What would AI cost your finance or support team?
You will hear that AI is almost free. The model nearly is. Everything around it is not. Two numbers in, an honest range out, every assumption shown.
Every year, roughly
Free up €105k to €185k of your team's time, for €9k to €25k to run the AI.
That is 2 to 3.5 people's worth of capacity, for growth and for the hard work that is not getting done today. The same team could handle about 1.3 to 1.7 times the work.
- Your team today
- €440k
- Time AI could take on
- 2.5 to 4 people
- Time spent checking the AI
- 0.5 people
- Time back, net
- €105k to €185k
- The model
- €1k
- Keeping it running
- €8k to €25k
What the team costs a year, before any AI.
The routine share of each activity, below. The rest stays with your people.
Someone reviews what it did, handles what it passes on and improves it. Never zero.
2 to 3.5 people's worth of your team's time, to spend on growth and the work that is not getting done today.
With the model matched to the task: routine work on a fast model, the hard cases on the best one. Using the top model for everything would cost about €3k. Either way, the smallest line.
Hosting, monitoring and changes as your systems and suppliers change.
Not included: building it. That depends on your systems and how the work really runs, and a number here would be a guess. Finding that out is the first step.
How it is built matters more than the model
Over three years, the same work built two ways differs by €180k.
Built well
€110k
running cost over three years
Model matched to each task, exceptions designed in, checks only where they matter, built inside the systems people already use.
Built quickly
€290k
running cost over three years
Top model for everything, every output checked by hand, bolted on beside your systems and patched when they change.
Running cost here is the time spent checking the AI, the model and upkeep, for this team. The difference is what a good build saves, every year it runs, and it is usually far more than doing the build properly costs in the first place.
Show the working
How the team's time splits, and how much AI can take on
| Activity | Share of time | AI can take on |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier invoices and payablesReading, matching to the order and delivery note, and posting follow rules most of the time. | 35% | 50 to 70% |
| Reconciliations and month-endMatching is mechanical; explaining the differences still needs a person. | 25% | 30 to 50% |
| Expenses and paymentsPolicy checks are rules; approvals and exceptions stay with people. | 20% | 30 to 50% |
| Reporting, analysis and questionsAI drafts; judgement and conversations with the business stay human. | 20% | 5 to 15% |
These are our working assumptions from the companies we build for, not a measurement of yours. You can change the model and the volumes; the shares are what a first conversation with your team would replace.
How to read it.
Three things the numbers are there to show.
- 01
The model is cheap, if you choose well.
Reading an invoice costs cents. Most routine work runs well on a fast, cheap model; save the best one for the hard cases and the model bill drops by about two thirds.
- 02
It is not free. People stay in the loop.
Someone checks what the AI did and handles the cases it passes on. Plan for that time, and the AI gets trusted and used.
- 03
The value is the time.
What your team does with the hours it gets back is where the return is: work that was not getting done, and growth without hiring.
Questions people ask.
What does AI cost a finance team of eight?
At €55,000 a person the team costs €440k a year. AI could free up €105k to €185k of its time each year, 2 to 3.5 people's worth, for €9k to €25k a year to run; the model itself is about €1k of that. A support team of eight at €40,000 a person frees up €75k to €130k for €9k to €25k. The build is extra and depends on your systems.
How much does AI cost a mid-sized company?
Running it is usually the smaller part: for a finance or support team of eight, the model itself costs a few thousand euros a year, and monitoring and upkeep more than that. The larger costs are the people who check the AI and handle what it passes on, and the one-off build, which depends on your systems. Use the calculator above for your own team, then treat the result as a range, not a quote.
What does it cost to automate invoice processing with AI?
The model cost per invoice is a few cents, even when the invoice is read, matched and checked in several steps. Industry benchmarks put the full cost of processing one invoice at around 9 to 11 dollars on average and 2 to 3 dollars for the best teams (Ardent Partners and APQC, 2025); most of that gap is automation of the whole flow, not a cheaper model.
Why is the model such a small part of the cost?
Because models are now cheap per task: reading an invoice or answering a routine question costs a few cents at most. What costs money is everything around the model: people checking what it did, handling the cases it passes on, and keeping it working as your systems and suppliers change.
Does this mean we need fewer people?
It means the same people can do more. The time AI takes on usually goes into work that was not getting done: faster month-end, chasing what is overdue, answering customers the same day, handling growth without hiring. Most owner-operated companies we work with use it to grow, not to cut.
Why ranges and not one number?
Because the honest answer depends on how your work actually runs: how clean your documents are, how many exceptions you have, how well your systems connect. A single number would look precise and be wrong. The range tells you whether this is worth a closer look.
Why is the build not included?
Because it depends on your systems, your data and how the work really runs, and a figure here would be a guess dressed up as a price. The first step is to find out how the work happens; that is what tells you what to build and what it will take.
Where do the model prices come from?
From each provider's own pricing page, checked on 23 September 2026, converted at about 0.9 euros per dollar. Prices fall often; when they do, the model line gets smaller and the rest of the picture stays the same.