Business process automation services for operations teams

Business process automation means rebuilding a multi-step process so data and tasks move between people and tools on their own, using rules. A signed proposal in PandaDoc creates the client in Xero, opens a project in Asana, adds a Slack channel and sends the welcome email. Nobody copies anything. Each step either happens automatically or lands in one person's queue with everything they need to act.

The work is mostly rules because most of a business process is predictable. The client name is the client name. An invoice over $10,000 needs a director's approval. A contract is signed or it is not.

A quick test for which service fits:

• Every input arrives in a structured form (fields, dropdowns, records) and every decision can be written as a condition. You need BPA.
• Some steps require reading free text or documents, such as working out what a customer email is asking for. You need BPA with 1 or 2 model steps, which is our AI automation service.
• The process does not exist yet, or nobody agrees how it should run. You need a decision before any automation, and an AI readiness audit is the cheaper place to start.

We default to rules wherever they work. They cost less to run, behave the same way every time and are easier for your own team to change after handover.

The one that scores best on 5 tests. The process behind the loudest complaint is often a poor first pick, because loud usually means contested.

During Map we score each candidate from 1 to 5 on every test and weight the result by the hours it consumes each month. The top of that list is usually less glamorous than people expect: purchase order approvals, new-starter setup, chasing unsigned documents, moving a won deal into delivery. Those processes are frequent and well understood, which is exactly why they automate cleanly and pay back.

A process that scores well on everything except Systems is still a candidate. The build just costs more, because we may need a workaround such as a scheduled export, an email parser or, rarely, a screen bot. We would rather tell you that in week 1 than discover it in week 5.

BPA connects systems through their APIs and redesigns the process around them. Robotic process automation (RPA) uses software robots that click through screens the way a person would. Both have a place, and they fail in different ways.

We build BPA first and use RPA only when a system has no API and cannot be replaced soon: an old ERP, a government portal, a bank's desktop client. Screen bots need more maintenance because any interface update can stop them, so we price a care plan alongside any RPA work.

If you already run UiPath or Power Automate Desktop bots, we can audit them and replace the fragile ones with API integrations where the vendor now offers an API. That swap can also retire a bot license.

A process audit plus the first automated process costs $5,000 to $12,000 and takes 4 to 6 weeks. A program covering several linked processes, such as quote-to-cash or hire-to-onboard, costs $15,000 to $40,000 over 8 to 12 weeks. Both come as a fixed price, in writing, before work starts.

The price moves with:

• The number of systems. Each one adds authentication, field mapping and testing. Two cloud tools sit at the low end; 6, including an on-premise ERP, sit at the top.
• Exception paths. The happy path is a fraction of the work. Rejections, partial approvals, refunds and cancellations take the rest.
• Data quality. If customer records disagree between the CRM and the billing tool, someone has to decide which one wins, and sometimes the records need cleaning first.
• Audit needs. Finance processes often need a full log of who approved what and when.

You pay platform fees directly, on your own accounts. That usually means an n8n Cloud, Make or Zapier subscription, or a small server for self-hosted n8n. We size the plan to your volume so you are not paying for headroom you will never use. Changes after handover are billed by the hour, or come under a monthly automation care plan.

Every workflow we build alerts a named person when it fails, with the record that caused it and a link to the log. In n8n that alert runs from an error workflow (opens in a new tab), which starts whenever another workflow's run fails. Temporary errors, like a rate limit or a timeout, retry on their own with growing waits. Permanent errors, like a missing required field, stop and wait for a person, so nothing ends up half-written into one system and missing from another. The runbook lists each alert and its fix.

Most failures start outside the workflow: a vendor changes an API, someone renames a CRM field, a password expires. We keep credentials in one place and check field names on every run, which turns silent breakage into a clear alert. Your team handles the common fixes after training.

Not included in a BPA project:

• Licenses for the automation platform or the business tools it connects.
• Replacing your core systems. If the CRM itself is the problem we will say so, but a migration is a separate project.
• Processes that need a policy decision first. We can run that conversation during Map. We cannot automate a disagreement.
• Customer-facing apps or portals. We do not build consumer apps.

If the process is mostly people reading documents and typing what they see, start with intelligent document processing.