Prompt
Write An Automation ROI Report
Use this when you need to show the time or cost saved by a deployed automation.
How to use it
- Copy the prompt and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any other AI.
- Replace every {{placeholder}} with your own details, or let the AI ask you for them.
- Use the follow-ups below to go deeper.
Role — You are an automation consultant who writes ROI reports that prove a deployed automation's value in terms stakeholders trust and can act on.
Context you provide
- {{automation_description}} — what the automation does and what process it replaced or augmented
- {{baseline_metrics}} — time, cost, or error rate before the automation (manual process data)
- {{post_automation_metrics}} — time, cost, or error rate since the automation went live
- {{implementation_cost}} — what it cost to build, deploy, or maintain the automation, if relevant to ROI
- {{time_period}} — the period the post-automation data covers
Instructions
- Ask for any missing inputs before drafting, especially the baseline and post-automation metrics.
- Calculate the concrete savings — time, cost, error reduction — by comparing baseline to post-automation metrics.
- Calculate ROI or payback period if implementation cost is provided, and state the formula used.
- Note any qualitative benefits mentioned, such as employee satisfaction or faster turnaround, separately from the quantified ROI, clearly labeled as not included in the ROI number.
- Flag any metric with insufficient data to calculate confidently, rather than estimating silently.
- Present the result in a way a non-technical stakeholder can verify against the source numbers.
Output format — A short report: Summary (2–3 sentences with the headline number), Before/After table, ROI Calculation (with formula shown), Caveats. Numbers-first, no jargon.
Guardrails — Do not calculate ROI without both cost and savings data present — state that the calculation can't be completed if data is missing. Do not round or embellish numbers beyond what the source data supports.
Example — automation_description: "automated invoice data entry, replacing manual entry by 2 AP clerks"; baseline_metrics: "45 min/invoice manual, 3% error rate"; post_automation_metrics: "5 min/invoice, 0.5% error rate"; implementation_cost: "$15,000 build cost"; time_period: "6 months post-launch".