Illustrative scenario · Operating improvement
Portfolio improvement planner
Give one reporting or workflow improvement an inspectable case. Start with the work, account for review, and separate released capacity from cash savings.
The defaults are invented demonstration assumptions, not Permadyn pricing or expected results. Calculate one workflow at a time. Values stay in this page; they are not submitted with an inquiry or sent to analytics. Reloading resets them.
What this scenario would imply
Capacity released, but no positive net cash benefit under these assumptions.
- Total hours released per month
- 30.0
- Capacity hours remaining after cash allocation
- 30.0
- Labor cash savings per month
- $0
- Net cash benefit per month
- -$500
- First-year net cash after implementation
- -$18,000
- Simple cash payback
- Unavailable
30 hours become available each month. With 0% realized as cash and $500 of monthly running cost, net cash benefit is −$500. Capacity can still matter; this is not a cash-saving case.
Count the same benefit once.
Hours released = monthly volume × (minutes before − minutes after) ÷ 60 × adoption. The “after” time includes the human review and exception handling left in the process. A slower replacement produces negative released hours and needs more capacity.
Labor cash savings = positive hours released × hourly cost × the share actually realized as cash. The remaining hours are available capacity. Salary cost does not disappear just because staff have time for other work. The cash share needs an operating decision, such as reduced overtime or an avoided external expense.
Separate cash savings must exclude those same labor hours. Enter only a distinct, supportable expense change; include new software, hosting, monitoring, and support in recurring cost. Do not add “value of staff time” to labor cash savings a second time.
Net cash per month = labor cash savings + separate savings − running cost. First-year cash = 12 × monthly net cash − implementation cost. Simple payback = implementation cost ÷ monthly net cash, only when monthly net cash is positive. This assumes an immediate steady monthly run rate, with no ramp, discounting, financing, tax, or investment-return model.
Replace assumptions with observations.
- Measure actual volume and preparation, review, exception, and rework time over a representative period.
- Define what quality must be preserved: reconciled outputs, missed exceptions, access, and approval.
- Run the changed workflow on the same type of work. Include rollout and adoption constraints.
- Have the operating and finance owners confirm any expense reduction, one-time cost, and recurring cost.
- Keep benefits from different initiatives separate where they use the same staff time or vendor expense.
- Review observed results before expanding the change across portfolio companies.
Download the original calculation code. For implementation, explore portfolio performance analytics and portfolio-company workflow automation. Published September 11, 2026.
Scope the improvement before committing to a build.
Start with one output, its current sources, and the people who own the decision. Agree a useful assessment and the first implementation boundary.