Envelope AI · Contracting and services · Modelled example
A 10-person contractor gets two bookkeeping days a month back
Contractor · 10 staff · 30 vendors · one bookkeeper
- 13.6 hrs
- bookkeeping hours recovered a month
- 158
- documents handled a month
- $5,511
- net saving a year, after the subscription
- 5.1×
- return on the subscription
The business
A two-truck contractor with 10 staff who submit expenses and 30 vendors who get paid, so 40 accounts in Envelope, and one bookkeeper doing it all.
The monthly load
| Document stream | Per month | Minutes each | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate-card receipts (2 cards × ~25) | 50 | 5 | 4.2 |
| Personal-card expense claims (8 staff × ~6) | 48 | 5 | 4.0 |
| Vendor invoices (30 vendors × 2, matched to POs) | 60 | 9 | 9.0 |
| Card-statement reconciliation | 2 | 45 | 1.5 |
| Total by hand | 158 | 18.7 |
Every document gets the same treatment by hand: capture it, code the GL account and tax, match it to a card statement or PO, key it into Spire and file the paper.
Before and after
Envelope doesn’t take the bookkeeper out of the loop. It changes the job from typing to reviewing. Receipts arrive already read and coded, and invoices arrive already matched to their PO. The bookkeeper approves, and Envelope posts to Spire.
| Hours a month | |
|---|---|
| By hand: key, code, match, file | 18.7 |
| With Envelope: review and approve | 5.0 |
| Recovered | 13.6 (73%) |
What it’s worth
| Value of 13.6 hours at $42 | $572 / month |
| Envelope subscription ($20 + $2 × 40 accounts, plus HST) | −$113 / month |
| Net saving | $459 / month · $5,511 / year |
What doesn’t show up in hours
- Receipts don’t go missing. Every receipt is captured and filed against its transaction.
- Vendors match themselves over time. Each correction teaches Envelope, so month two is faster than month one.
- A calmer month-end. Card statements match themselves to what’s already posted.