# Find the true cost of an operational process

A cost breakdown of a process using activities and time, showing cost per unit and where money is going.

- Topic: Finance & Accounting
- Framework: RTF
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Finance, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/find-the-true-cost-of-an-operational-process

## Prompt

```text
Help me calculate the true cost of a process in my operation.

**Process and unit of output:** [e.g. "processing a return - cost per return", "picking an order - cost per order"]
**Steps in the process:** [LIST, with roles involved]
**Time per step:** [minutes per unit, from observation or estimate]
**Labor rates:** [fully loaded hourly cost by role, or wage plus % for benefits]
**Volume:** [units per month]
**Other costs:** [systems, equipment, space, consumables, outsourced pieces, rework rate]

Do this:
1. Build a table: step | role | minutes per unit | labor cost per unit | other costs per unit.
2. Add rework, errors, and waiting time if I gave data - these are often the hidden cost.
3. Allocate shared costs (space, systems) with a simple, stated method, and show how much of the total is allocation vs. direct.
4. Total cost per unit and per month, and the share by step.
5. Highlight the 2-3 steps that cost most and the likely reasons (manual handling, rework, approvals, idle time).
6. Show how cost per unit changes at +/-20% volume, to separate fixed from variable costs.
7. List improvement ideas with a rough savings estimate for each, showing your math.

Label every estimate as [ESTIMATE] and missing data as [ADD]. This is a management estimate, not accounting guidance; align the method with my finance team before quoting numbers.
```

## What to fill in

- LIST, with roles involved
- minutes per unit, from observation or estimate
- fully loaded hourly cost by role, or wage plus % for benefits
- units per month
- ESTIMATE
- ADD

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.