← Back to resources

Copilot ROI calculator

Does Microsoft 365 Copilot pay off? The question has two sides: the real total cost of ownership (not just the licence price) and the value of the time saved. Adjust the values to your own case and see the ROI, the total cost and the break-even point straight away. The decisive slider is the adoption rate, try it out and watch how strongly it turns the result. All amounts are in Swiss francs (CHF), and the default assumptions follow Swiss salary structures and Swiss list prices.

People with a Copilot licence Number of seats Average annual salary CHF, gross full-time Licence cost CHF per user / month Switzerland 2026, excl. VAT: annual subscription 17.-, promotion until 30 June 14.57, monthly 20.40. Comes on top of the Microsoft 365 base licence. Time saved per active user Minutes / week Stay conservative: depending on how it is measured, studies show roughly 30 to 120 minutes per week. Adoption rate Share who actively use Copilot, in % In reality often 20 to 30 %, with good support 50 to 70 %. Inactive licences still cost money. Detailed mode: fine-tune total cost & assumptions

One-off rollout & governance CHF per user, year 1 Ongoing support & training CHF per user / year Share of the time saved that turns into real value in % Not every minute saved is put to productive use. Conservative: 50 to 70 %.

Does Copilot pay off?

ROI in year 1
net benefit ÷ total cost -

Net benefit year 1
value of time minus total cost -

Annual value of time saved
time saved by the active users -

Total cost year 1 (TCO)
recurring from year 2: - -

Break-even
min./week per active user -

What if you raise adoption?

Target adoption rate 75 %

ROI in year 1 at this adoption level

Book an intro call

What the total cost is made of

The add-on licence price is only one part. On top of it come the one-off preparation (permissions, governance) and the ongoing support that gets Copilot working in the first place.

Licences per year-

Rollout & governance (one-off)-

Ongoing support per year-

What the number does not show

The pure value of time saved is only the measurable side. These effects are hard to put in francs, upwards as well as downwards.

Better quality, not just more speed Less routine frustration Faster onboarding for new people Risk: time saved drains away without a clear use case Governance effort with sensitive data Dependence on adoption

How this is calculated

Active users = licences × adoption rate. Only active users save time, inactive licences still cost the full amount.
Value of time per year = active users × minutes/week × 46 working weeks × fully loaded hourly rate × value share.
Fully loaded hourly rate = annual salary × 1.25 (employer on-costs) ÷ 1,900 productive hours.
Value share (quick mode 70 %): not every minute saved is put to productive use, so this is a conservative discount.
Total cost year 1 (TCO) = licences per year + one-off rollout & governance + ongoing support. From year 2 the one-off rollout drops away.
ROI = (value of time − total cost) ÷ total cost. Break-even = minutes per week per active user at which the value of time covers the recurring cost.

Benchmarks and default assumptions are for orientation and do not replace an individual analysis. This page is an estimation aid, not advice.

Copilot ROI calculator

Does Copilot pay off?

What the total cost is made of

What the number does not show

How this is calculated

More on this topic