Payback period
The time it takes for automation savings to exceed the cost of deployment. PURIST clients average a 4-month payback period after which the automation delivers pure ROI indefinitely.
Expert insight
A payback period calculation for automation that only counts the build cost, not the ongoing maintenance cost, understates the true break-even point, an automation with a quoted 2-month payback based purely on build cost might have a meaningfully longer real payback once realistic maintenance time is factored in.
In a real workflow
An automation costing $6,000 that saves $1,500 a month pays for itself in four months.
Common mistakes
- Ignoring running costs.
- Counting savings that do not materialise.
Complexity level
Anyone can understand this no technical background needed.
Related terms
ROI (Return on Investment)
In automation: net annual savings divided by cost. PURIST clients average 9.4× R…
Unit economics
The financial metrics for a single unit of a business one client, one transactio…
FTE (Full-Time Equivalent)
A unit of measurement for workload. 1.0 FTE = one full-time employee's working c…
See it in action
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