The hidden cost of manual approvals

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How much are you really spending by using time-consuming manual approval processes with NetSuite? They're inefficient, frustrating, and, as it turns out, shockingly expensive.

By Ian Cartledge

4 min read •

March 23, 2025

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In many businesses, bill and invoice approvals are still handled manually – emails flying back and forth, spreadsheets updated by hand, and finance teams chasing approvals before they’re processed in NetSuite. It’s inefficient, frustrating, and, as it turns out, shockingly expensive.

I ran the numbers on what it really costs to manage these approvals manually. The results? For businesses processing 3,000 invoice and PO requests per year, manual approvals could be costing you upwards of £36,000 annually in wasted time alone.

Breaking down the cost of manual approvals

Here’s how it adds up:

Time per manual request (includes data entry, chasing approvals, and email-based routing): ~1 hour
UK National Living Wage (April 2025): £12.21 per hour
Total cost of manual processing per request: ~£12.21
Annual cost for 3,000 requests: £36,630

Now, let’s compare that to an automated approval workflow.

The impact of automation with ApprovalMax

By switching to an automated approval workflow like ApprovalMax, businesses using NetSuite can cut approval processing time to just 10-15 minutes per request. Here’s what that means:

Time saved per request: ~47.5 minutes
Annual time saved for 3,000 requests: 2,375 hours (~99 full workdays)
Total automated process cost (ApprovalMax subscription + minimal manual input): ~£17,150 per year
Total savings: £19,480 annually
ROI: 163% within the first year.

That’s nearly 100 workdays worth of time freed up – time that could be spent on higher-value tasks, strategic finance management, or simply reducing overwork in finance teams. As well as £19,480 saved annually, or 163% ROI on the investment of automated workflows.

Key assumptions behind these numbers

To ensure transparency, here are the core assumptions driving these calculations:

Manual processing takes ~1 hour per request, including data entry and chasing approvals.
Hourly wage is based on the UK National Living Wage (£12.21/hour) – costs would be even higher for experienced finance professionals.
ApprovalMax reduces approval time to an average of 12.5 minutes per request (~75-80% efficiency gain).
ApprovalMax’s annual subscription cost for 3,000 requests is £7,400.

Even with conservative estimates, the savings are significant. And for businesses processing higher volumes, the ROI only increases. While manual processes might have worked when your business was smaller, they simply can’t keep up when operating at scale.

With ApprovalMax, you can connect straight into NetSuite without having to give approvers access to the entire system, so you can minimise subscription costs while building faster processes.

Key takeaways on automated approval workflows

✔ £19,480 in annual cost savings

✔ 2,375 hours saved per year (~99 workdays)

✔ 163% ROI within the first year

✔ Faster approvals and reduced manual errors

What’s the real cost of sticking with manual approvals?

Beyond the financial waste, manual processes introduce delays, compliance risks, and frustration. How many approvals are delayed because someone forgot to check their inbox?

How much time is wasted chasing status updates?

If your finance team is stuck in manual approval cycles, it’s time to rethink the process. The numbers don’t lie – automation pays for itself.

Ian Cartledge is a SaaS expert in automating finance workflows with NetSuite, Xero, and QuickBooks Online. He helps finance teams streamline operations, boost efficiency and strengthen their financial controls.