Resources
Order admin ROI calculator
Last updated: 16 October 2026
Use this calculator to work out how many hours your team spends on order admin each week, and what that time costs. Put in your own numbers for orders, invoicing, stock updates and supplier POs. It shows the hours you could get back, what they're worth over a year and how many working days a month that frees up.
Your number is more useful than ours. We'd rather you work it out than take our word for it, so every assumption below is visible and you can change any of them.
What your order admin costs, and what you could get back
18.4
Hours a week on order admin now
13.1
Hours saved a week
630
Hours saved a year
£12,600
Value of time saved a year
7.0
Working days freed up a month
At 50 orders a week, your team spends about 18.4 hours a week on order admin. Pesto could take about 13.1 of those hours off your plate: 630 hours a year, worth £12,600 at £20 an hour. That's about 7 working days a month.
Where the time goes
Hours a week, now and after Pesto.
Order processing10.0 h now, 2.5 h after
Invoicing4.2 h now, 1.0 h after
Stock updates2.0 h now, 1.0 h after
Supplier POs1.5 h now, 0.6 h after
Error rework0.8 h now, 0.2 h after
Bring this number to a demo and we'll show you which of these hours Pesto takes off your plate.
These figures are estimates based on your inputs and the assumptions shown. They're not a quote or a guarantee; your results will depend on your customers, order formats and setup.
Hours saved a year630
What do you need to enter?
B2B orders per week
Minutes to process one order
Minutes to raise and send one invoice
Minutes per week on stock updates and reconciliation
Minutes per week building supplier POs
Hourly cost of the person doing it
Orders with an error that needs rework (%)
Minutes to fix one error
Where do the savings assumptions come from?
| Area | Default saving | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Order processing | 75% | The Curators cut time on manual order processing and invoicing by 75% with Pesto. Seed Revolution reports 25% or more, so try 25% if you want a cautious figure. |
| Invoicing | 75% | The same Curators figure. Pesto raises Xero invoices from what you dispatched, so most of the keying goes. |
| Stock updates | 50% | Lower, because counts and adjustments still need people. |
| Supplier POs | 60% | Bold Bean Co cut supplier order optimisation from a week a month to a day. We've set the default well below that. |
| Errors | 80% | Seed Revolution says its order issues and errors "dropped to negligible quantities". We've assumed 80% fewer, not zero. |
If any of these feel high for your business, turn them down. The calculator's only useful if you believe the answer.
What does the result look like?
Hours a week on order admin now
Hours saved a week
Hours saved a year
Value of time saved a year (£)
Working days freed up a month
Here's the result with the default numbers:
At 50 orders a week, your team spends about 18.4 hours a week on order admin. Pesto could take about 13.1 of those hours off your plate: 630 hours a year, worth £12,600 at £20 an hour. That's about 7 working days a month.
Bring this number to a demo and we'll show you which of these hours Pesto takes off your plate.
These figures are estimates based on your inputs and the assumptions shown. They're not a quote or a guarantee; your results will depend on your customers, order formats and setup.
Frequently asked questions
Does this include the cost of Pesto?
No. It measures the time your team spends today and how much of it you could get back. We'll talk through what Pesto would involve for your setup on a demo, once we know how you work.
Are 75% time savings realistic?
For order processing, our customers report savings from 25% (Seed Revolution) to 75% (The Curators). Where you land depends on how many formats you handle and how much of the work is retyping. Turn the assumption down if you want a cautious figure.
What's a fully loaded hourly cost?
Salary plus employer's National Insurance, pension and any benefits, divided by the hours someone actually works. If a founder does the admin, use what you'd pay someone else to do it.
Why does the calculator assume one invoice per order?
Most B2B food orders turn into one invoice each. If you invoice some customers weekly or monthly, lower the minutes per invoice to match.
What if the work happens in unpaid evenings?
Count it anyway. Evening hours still cost the business, in tired mistakes and in time that someone could spend on selling.
Can I share my results?
Yes. Your inputs save in the page link, so you can copy the URL and send it to a co-founder or bring it to a demo.
Got your number?
Bring this number to a demo and we'll show you which of these hours Pesto takes off your plate.
Book a demo