What you get
- A map of where the hours go
Every repeated task across sales, delivery, finance and support, with the hours each one consumes and what it costs when it goes wrong. - A tool and spend inventory
Every subscription you pay for, what it does, who uses it, and which ones are paid for and unused. - A ranked roadmap
The automations worth building, in order, with an estimated saving and a build effort against each one. - A data and model note
Which of your data can go to which model, and what has to stay inside your own systems. - A 60-minute walkthrough
I present it to you and whoever else needs to hear it, and answer whatever comes up.
The deliverable is a written document you keep. It is written so your own team or any vendor can execute it without me.
The two weeks
- Days 1 to 3, watching
Calls with you and three to five people who do the work. I watch the actual screens rather than reading a process document, because the gap between the two is where the hours hide. - Days 4 to 6, inventory
Every tool, every subscription, every integration, and every spreadsheet doing a job software should be doing. - Days 7 to 10, sizing
Each candidate gets an hours estimate, a build effort and a risk note. Anything that should be deleted rather than automated gets flagged as exactly that. - Days 11 to 14, the document and the walkthrough
You get the map, the roadmap and the walkthrough call.
Your team spends about four hours total on this, spread across the first week. The point of the audit is that I do the looking.
What it costs and what happens after
$4,500fixed, invoiced at the start
2 weeksstart to walkthrough
4 hoursof your team's time
60 daysto claim the credit against a retainer
Run it yourself
- No obligation after the walkthrough.
- The roadmap is written so your own team or any vendor can execute it.
Hand it to me
- The $4,500 comes off your first invoice on Advisor ($6,500 a month) or Owner ($12,500 a month).
- Start within 60 days to claim the credit.
- Both are on the pricing page.
Who the audit is for
US service businesses between $1M and $50M in revenue. Agencies, trades, professional services, field service and logistics. It works best from about ten people up, because below that the owner can usually still see the repeated work without an audit.
It is the right first step if any of these is true.
- You bought AI tools that did not stick.
- Headcount has grown faster than revenue.
- You want evidence before committing to a retainer.
Questions about the audit
What is an automation audit?
An automation audit is a fixed-length review of how work moves through a company, producing a written map of where the hours go, an inventory of every tool being paid for, and a ranked roadmap of what to automate first. Mine takes two weeks and costs $4,500.
How much does an automation audit cost?
$4,500, fixed, invoiced at the start. It is credited in full against your first invoice if you move to either retainer within 60 days.
How much of my team's time does it take?
About four hours in total, spread across the first week. That covers a kickoff call with you and short sessions watching three to five people do their actual work.
What if the audit finds nothing worth automating?
That happens, usually in companies under about ten people, and I say so in the document. You still get the tool inventory, which normally pays for a meaningful part of the fee in cancelled subscriptions.
Can we run the roadmap ourselves afterwards?
Yes, and the document is written for that. It is specific enough for your own team or any outside vendor to execute without me.
Do you need access to our systems?
Read access to the tools we discuss is helpful and not required. Most of the audit is watching how people work and reading your billing.
Is this a business process automation audit for a small company?
Yes. It covers every repeated process across sales, delivery, finance and support, inventories every tool the company pays for, and ranks what to automate first. It is sized for companies between $1M and $50M, and it works best above about ten people.
Written by Valerian Valkin, Fractional Chief AI Officer Founder of 2V Automation and Shila. Fifteen years running businesses, n8n Certified Expert Partner. LinkedIn