Total task cost math · provisional name
Cost Ledger
Add up every minute the AI path actually costs, not just the fast part.
Separates active human time from unattended delay, compares both with the manual baseline, and only calculates full economics when every money input is known. A ledger only balances when every column gets counted, including the ones nobody likes to write down.
Input bench
Name the real material
Optional name for the repeated task so a saved or exported ledger remains identifiable.
Optional note on sample size, timing method, and whether entries are measured or estimated.
Optional currency label for every money input, such as USD or GBP. Do not mix currencies.
Active human minutes to do this task manually, start to finish. Exclude unattended delays.
Non-overlapping human minutes spent producing, steering, or monitoring the first output. Enter 0 when generation is fully unattended.
Non-overlapping elapsed minutes while no human work is required. This affects turnaround, not human capacity.
Minutes spent framing the task or prompt.
Minutes spent reading and checking the AI output.
Minutes spent fixing errors in the output.
Minutes spent placing the result into the real workflow.
Minutes spent redoing work the AI path caused elsewhere.
Compared with doing it manually.
How many times per week does this task run?
Optional planning assumption, in your chosen currency. Time capacity is not automatically cash savings.
Optional API or processing cost in the chosen currency. Blank means unknown; enter 0 only when the cost is known to be zero.
Optional setup and training cost in the chosen currency. Blank means unknown; enter 0 only when the cost is known to be zero.
Optional recurring software, monitoring and maintenance cost in the chosen currency. Blank means unknown; enter 0 only when the cost is known to be zero.
PRIVACY: INPUTS STAY IN THIS BROWSER. SAVE USES LOCAL STORAGE ON THIS DEVICE. NOTHING IS SENT BY THIS INSTRUMENT.
Output desk
Your result appears here
Load the sample or bring real material.
THE TOOL TRANSFORMS WHAT YOU ENTER. IT DOES NOT CALL A MODEL OR INVENT MISSING FACTS.
Worked example
Starting material
A synthetic supplier brief takes 45 active minutes manually. The AI run needs 26 active human minutes plus 20 unattended minutes before first output; quality is unchanged.
Useful change
The ledger reports 19 active human minutes released per run and a 46-minute elapsed turnaround, one minute slower than manual. It stays time-only until hourly value, run, setup, and weekly costs are each supplied; blank costs remain unknown and explicit 0 means known zero.
Put the result to work
A method to follow. A prompt to take with you.
Prompts
Total Task Cost Calculator
Work out the full cost of an AI-assisted task, including review and rework time, instead of stopping at the price of the tool.
Skills & workflows
Task Cost Ledger
Calculate the full cost of an AI-assisted task, including review and rework time, instead of stopping at the subscription price.
Tutorials
How to Know Whether Your AI Workflow Actually Works
Build a small honest evaluation that compares artifacts, exposes failures, and limits adoption to what the evidence demonstrates.
StrAItegy writing ↗
The Rules Nobody Wrote Down
The unwritten operating rules of working with AI agents, written down.