Which workflow should a small practice automate first? 5 questions
Start with the workflow that happens every week, begins from a clear digital trigger, follows the same steps each time and costs you something when it stalls. Ask five questions about each candidate, pick the one that passes most, and keep a person able to take over at every step.
This guide is for owners and managers of independent accountancy and dental practices who suspect their time goes in the gaps between steps, and want to fix one thing properly before buying anything.
Want a second pair of eyes on yours? See workflow automation
Why start with one workflow?
Most small practices lose time in the handoffs: the enquiry that waits for a reply, the consultation that is booked but not confirmed, the document checklist nobody chases. Each of those is a workflow with a start, a few steps and an owner.
Fixing one is testable. You can see whether it worked in a few weeks, hand it to the team and leave it alone. Fixing five at once means nobody can say what helped.
What are the 5 questions?
- How often does it happen? Weekly or more is a good sign. A workflow that runs twice a year is not worth automating first.
- Where does it start? A web form, a booking link or a logged call is a clear trigger. "Someone remembers" is not.
- Are the steps the same each time? If two team members would describe it differently, write down the real version before changing anything.
- What happens when it stalls? A missed enquiry or an unconfirmed appointment costs money. A late internal report may not.
- Can a person take over at every step? If the answer is no, the workflow is too risky to automate yet.
Which workflows usually pass?
| Practice | Workflow | Where it stalls |
|---|---|---|
| Accountancy | Enquiry to consultation | Nobody owns the new enquiry, or the first reply takes too long. |
| Accountancy | Engagement to documents | The checklist goes out once and nobody chases what is missing. |
| Dental | Request to confirmed appointment | Requests arrive by form, phone and widget, and not all of them get confirmed. |
| Dental | Cancellations, waitlist and recalls | A freed slot stays empty, and recalls go out late. |
What should you not automate first?
Anything that needs professional judgement. Tax advice, clinical decisions and fee negotiations stay with your team. Automate the admin around them, not the decision.
Also hold off on anything that would move client or patient data into a tool you have not approved. Work should happen inside tools your practice already authorises, under a written data processing agreement. For a dental practice that matters even more, because of patient data.
How do you map a workflow before you change it?
- Write down the trigger, for example "a form is submitted on the website".
- List every handoff, with the person who owns it and how long it usually waits.
- Mark where it stalls, and what each stall costs.
- List what you need to check before changing anything, such as who sees which data.
- Draw the version you want. Keep a human fallback at every step.
That is also the shape of the written audit I produce: the as is map, the handoffs where things stall, the questions to verify, a to be map and a fixed scope quote. It is yours to keep whether or not you go ahead.
Common objections
"Will it replace the systems we already use?" It should not. Good automation fits what you run today. Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, Dext, Calendly, TaxDome, Karbon, IRIS and ordinary email all work as the surrounding tools.
"What if it breaks?" Every step needs a human fallback, so a failure sends the work back to a person instead of dropping it.
Frequently asked questions
How does a workflow audit start?
With a 60 to 90 minute discovery call on one workflow, from the public trigger on your website to the handover inside your team. A written audit follows.
Do I need to change software?
No. The work is built on the accounts and tools you already have, and documented so you can hand it over.
Is client or patient data safe?
That depends on the tools you already approve. Work happens only inside those tools, under a written data processing agreement, and no data is moved to unapproved tools.
What does it cost?
The audit starts from £400 for accountancy practices and £350 for dental practices. Implementation is quoted after the audit. There is also a pay on delivery option: one contained automation built first, and you pay once it works.
Next step
If you have a workflow in mind, write to me with a sentence about it. I will send a short outline of what I would check, free, before anything is booked. See workflow automation