Use a few simple inputs to estimate how much time and cost you could save in your PDF process. PEDIF automatically reads recurring business documents and makes the information available as ready-to-use data for your existing systems.
The calculator gives a first estimate of how much time and money automating a recurring document process could save. It works with a small number of inputs that you can usually estimate from your own experience. The following sections explain how the calculation works, how to find realistic values and how to interpret the result.
The calculator first estimates what the process costs today. It multiplies the monthly document volume by the manual handling time per document and the fully loaded hourly cost of the team. It then adds the cost of exceptions: the share of documents that need clarification or correction, multiplied by the average rework cost per exception.
The expected savings are this current cost multiplied by the share of documents that you expect to run without manual intervention after setup. The monthly result is extrapolated to a year, and the saved hours are calculated in the same way. The result is a gross estimate: the costs of PEDIF itself are not deducted.
Some effects are hard to express in a single number and are therefore not part of the calculation: faster order confirmations, fewer delayed payments, better data quality for planning and reporting, less dependence on individual employees and more capacity during peaks. These effects are often significant, but they differ strongly from company to company.
The result is a starting point, not a business case. It shows the order of magnitude and helps to decide whether a closer look is worthwhile. A reliable assessment needs real documents: the share of recurring layouts, the number of fields and the target format all influence the actual automation rate and the setup effort.
It also helps to calculate several scenarios, for example a conservative and an optimistic automation rate, or separate calculations for different document types.
Take a team that processes a few hundred supplier order confirmations per month. Each one takes several minutes to open, check against the order and enter, and a share of them causes queries because quantities or dates differ. In the calculator, the volume, the minutes per document and the hourly rate give the current handling cost. The share of documents with queries and the effort per query give the exception cost. The expected automation rate then shows which part of this total could be saved.
Running the same calculation with a lower and a higher automation rate shows the range in which the real result is likely to fall. This range is often more useful for a decision than a single number.
Savings are only one side of the result. The saved hours show how much capacity becomes available for other tasks, such as customer contact, supplier management or handling the exceptions that really need attention. In many teams this capacity matters more than the cost itself, because hiring additional staff for peaks is difficult and knowledge is concentrated in a few people.
Speed is the other side. When documents no longer wait in a queue for manual entry, orders are confirmed sooner, invoices are posted earlier and queries are answered faster. These effects are not part of the calculation, but they are often what users notice first after go-live.
The calculator estimates what the current process costs and which part of it could be saved. A quotation shows the other side: the one-time setup for your layouts and target formats and the recurring costs based on your volume. Putting both side by side gives a first view of the payback period. Because the setup is a one-time effort and the savings recur every month, the payback usually depends mainly on volume and on how many documents come in recurring layouts.
For a fair comparison, use the same volume and the same document types in both. If the quotation covers only part of your documents, for example the largest customers, the savings estimate should be based on that part as well.
The calculator works best for one clearly defined document type at a time. Good candidates are documents that arrive in high volume, come from a limited number of regular business partners and are typed into a system today. Supplier invoices, customer purchase orders, order confirmations and delivery notes are typical examples. Documents that arrive rarely, change their layout every time or require a lot of individual judgment are less suitable for automation and should not be included in the volume you enter.
