10h • General Discussion 💬
The $12.88 Problem Nobody Talks About 🔥
Average manual invoice processing costs $12.88 per document.
Automated costs $2.50.
That's a 559% difference most businesses never calculate.
When I started showing prospects this math, everything changed. Not talking about features. Not pitching technology. Just showing them their own numbers.
THE CALCULATION THAT CLOSES DEALS:
Take any business processing 100 invoices monthly.
Manual cost: $12.88 per invoice
100 invoices = $1,288 monthly
Annual: $15,456 wasted
Automated cost: $2.50 per invoice
100 invoices = $250 monthly
Annual: $3,000 total cost
Savings: $12,456 yearly
My setup fee: $1,800
Monthly: $99
Year one total: $2,988
Their ROI: Break even in 2 months. Save $12,456 yearly after that.
THE HIDDEN COSTS IN MANUAL PROCESSING:
Time waste (15 minutes per invoice)
Error correction (3-5% error rate)
Late payment penalties (missed due dates)
Staff frustration (nobody wants data entry jobs)
Opportunity cost (staff could do actual accounting work)
Most businesses track the hourly rate. They miss everything else.
WHEN I SHOWED THIS TO A CLIENT:
Me: "How many invoices monthly?"
Them: "Maybe 180?"
Me: "What does Sarah earn hourly?"
Them: "$22"
Me: "15 minutes per invoice. That's $990 monthly just in Sarah's time."
Their eyes widened.
Me: "Plus error corrections, late fees, her burnout..."
Them: "How fast can we start?"
THE REFRAME:
Before: "Want to automate invoices?"
Response: "We're fine doing it manually."
After: "You're spending $15,456 yearly on invoice entry. Want to spend $3,000 instead?"
Response: "Show me how."
AUTOMATION ISN'T A TECH UPGRADE. IT'S COST ARBITRAGE.
The businesses that get this close in one meeting. The ones that don't keep wasting $12.88 per invoice forever.
Current client count processing invoices: 11 businesses
Average invoices monthly per client: 140
Total documents monthly: 1,540
Total monthly waste prevented: $17,122
My monthly recurring from just invoice automation: $1,089
THE LESSON:
Stop selling automation features. Start showing cost arbitrage. When you make it about their money, the sale makes itself.
Next time you talk to a prospect, ask three questions:
1. How many documents monthly?
2. What does manual processing cost per document?
3. What's the annual waste?
Then show them the arbitrage opportunity.
For invoice processing automation workflows, integration templates available in here
What's YOUR per-document cost? Have you ever calculated it?
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The $12.88 Problem Nobody Talks About 🔥
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