ROI calculator. Was it worth it, or will it be. Put in what it costs and what it brings back, and the hours it gives you, and get a number to argue with.
Australian figures, checked 19 September 2026. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
What went in, what came back.
Return on investment is the plainest measure of a decision: what it returned, less what it cost, as a share of what it cost. The calculator works over a period you choose, so an up-front cost and a monthly cost sit against a monthly return, and it tells you the ROI, the net gain and the month the thing pays for itself.
The line most calculators leave out is time. A machine that saves a day a week, a system that answers the phone, a bookkeeper: their return is hours, and hours have a price. Put in the hours a month it gives back and what one is worth to you, and they're counted.
Getting the inputs right.
Up-front
The purchase, the setup, the training, the week of disruption. Paid once.
Ongoing
The subscription, the maintenance, the consumables. Every month, for the whole period.
Return
New revenue, or costs that stopped. Be conservative; if it's a range, use the bottom.
Hours
Only hours that turn into money: billable work, or a wage you don't pay. Price them with the charge-out rate calculator.
Period
How long it'll realistically be in use. Twelve months is honest for software; five years for a ute.
Payback
The month the up-front cost is covered. Under a year is a clear yes for most small businesses.
The number we quote against.
Every build we price comes with this sum done: what it costs, what it gives back, and the month it's paid for itself. If the answer's under a year we'll show you; if it isn't, we'll say so and suggest something smaller. That's the whole of the consulting, and the agency is what happens after you say yes.
Questions people ask.
How do I calculate ROI?
What it returned minus what it cost, divided by what it cost, times 100. Spend $9,800 over a year and get $21,600 back: that's $11,800 net over $9,800, an ROI of 120%.
What counts as the return?
Money that came in because of it, or money that stopped going out. New jobs from ads, sales from a machine, a wage you no longer pay. Hours you got back count too, if they turn into billable work or you'd otherwise be paying someone; value them at your charge-out rate or at what you'd pay for them.
What's a good ROI?
Anything above what the money would earn elsewhere, with a margin for the risk of being wrong. For a small business, something that pays for itself inside a year and keeps paying is a clear yes. Something that takes three years is a bet on being in the same business, in the same shape, in three years.
What's the payback period?
How long until the up-front cost is covered by the monthly net return. A $5,000 setup that nets $1,400 a month pays back in about three and a half months. After that, every month is gain.
What's the ROI of an AI receptionist?
For a tradie missing a third of calls, it's the jobs those calls were. If you do 25 jobs a month and answer two thirds of the phone, answering all of it is worth around 12 more jobs, or a share of them. Put the setup and monthly cost in, and the jobs you'd win, and the calculator gives the number. It's usually not close.
Should I count my own time?
Yes, and honestly. If a thing gives you five hours a week back, that's 20 hours a month. At a $100 charge-out rate, that's $2,000 of capacity, but only if you fill it with paid work or use it to stop paying someone else. If it turns into fishing, that's a return too; it just isn't in the calculator.
Photo to come: Cal.
Calum Buchanan.
Melbourne. Ran the systems behind a services business, the phones, the invoices, the marketing, the reporting, and spent the last few years handing them to AI that works. This is that, for yours.