01
New requests
Capture requests, check required information and send each item to the right owner.
Business process automation
Automate repeatable work between your systems
Business process automation works when the trigger, steps, approvals, systems, exceptions and owners are understood before a tool is chosen or a workflow is built.
Plan what happens when the automation fails
Missing information, rejected approvals and system errors each need a defined response: pause the job, assign an owner, retry safely or stop.
Usual steps, failure response and recoveryATC / system view
Request receivedCreate one record
Check fieldsRequired data present
Apply rulesRun approved steps
Update recordedOwner can see the result
Cannot continueKeep the request + reason
Process ownerDecide what happens next
ResolveCorrect and resume or close
Resolved work returns to the same recordWhat we can automate
02
Approvals between people
Move work between teams with clear rules, reminders and a named person to contact when something is late.
03
Document and data work
Extract, check, reconcile and move information between approved systems.
04
Problems and recovery
Record failures, alert the owner and give them a safe way to retry or stop.
Examples
Common automation projects
01
Lead and request routing
Check required information, assign ownership and keep follow-up visible.
02
Finance operations
Handle invoice intake, approval, reconciliation and exception queues.
03
Service operations
Triage requests, create records, coordinate teams and keep customers updated.
04
Reporting and data movement
Collect, check and reconcile information across approved systems.
05
Document workflows
Generate, classify, review and file documents with a person in control where needed.
Technology
Choose the simplest reliable tool
01
Workflow platforms
Power Automate, Zapier and Make can connect common tools quickly when the process and exceptions are clearly defined.
02
More complex workflows
n8n and similar platforms suit more complex work that needs branching, a choice of hosting or custom steps.
03
Custom software
Custom software may be needed when volume, security, reliability or business rules are too much for a workflow platform.
What we define before we build
Before we build, we record what starts the work, who owns it, what can fail and how it recovers.
Method
Example
- Trigger
- What starts the work
- Owner
- Who is responsible
- Exceptions
- What can stop the workflow
- Recovery
- What happens after a failure
Platform-specific help
Use the tools you already own when they suit the process
01
Microsoft Power Platform
Use Power Automate, Power BI, Power Apps and SharePoint with licensing, limits and ownership made clear.
02
Other workflow platforms
Use n8n, Zapier, Make or purpose-built code when they fit the systems, volume and support model better.
Next step
Which manual step does your team keep chasing?
We'll check whether it is ready to automate and identify any work required first.
Questions
Questions people ask us
What is business process automation?
Getting software to do the repeatable parts of a workflow: moving information between systems, checking it, routing approvals and chasing what has stalled. The routine work goes to the machine and the decisions stay with people.
What business processes can be automated?
Intake and routing, approvals and hand-offs, moving data between systems, document work, reporting, and anything where someone is copying information from one screen to another. The test is whether it starts the same way every time.
How do I know if a process is ready to automate?
Six things: a stable trigger, known volume, mapped exceptions, system access, a named owner and a measured baseline. Most processes fail at least one the first time. The free assessment on this site checks all six.
What happens when something goes wrong?
It goes to a named person with enough context to act, and there is a way back into the flow afterwards. Automation that silently drops the awkward cases onto someone's desk is why most projects quietly stop being used.
What tools do you use?
Power Automate, Power BI and the Microsoft stack for a lot of it, plus Zapier, Make and n8n where they suit, and custom code where a platform would fight us. If you already own something that will do the job, we will use it.
How do I work out whether automation is worth it?
Volume, time per item, error rate, what it costs you now and how often it goes wrong. The free calculator on this site does the arithmetic including the exceptions, which most business cases leave out.
How long does an automation project take?
A single well-scoped process is usually two to six weeks including testing against real awkward cases. Longer if the systems involved do not have decent APIs, which is the constraint that decides most timelines.