Free resource
Lost-File Cost Calculator
Missing and re-requested field files cost real money, mostly in small, invisible increments. Put in your firm's numbers and see the annual total.
Lost files rarely show up as one big line item. They hide in a support call here, a re-shoot there, a half-day someone spent rebuilding a dataset that never arrived. Added up over a year, the total is usually larger than firms expect. This calculator makes it visible. Enter your own rates and rough frequencies below; the estimate updates as you type, and nothing leaves your browser.
Estimated cost of lost files
$6,420
per year, about $535 a month
That is 72 incidents a year. Most of this cost is invisible because it is spread across many small scrambles, which is exactly why it goes unmanaged.
How the estimate is built
The total is the sum of three costs, each per year: office time spent chasing and rebuilding missing files, field time spent re-collecting data when a file cannot be recovered, and the cost of dedicated return trips to a site. The figures are estimates meant to size the problem, not to the dollar. If anything, they are conservative: they leave out delayed billing, disputes, and the reputational cost of telling a client the data is gone. For where these incidents come from and how to remove them, read 7 problems with using email to transfer project files and see how proof of file delivery closes the gap.
Related
Beyond the template
Stop paying the lost-file tax
RoverDrop gives every packet a receipt, one owner, and an archive copy, so files stop going missing in the first place. Try it with sample data and no account.