Workaround cost & exposure calculator

See what one workaround quietly consumes each year.

Use real operating volume, people, time, correction effort and direct cost. The calculator turns one recurring workaround into a transparent annual exposure estimate.

Editable assumptions
No answer or result is sent to AlignIQ

This is an orientation model, not a diagnosis, quotation, saving guarantee or investment recommendation.

01Which recurring workaround are you measuring?

Choose one bounded activity. Do not combine several unrelated processes into one estimate.

Short description OptionalKeep it specific enough that someone could observe the work.

Order and customer fulfilment Purchasing and supplier work Finance and reporting Planning and operations Service delivery People and administration Another process spanning several areas

02How much work passes through it?

Use a typical operating period. The calculator annualises that volume without adding a hidden growth factor.

Occurrences per periodTransactions, requests, reconciliations, cases or another repeatable unit. PeriodChoose the period used for the volume above. Operating periods per year48 working weeks is an editable planning assumption.

Annual occurrencesEnter the volume

03Who touches each occurrence, and for how long?

Count routine workaround effort only. Use the average number of people involved and the average time each of them spends. The calculator multiplies the two.

Average people involved per occurrenceUse an average when not every role touches every item. Example: one reviewer on half the items adds 0.5 people. Average minutes each person spendsIf one person spends 10 minutes and another 20, enter 2 people and an average of 15 minutes.

Routine effort per yearComplete the inputs

04What correction work sits on top of the routine effort?

Keep this separate to avoid double counting. Include extra labour and evidenced financial consequences caused by exceptions, but do not include routine effort again.

Occurrences needing correction

Enter 0 if the workaround has no additional correction burden. Average people correcting each exceptionCount only people doing work beyond the routine path. Average correction minutes per personThe calculator multiplies correction people by minutes per person. Direct cost per exception Optional

Use evidenced credits, write offs, scrap, expedite fees, penalties or external recovery. Exclude labour already entered above.

Exception effort per year0 hours

05What does one practical hour of this capacity cost?

The rate is calculated from a blended loaded monthly resource cost divided by practical annual capacity. Both assumptions remain visible and editable.

Blended loaded monthly cost per FTE

Rounded whole Rand amounts are accepted. Use the time weighted average for the roles involved, including directly attributable employment costs supported by your data. Practical hours per FTE per yearReplace 1 760 with your Finance or HR capacity figure where available. Sensitivity around the estimateThis creates a scenario band, not a statistical confidence interval. Other evidenced recurring cost Optional · per year

Include documented overtime, contractors, duplicated licences or other recurring cost not already counted. Exclude labour and per exception cost entered elsewhere.

Why is 1 760 hours shown?

It is an editable planning assumption approximating 85% of a 40 hour, 52 week theoretical year. Practical capacity excludes time that is paid but not available for the measured work. Use your own evidenced figure whenever possible.

Practical capacity cost rateEnter the monthly cost

06How strong is the evidence behind the number?

The same estimate should lead to a different decision when it is measured than when it is still a hypothesis.

Input evidence If it is late, missed or wrong Key person dependency Confidence in the originating cause

Workaround economics orientation

This workaround carries an estimated Pending in quantified annual exposure.

Evidence pendingCause pendingConsequence pending

Quantified annual exposurePending

Resource capacity plus only the direct financial consequences entered. This is current state exposure, not a saving forecast.

Person hours consumedPending

Routine and exception effort will be shown separately.

Capacity absorbedPending

This is a full time equivalent capacity measure. It is not a headcount or cash saving claim.

Evidence and calculation detailOpen the complete result

Resource capacity costPending

The loaded cost rate applied to routine and correction person hours.

Exception and rework subsetPending

This is included in the annual total, not added to it again.

Direct financial consequencesPending

Only the per exception and other recurring amounts supplied by the visitor.

Selected consequence

Pending

Only direct amounts you entered are monetised. Any additional delay, customer, cash, control or compliance effect remains outside the Rand total.

Key person exposure

Pending

The operational dependency will be shown here.

Evidence status

Pending

The evidence boundary will be shown here.

The decision this supports

The number is a baseline, not the diagnosis.

See the complete calculation trace

Annual occurrencesPending

Routine effortPending

Exception effortPending

Capacity cost ratePending

Annual resource capacity costPending

Direct exception costPending

Other evidenced recurring costPending

Quantified annual exposurePending

FTE capacity absorbedPending

From estimate to decision

The number shows the burden. AlignIQ helps find what keeps recreating it.

The next step is to determine whether the issue is isolated or one symptom of a wider value stream, verify the economics, trace the originating gap and decide whether to fund, test, defer or stop a response.

01Verify
Replace assumptions with observed volume, people, time, exception and direct cost evidence.
02Trace
Separate useful work from the process, information, ownership, control, adoption or system gap.
03Decide
Compare intervention cost with the capacity, direct spend and risk that can genuinely be released.

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