the page.
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