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Automate & run
Process automation audits
We map how work actually moves through your business - not how the org chart says it does - and hand you a ranked plan of what to automate first, with the hours saved on every line.
- Flat fee, quoted up front
- The report is the product
- Ranked by payback, not by tech
- Implement with us or with anyone
gce audit acme-wholesale
staff interviewed ......... 6
processes mapped .......... 23
manual steps found ........ 71
automatable now ........... 19
top item: order entry - 14 hrs/week back
Worth auditing when
Four smells of a business ready to automate
The same data gets typed twice
Orders re-keyed from the store into accounting, jobs copied from email into the job system - every double entry is hours and errors.
Month-end takes a week
Reconciling, chasing, copy-pasting between reports. If closing the month is a project, the month is running on manual labour.
You’re hiring for admin volume, not sales volume
Headcount is growing to keep up with paperwork rather than customers. That’s a process problem wearing a recruitment costume.
Nobody knows what breaks if Sharon takes leave
Whole processes live in one person’s routine. An audit writes them down before automating them - which is valuable even on its own.
The audit
What you get
A flat-fee engagement with a concrete deliverable: the map, the numbers, and a ranked plan with quotes attached. No obligation to build anything with us.
- Map
Process mapping, done by shadowing
We sit with the people doing the work and map what actually happens - including the workarounds and the sticky notes the org chart doesn’t know about.
- Cost
Time & cost baseline
Hours per week on each process, error rates where they’re measurable, and what that costs at real wages. The "before" picture, in numbers.
- Rank
Ranked automation plan
Every opportunity scored on payoff versus effort - quick wins separated from projects, and the things that shouldn’t be automated marked as such.
- Tools
Tool recommendations
Built around what you already pay for first. New software only enters the plan when it clearly earns its subscription.
- Quotes
Fixed quotes per item
Each recommended automation comes with its own fixed implementation price, so the plan doubles as a menu - pick items in any order.
- Yours
A report anyone can implement
Written so your own developer, or any competent contractor, could build from it. Choosing us afterwards is optional - genuinely.
The point
An audit, not a sales pitch
Automation projects fail when they start from the tool instead of the work. The audit exists to protect you from that - including from us. It’s a flat fee, the report is the deliverable, and it’s written to be implemented by anyone.
Some of the most valuable lines in our reports say "leave this manual". A process that changes weekly, or runs on judgement, is cheaper to keep human - and knowing which is which is the whole job.
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Ranked by payback, not by what’s fun to build
The plan starts with hours returned per week. Impressive-sounding automations that save nobody any time don’t make the list.
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Your existing tools first
Most SMEs already own more automation than they use - in Xero, Shopify, Microsoft 365. We exhaust that before recommending anything new.
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Honest about the manual bits
Where a human should stay in the loop - judgement calls, exceptions, relationships - the report says so, in writing.
How it runs
A week or two, lightly worn
- 1
Kickoff
A short call on your goals, your tools and who does what. We agree the flat fee here.
- 2
Shadow & interview
About an hour with each key person, watching the real work. Minimal disruption; maximum truth.
- 3
Map & measure
Processes mapped, hours counted, opportunities scored on payoff versus effort.
- 4
Report & walkthrough
The written plan, presented live, with fixed quotes per item and your questions answered.
- 5
Implement - optionally
Build with us in payback order, hand it to your own developer, or sit on it. The plan keeps.
Fair questions
Before you ask
How long does an audit take?
One to two weeks for most businesses, depending on how many people and processes are involved. The disruption to your team is about an hour per key person - we work around your schedule, not the other way round.
What exactly do we receive?
A written report: process maps of how work actually flows, a time-and-cost baseline per process, a ranked list of automation opportunities with hours saved and a fixed implementation quote on each, plus the items we recommend leaving manual and why. It’s presented in a live walkthrough, then it’s yours.
Are we obliged to implement with you?
No - and this is structural, not politeness. The audit is a flat fee and the report is written so any competent developer can build from it. We win the implementation work by having the best-informed quote, not by holding the plan hostage.
What size business is this for?
The sweet spot is roughly 5 to 100 staff - big enough that processes exist, small enough that nobody has written them down. Larger businesses tend to need it per-department, which works too.
Will you just tell us to buy more software?
Usually the opposite. Most businesses already own more automation than they use - sitting unused inside Xero, Shopify, their job system or Microsoft 365. The plan exhausts what you already pay for before recommending anything new.
What if there’s nothing worth automating?
Then the report says so, and you’ve bought certainty instead of a project - which is far cheaper than the alternative. It hasn’t happened yet, but the flat fee means we have no incentive to invent opportunities.
Book an audit
Where does the week actually go?
Tell us your industry, team size and the processes that feel heaviest. We’ll quote the flat fee and book the kickoff.
0413 997 229- Flat fee, agreed before we start
- About an hour per key staff member
- Report is yours - implement with anyone