# Workflow cost ceiling

Agree on one bounded workflow, period, accepted unit, benefit basis, and full cost record with its owner. This worksheet supplies a hypothetical planning example. It establishes no cash savings, customer results, data permission, release approval, or recommended universal threshold.

## Completed hypothetical invoice forecast

All amounts use the same illustrative dollar currency and monthly period.

| Input                                              | Hypothetical value     | Evidence needed for a real decision                                                      |
| -------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Eligible cases                                     | 500 per month          | Approved queue definition, exclusions, unique identities, and period                     |
| Reach among eligible cases                         | 60%                    | Recorded exposure event                                                                  |
| Independently accepted results among reached cases | 80%                    | Approved result and authoritative confirmation; independent verifier                     |
| Time released per accepted result                  | 6 net minutes          | Matched time study including changed review and correction work                          |
| Loaded reviewer rate                               | $55 per hour           | Owner-approved planning basis                                                            |
| Fixed allocation                                   | $850 per month         | Mutually exclusive delivery, assurance, support, and operating cost ledger               |
| Variable model/tool/compute                        | $0.50 per reached case | Metered or evidenced route cost including rejected cases                                 |
| Harm and residual loss                             | Unknown                | Workflow-specific exposure and evidence; never substitute zero                           |
| Benefit realization                                | Unproven               | Observe how the released capacity is used; salary multiplication alone is not cash saved |

```text
Reached cases = 500 × 60% = 300
Accepted results = 300 × 80% = 240
Released capacity = 240 × 6/60 = 24 hours
Capacity planning value = 24 × $55 = $1,320
Allocated service cost = $850 + 300 × $0.50 = $1,000
Conditional balance = $1,320 − $1,000 = $320
Cost per accepted result = $1,000 / 240 ≈ $4.17
```

The balance excludes unmeasured harm and prices possible capacity. It is not complete net value or realized financial benefit.

## Conditional teaching ceiling

The hypothetical owner retains $200 of the capacity-valued planning balance. This is an invented reserve, not a recommendation or a substitute for estimating harm.

```text
Conditional monthly service ceiling = $1,320 − $200 = $1,120
Conditional ceiling / accepted result = $1,120 / 240 ≈ $4.67
Remaining variable allowance = $1,120 − $850 = $270
Allowance / reached case = $270 / 300 = $0.90
Forecast headroom = $1,120 − $1,000 = $120
```

Giving each model call $4.67 would confuse a full-service accepted-result ceiling with a run budget. Unknown benefit realization and harm still prevent a complete investment conclusion.

## One-at-a-time sensitivities

Keep all other original inputs fixed. These rows are separate scenarios, not simultaneous changes.

| Change                                       | Reached / accepted | Capacity value | Service cost | Conditional balance |
| -------------------------------------------- | ------------------ | -------------- | ------------ | ------------------- |
| Original forecast                            | 300 / 240          | $1,320         | $1,000       | $320                |
| Reach falls to 40%                           | 200 / 160          | $880           | $950         | −$70                |
| Acceptance falls to 60%                      | 300 / 180          | $990           | $1,000       | −$10                |
| Two extra review minutes per accepted result | 300 / 240          | $880           | $1,000       | −$120               |
| Support costs $350 more                      | 300 / 240          | $1,320         | $1,350       | −$30                |

The review scenario changes six net minutes to four. Do not also charge those same two minutes as an additional labor cost. New review on rejected cases or separate recovery must be included once if absent from the forecast. State whether you reduce net benefit or add cost. Then test a plausible combined downside case with the owner.

## Delivery allocation and later-period costs

A new hypothetical breakdown of the original $850 bundle is delivery allocation $300, assurance $100, support $250, and operation $200. Delivery assumes $3,600 of one-time cost allocated over 12 months. The remaining recurring fixed cost is $550.

- Allocated monthly view: $300 + $550 + $150 variable = $1,000.
- First-month cash view, assuming delivery is paid upfront and the other fixed and variable amounts are also paid that month: $3,600 + $550 + $150 = $4,300. Do not add the $300 allocation again.
- Later-period additions: extra support $200 + dependency-change work $300 + recovery $150 = $650.
- That later period's allocated cost: $1,000 + $650 = $1,650.
- With unchanged capacity planning value, conditional balance: $1,320 − $1,650 = −$330.

These are allocation illustrations, not source facts about delivery effort. Mark each extra cost as recurring or period-specific before annualizing. Keep setup cost, ongoing allocation, and actual cash timing visible.

## Blank owner-approved cost record

Start by copying the completed monthly calculation, then replace its assumptions with your own figures and evidence. Choose the accepted result before dividing costs. Mark a figure unknown when you cannot yet support it, and use the sensitivity rows to choose which assumption to test first.

### Start with these questions

1. What accepted result are you pricing, and how many cases are likely to reach it?
2. What benefit remains after all new human work, and how will any released time be used?
3. What does the whole service cost in the same period, including unsuccessful work?
4. Which uncertain assumption could remove the remaining budget headroom?

### Build the cost record

- Which workflow and eligible segment are included, and what counts as one accepted result?
- Who owns the outcome, and who independently verifies it?
- Which period, currency, cost basis, and allocation method apply?
- What does the current process cost, and how will you compare it?
- How many cases qualify, what share is expected to reach the service, and what share of those will be accepted? Which figures are measured, estimated, or unknown?
- What gross time or other benefit is proposed? After deducting new work once, what net benefit remains?
- What use of released capacity is intended, and what use has actually been observed?
- Which benefit, harm, or loss remains unmeasured?
- One-time delivery/change costs and cash timing:
- Fixed recurring costs:
- Variable costs for all reached cases:
- Human review, correction, recovery, support, and assurance treatment:
- Overlap/double-counting exclusions:
- Required controls and obligations that must remain funded:
- What conditional full-service ceiling follows from the benefit basis and reserve, and which limitations apply?
- Which per-run limits apply to time, calls, retries, compute, and spend? Keep them separate from the full-service ceiling.
- How does the result change if reach, acceptance, review, support, or later costs worsen one at a time?
- What happens in a plausible combined downside scenario?
- What happens if the ceiling is breached, who receives the escalation, and who runs the safe fallback?
- During a pause, who supports and reconciles existing cases?
- What evidence test comes next, when will the owner decide, and what is the current disposition?

If accepted results are zero or unknown, report cost and count separately rather than an invented cost-per-accepted result. Narrow or defer the work if it cannot retain required verification, access, approvals, recovery, and operating coverage within its justified ceiling.