To calculate the ROI, take the hourly wage of the clerical person or persons needed in order to do this task manually and then multiply by 1000. The resulting number is the Target Cost and represents the cost of clerical time for six months (hourly times 40 hours times 25 weeks). Any solution that costs less than this Target Cost will show a 100% return on investment in the first year. The cost of a scanner, forms and software should fall within the Target Cost.

Example 1:

One clerical staff at $10/hr times 1000 equals $10,000 or six months of salary. A five year cost of clerical would equal $100,000. If the cost of scanner, forms and software is $10,000 in initial outlay, the five year return would be $90,000 or nine times initial outlay. This does not take into account raises, benefits or downtime of clerical staff.

Example 2:

Two clerical staff at $14/hr times 1000 equals $28,000 for six months. Five year cost of clerical equals $280,000. A turnkey Scantron solution of $28,000 in initial outlay results in $254,000 return on investment over the clerical solution.

Considering these examples, a comprehensive solution will have a higher initial cost over the clerical approach but can pay very high dividend in succeeding years.