Sample audit report.
The work, the decisions, and the first move. An example of the plan your team would receive.
01 / Business overview
A week of recurring work.
An owner-led business uses email, an invoicing tool, and spreadsheets. Four recurring areas account for 24 hours of work per week. The audit asks which steps can be simplified and where a person needs to stay involved.
- 24 h
- Example weekly workload
- 4
- Areas reviewed
The order matters: validate payment data first, bring enquiries into one queue next, and check reporting sources before automating. Keep judgment with the team.
Explore the findingsThe work. In order.
A clear starting point for four recurring workflows.
- 9 h/wk
Invoice follow-ups
Start here
- 6 h/wk
Customer enquiries
Next
- 4 h/wk
Weekly reporting
After source checks
- 5 h/wk
Hiring and supplier disputes
Keep human
Fictional workload · Hours show work today, not promised savings.
Behind the priorities.
Open a finding to see the evidence, proposed change, approval boundaries, and checks.
Start here · 9 h/week in this exampleInvoice follow-ups
Automate routine steps
- What we found
- A team member checks outstanding invoices, sends reminders, and matches payments by hand.
- Recommended change
- Connect the approved invoice list to a reminder schedule. Stop reminders as soon as a payment is recorded. Route disputes and unclear payments to the owner.
- Expected benefit
- Less routine chasing; a clear view of exceptions.
- Build effort
- Low–medium
- Risk to check
- Outdated payment records could trigger an incorrect reminder.
- Who approves
- The owner approves reminder wording and timing. Disputed invoices always go to a person.
- First step
- Check payment data and agree the reminder rules.
- How we check it
- Trial on a small, approved invoice set. Check that paid and disputed invoices never receive a reminder.
Next · 6 h/week in this exampleCustomer enquiries
Share the work
- What we found
- New requests arrive through several channels. Details are missing and follow-ups depend on someone remembering.
- Recommended change
- Bring requests into a shared queue, collect the missing details, and assign the next action. Give the team a clear view of unanswered enquiries.
- Expected benefit
- Fewer missed handovers and unanswered requests.
- Build effort
- Medium
- Risk to check
- An unapproved price or quote could reach a customer.
- Who approves
- Your team sets the price and approves the quote. Unusual requests are flagged for review.
- First step
- Agree one queue, an owner, and what needs approval.
- How we check it
- Run sample enquiries through every entry point. Confirm each gets an owner and that no quote is sent without approval.
After source checks · 4 h/week in this exampleWeekly reporting
Automate the first draft
- What we found
- The owner copies figures from different tools into a weekly spreadsheet.
- Recommended change
- Agree the useful measures, pull them into one report, and show the source and date for each number. Flag missing or stale data.
- Expected benefit
- Less copying and a consistent weekly view.
- Build effort
- Medium
- Risk to check
- Missing or stale figures could look like reliable results.
- Who approves
- The owner agrees the definitions and reviews exceptions before relying on the report.
- First step
- Agree the measures and verify each source.
- How we check it
- Compare the first reports with a manual calculation. A missing source must be visible rather than silently treated as zero.
Keep human · 5 h/week in this exampleHiring and supplier disputes
Keep human
- What we found
- These conversations depend on relationships, context, and judgment.
- Recommended change
- Keep decisions and conversations with the team. Simplify scheduling and make supporting information easier to find.
- Expected benefit
- Keep judgment with the people who know the context.
- Build effort
- Not a build priority
- Risk to check
- A decision could be made without the relationship or context it needs.
- Who approves
- People retain responsibility for hiring decisions, negotiation, and disputed terms.
- First step
- Keep decisions with the team; review admin separately.
- How we check it
- Confirm that the workflow only assists with administration and cannot make or communicate a decision on its own.
The first move.
A small pilot gives the team evidence before committing to a wider build.
Start with invoice follow-ups
Start with invoice follow-ups: the repeat steps and approval boundaries are clear. Confirm the data quality, agree a small pilot, and compare actual time spent before and after. Only expand when the pilot works.
Implementation is scoped and quoted separately. Your report records assumptions, open questions, dependencies, and the order of work.
What needs to be true
- Payment status is available and reliable enough to stop reminders.
- The owner can approve wording, timing, and a small trial group.
- Someone on the team owns disputes and unclear payments.
- Time estimates will be checked against recent work before any savings are forecast.
What would your plan look like?
Start with one focused working session.