Adapted with AI from LOOMENSIA’s approved editorial material. All numbers below are fictional teaching examples, not customer results.
Your invoice extractor finishes in ten minutes. The team still spends hours reviewing its output. If your dashboard records only extraction, it cannot tell you whether the pilot reduced staff work.
1. Set the comparison boundary
Choose one period and record its invoice count. Time a representative manual sample, including awkward invoices and the same checks required in the pilot. Do not compare unreviewed automated output with fully reviewed manual work.
Use staff minutes throughout. Record unattended processing and elapsed waiting separately. They affect turnaround, but they are not additional staff effort unless someone is actively handling the work.
2. Log five kinds of effort
Copy this header into a spreadsheet or CSV file:
period,invoice_count,manual_baseline_minutes,setup_minutes,handling_minutes,review_minutes,correction_minutes,maintenance_minutes,net_staff_minutes,comparison_notes
The calculation is:
pilot_staff_minutes = setup + handling + review + correction + maintenance
net_staff_minutes = manual_baseline_minutes - pilot_staff_minutes
Assign each minute to one category only. For example, count fixing a bad extraction as correction time rather than also adding it to review time. Use a consistent rule across periods.
3. Keep the first-period cost visible
For a fictional batch of 100 invoices, suppose the fully reviewed manual baseline is 300 staff minutes.
| Pilot activity | Staff minutes |
|---|---|
| Setup | 120 |
| Extraction and handling | 10 |
| Review | 200 |
| Corrections | 30 |
| Maintenance | 20 |
| Total | 380 |
Net time is 300 − 380 = −80 minutes. The pilot took more effort in this period. Dropping setup because it happens once would hide a cost that actually occurred.
A later comparable period with no setup and identical other inputs would total 260 minutes. Its projected gain is 40 minutes. Record it as a projection until you have measured that later period. Different invoice formats, reviewer experience or maintenance needs can change the result.
4. Inspect the comparison before deciding
Before continuing or expanding, ask:
- Did the invoice volume or document mix change?
- Were the same checks completed in both processes?
- Did corrections move work to another person or another system?
- Did any setup or maintenance disappear from the log?
- What measured outcome would justify continuing this pilot?
Keep a negative result. It tells you where to investigate; it is not a reason to change the arithmetic.
5. Keep time and money in separate records
A measured gain in capacity is not automatically a reduction in cash spending. A financial ROI calculation requires actual costs and actual cash benefits with evidence. Do not label staff minutes as dollars saved without that evidence.
Start by copying the header and timing your manual sample. For the wider pilot boundaries, read LOOMENSIA’s invoice automation guide. The method above is usable on its own; no purchase or account is required.
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