> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mergeguide.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# PolicyMerge savings
> How MergeGuide estimates the effort you save by assessing overlapping controls once.
When you're held to several compliance frameworks, their controls overlap — the
same requirement appears, in different words, across standards. PolicyMerge combines
your frameworks so you assess each overlapping control once. The **savings
calculator** in the PolicyMerge area estimates the effort that deduplication saves.
This page explains how it works.
## The estimate in one line
Without merging, you'd assess every control in every framework — including the
duplicates. With merging, you assess each *unique* control once. The savings is the
difference, valued at an hourly rate you choose.
## The calculation
The calculator works from two adjustable assumptions:
| Assumption | What it is |
| -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| **Hours per control assessment** | How long it takes your team to assess one control. |
| **Consultant hourly rate** | The cost you attach to that time. |
From your selected frameworks it computes:
* **Hours without merge** — total controls *including* duplication × hours per
control.
* **Hours with merge** — unique controls (duplicates collapsed) × hours per control.
* **Hours saved** — the difference between the two.
* **Cost saved** — hours saved × your hourly rate.
## Adjust the assumptions
Both inputs are yours to set. Tune the hours-per-control and the hourly rate to
match your team and your market, and the estimate updates. This lets you ground the
figure in your own numbers rather than ours.
The figures are an adjustable planning estimate to help you reason about effort
saved by deduplicating overlapping controls — not a customer-specific guarantee.
## Next steps
Read the overlap view.
How frameworks and controls fit together.