The cost of manual quoting, calculated per quote line

You need three inputs: quote lines per month, minutes per line and your loaded hourly cost.

Run it with 4 minutes and with 7 to get a range, then replace both with your own measurement. The quote cost calculator does the arithmetic and prints the formula with your numbers. It shows euros, but the formula works the same in pounds or dollars.

• Counting only quotes, or only orders. If your team keys a quote and later keys its order again, count both line volumes, each with its own minutes per line.
• Counting only the quotes that went out. A request a rep works through and then declines, or that the customer withdraws, still took paid time.

Salary alone understates the cost. A loaded hourly cost adds what the employer pays on top and divides by the hours actually worked.

• Gross pay for the people who quote and enter orders, including overtime and bonuses.
• Employer costs on top of pay: social security contributions (employer’s National Insurance in the UK), pension contributions and benefits.
• Paid time not worked: holiday, bank holidays, sick leave and training reduce productive hours, not the bill.
• A share of overhead, if you want the full cost: supervision, office space and system licences such as the ERP seat.
• Divide by productive hours. Example input: €68,000 total yearly cost ÷ 1,500 productive hours = about €45 an hour, which is the calculator’s default. Your finance team can give you the real figure.

Our case study gives you the starting range. A short time study shows where your team sits.

1. 01

   Pick a sample

   Take 20 to 30 recent requests of different sizes, including the awkward ones: scanned PDFs, customer article codes, requests in another language and at least one large project enquiry.

2. 02

   Time the hands-on work

   From opening the request to the quote saved in the ERP. Pause the clock while waiting for a supplier or a colleague and note the wait in its own column.

3. 03

   Count the lines

   Count the lines on the finished quote, leaving out freight and fee lines that add no work.

4. 04

   Divide, then split by size

   Total hands-on minutes ÷ total lines is your minutes per line. Work it out for small, medium and large quotes too.

5. 05

   Note where the time goes

   In the log below, note whether reading, finding the product, pricing, keying or checking took most of the time. That shows exactly which work to hand to an agent.

6. 06

   Repeat for orders

   Time customer purchase orders keyed as sales orders as a separate sample, so manual order entry has its own figure.

Your time study shows which of these weigh most in your quotes.

• Customer shorthand. “DN50 PN16 FB ball valve”, “M10 nyloc A2”, “cable 3x2.5 100m”: abbreviations that someone has to translate into your product names.
• Customer codes and other brands’ part numbers that a rep has to look up or remember. See customer and competitor part number cross-reference.
• Size and grade variants. M10 × 40 or M10 × 45, A2 or A4, 24 V or 230 V. A near miss here becomes a wrong delivery.
• Requests in a different language from your catalogue.
• Scanned PDFs and photos that cannot be copied, so every line is retyped.
• Customer-specific prices and agreements looked up line by line.
• Keying into the ERP screen by screen, then checking the result against the request.

Each source of manual minutes, and what ERP Agent does instead.

These come on top of the paid time. They depend on your customers and margins, so estimate them from your own records.

• Slow replies. A customer who asks several suppliers often orders from the first complete answer. Estimate it from lost-quote notes in your CRM: the losses that cite speed, times their average order value and margin. ERP Agent drafts a typical request in 3–8 minutes, so the reply is ready while the customer is still deciding.
• Errors and rework. A wrong size or price means a corrected quote, a credit note, a return or margin given away. Count these for a quarter, then multiply each case by its handling time at your loaded hourly cost and add the margin lost: that is what manual entry errors cost you. ERP Agent checks the attributes each line states and marks doubtful lines, so they are checked before a customer sees them.
• Selling time. Every hour spent keying lines is an hour your experienced reps are not calling customers or following up open quotes. With the finding and keying handed to the agent, that time goes back to customers.
• Knowledge that sits with a few people. Often only one rep knows which product a customer means by their own code. When that person is away or leaves, minutes per line rise and new reps take longer to get up to speed. ERP Agent learns from the lines your team sends, so that knowledge stays in the company.

Start from your manual cost per month, then add what the tool costs and the review time it leaves. A pilot on your own requests gives you that review time.

1. 01

   Measure the review time

   In a pilot, time the review: checking the marked lines, editing, and handling the customer’s requirements. That gives you review minutes per line.

2. 02

   Monthly saving

   Quote lines per month × (manual minutes − review minutes) ÷ 60 × loaded hourly cost.

3. 03

   Net of the tool

   Net monthly saving = monthly saving − monthly subscription.

4. 04

   Payback and first-year ROI

   Payback in months = setup fee ÷ net monthly saving. First-year ROI = (12 × monthly saving − first-year cost) ÷ first-year cost, where first-year cost = setup fee + 12 × monthly subscription.