ROI worksheet

Last week’s hours and pay, then a labor re-allocation range.

Mowing only. Three numbers you already have: weeks, weekly hours, and what you pay the person on the mower. If last season’s fuel and maintenance invoices are on the desk, add those. A dealer quote is optional. The worksheet does simple multiplication. Every range has a footnote.

What you already know

Weeks the mowers run Count the weeks cutting labor is on, including shoulder weeks.

Mowing hours in a typical week Hours people spend cutting, not the whole department.

What you pay the person on the mower Use last week’s posted wage. The default is the Job Bank Ontario landscape-labourer median ($20.96, updated 19 Nov 2025) rounded to $21. Not a superintendent salary. Not a loaded-rate formula.

What the dealer quoted for the machines (optional) Leave this at 0 if you do not have a quote. Payback stays blank until you add one.

Last season’s invoices (optional)

Leave these at 0 if you do not have the invoices. The labor range still works.

These hours, fuel, and maintenance are for the machines in the quote, not the whole crew. Check this if you typed only the hours and invoices for the robots being quoted. Then the sheet uses 100% of those hours and that fuel, not 10–25%.

Last season’s fuel for those same mowers Diesel for the mowers in the hours line. Leave at 0 if you do not have the invoices.

Last season’s maintenance on those diesel mowers From your invoices, not a dealer default. Leave at 0 if you do not have them.

Expected robot service this year What you expect to spend on the robots in this project. Leave at 0 if you do not have a number yet.

The range

This season’s mowing labor 1: —
Labor re-allocation hours 2: —
Labor re-allocation amount 3: —
Fuel that might come off the diesel bill 4: —
Maintenance difference 5: —
Combined operating benefit 6: —
Payback, if you have a quote 7: —

Talk through your numbers

Why the numbers look like this

Season labor is weeks × weekly hours × the posted wage. That is the current bill for cutting labor, not a savings figure.
The 10% and 25% are a share of the hours you typed that we treat as coming back in year 1. Not the share of the course the robot cuts. A robot can cut more often while fewer people sit on a mower. Those two percentages are a first-year mixed-fleet planning example, not a measured result from a named club. If you checked that the hours and invoices are only for the machines in the quote, the sheet uses 100% of those hours instead.
Those hours × the posted wage. The hours come back to other course work. This is not a headcount cut.
If you entered last season’s fuel, the same share as the hours is applied. That share is of the fuel dollars you typed, not of cut volume. Electricity for the robots is not subtracted until you have a quote. This line stays hidden when fuel is 0.
Last season’s diesel maintenance minus the robot service you expect this year. Both numbers come from your invoices, not from a dealer default. This line stays hidden when both are 0.
Labor re-allocation plus optional fuel plus the maintenance difference if that difference is positive. This line stays hidden when you have not entered optional invoices.
Payback is the dealer quote ÷ the benefit range. If you entered optional invoices, the range is the combined operating benefit. If you did not, the range is the labor re-allocation amount. The fast end uses the higher benefit. If the quote is 0, this stays blank. We do not invent a machine price.
Five years of the same annual benefit, no inflation, no battery replacement beyond the robot-service line, no 8% NPV. The five-year cash ROI is year-5 net cash ÷ the quote: cash in divided by cash out, not an IRR. This block stays hidden until you enter a quote, fuel, and a maintenance number.

Last week’s hours and pay, then a labor re-allocation range.

What you already know

The range

Five-year cash 8