§ 02Process automation
Business process automation services
We automate the work between people and systems: requests that need routing, approvals that wait in inboxes, data that gets typed in twice. Each process becomes a workflow with explicit triggers, rules and owners, and every exception lands in a queue where someone is responsible for it.
- When
- invoice received at ap@ · PDF attached
- Check
- supplier known · PO number found · total within 2% of PO
- Route
- amount ≤ $10,000 → budget owner
amount > $10,000 → budget owner, then finance lead - Then
- create bill in accounting · attach PDF · schedule payment run
- If not
- no PO match → exception queue · owner: AP clerk
- INV-55120 parsed · PO-3381 matched
- Routed to budget owner · $4,215.00
- INV-55121 · no PO match → exceptions
- INV-55118 approved · bill created
What this page covers
- 01Triggers
- 02Rules
- 03Approvals
- 04Exceptions
- 05Escalations
- 06Integrations
- 07Run logs
§ 01Candidates
Which processes are worth automating
Business process automation services start with choosing the right process. These five signs predict whether automation will pay off. A process that shows three or more of them is a good first candidate.
- volume
It repeats
The same request, approval or handoff happens daily or weekly. Rare processes cost more to automate than to do by hand.
- rules
The rules can be written down
Who approves what, which fields are required, what counts as an exception. If nobody can state the rule, mapping it is the first deliverable, and that alone often pays for itself.
- handoffs
It crosses people or teams
Delays hide in handoffs: waiting for a manager, waiting for finance, waiting for someone to notice an email. Automation makes the queue and its owner visible.
- re-keying
Data is typed in twice
The same values are copied from an email to a spreadsheet to accounting. Each copy is a chance for error and a reason for month-end reconciliation.
- exceptions
Exceptions can be recognised
Automation is safe when the system can tell a normal case from an unusual one and send the unusual case to a person.
Processes we are most often asked to automate
§ 02Before / after
Supplier invoice approval, before and after
Custom business process automation does not remove the people who approve. It removes the forwarding, copying and chasing around them. This is a typical accounts-payable process.
| BeforeToday: inbox, thread and spreadsheet | AfterAs an automated workflow |
|---|---|
| shared inboxInvoices arrive in a shared inbox; whoever opens one first forwards it to the manager they think is right. | ruleEach invoice is read, matched to its purchase order and routed by amount and cost centre. |
| email threadThe manager replies “approved” from a phone. Finance searches for that reply at month end. | decisionThe approver decides in their queue or from a notification; the decision is stored on the invoice. |
| manual entryAn AP clerk types supplier, amount and tax into accounting. | integrationThe bill is created in accounting with the PDF attached and a link back to the approval. |
| spreadsheetA sheet tracks which invoices are still waiting, updated when someone remembers. | doneEvery invoice has a state. Ageing per state is visible to the finance lead. |
| memoryInvoices without a PO are handled by whoever remembers the supplier. | decisionUnmatched invoices go to an exception queue with a named owner and a deadline. |
§ 03Workflow
Anatomy of a workflow
Custom workflow management software development (sometimes called business process management software development) comes down to six parts. The diagram shows them on one invoice: what started it, which rule chose the path, who must decide and what the system does by itself.
- Received: donetrigger: email + PDF
- Matched: donerule: PO within 2%
- Budget owner: awaiting a decisionSLA 2 working days
- Finance lead: not startedonly if > $10,000
- Posted: not startedaction: bill in accounting
- Paid: not startedfrom bank file
↺ Rejected · returned to the AP clerk with a reason; the supplier is notified by the clerk, not automatically
- Trigger
- What starts the workflow: a form, an email, a webhook, a schedule or a change on a record.
- Condition
- A rule that decides the path: amount bands, cost centre, supplier risk, missing data.
- Assignment
- Who owns the next step: a role, a named person or a round-robin within a team.
- Approval
- A decision with a deadline, delegation and a record of who decided and why.
- Action
- What the system does by itself: create, update, post, send, archive.
- Escalation
- What happens when nobody acts: a reminder, then a manager, then a visible breach.
§ 04Approvals
Approval chains written as rules
Most approval policies already exist in a document or in someone’s head. Writing them as rules, with amount bands, deadlines and escalation, is what makes them enforceable and lets the system approve the routine cases on its own.
| Amount | Approver | Deadline | If no decision | On approval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤ $1,000 with PO match | None: approved by rule | - | - | Posted |
| ≤ $10,000 | Budget owner | 2 working days | Reminder, then department head | Posted |
| > $10,000 | Budget owner, then finance lead | 2 + 2 days | Finance director | Posted |
| No PO / new supplier | AP clerk triage | 1 working day | Finance lead | Manual review |
§ 05Exceptions
Exceptions are designed, not discovered
An automated process is only as good as its handling of the cases that do not fit. Every rule that can fail sends the record to an exception queue with an owner, a reason and a suggested next step, so nothing disappears silently.
| Item | Exception | Detected by | Next step | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| INV-55121 | No purchase order found | po_match = none | Find PO or route for manual approval | Needs triage |
| INV-55097 | Total 6% above PO | variance > 2% | Confirm with buyer | With buyer |
| INV-55090 | Duplicate of INV-54871 | supplier + number | Reject as duplicate | Rejected |
| SYNC-311 | Accounting API timeout | retry 3 of 5 | Automatic retry in 10 min | Retrying |
§ 06Integrations
Systems in the loop
Workflow automation services are mostly integration work: reading from the mailbox and purchasing, writing to accounting and chat. Each connection is idempotent (it can be retried without creating duplicates) and logged.
| Connected system | Direction | What moves | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| AP mailbox | AP mailbox → Invoice workflow | invoice PDFs | on arrival |
| Accounting | Invoice workflow → Accounting | bills · attachments | on approval |
| Purchasing / ERP | Purchasing / ERP → Invoice workflow | purchase orders | on match |
| Chat | Invoice workflow → Chat | approval requests | on assignment |
| Bank | Bank → Invoice workflow | payment status | daily file |
| Document store | Invoice workflow → Document store | archived invoice | on payment |
§ 07Approach
Workflow system, connector tool or RPA
Any business process automation company or business automation solutions company should tell you when you do not need custom software. Business automation services come in three common shapes, and this is how they compare.
| Question | Connector tools (no-code, iPaaS) | RPA (screen automation) | Custom workflow system |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best at | Moving data between popular SaaS tools on simple triggers. | Driving an application that has no API through its screens. | Processes with states, approvals, exceptions and several roles. |
| Approvals and queues | Limited; usually email-based. | Not its purpose. | First-class: queues, deadlines, delegation, escalation. |
| When something breaks | A failed run in the tool’s history. | Fragile when screens change. | An exception record with an owner, plus retries and logs. |
| Audit | Run history, often time-limited. | Bot logs. | A full trail on every record: who, what, when, by which rule. |
| Our view | Often the right answer for small flows. We will say so. | A last resort for a system with no API. We flag it during mapping and agree the approach with you. | The right answer when the process is core to the operation. |
§ 08Delivery
How an automation project runs
- 01phase
Process discovery
Interviews and a walk through real cases, including the awkward ones. We record each step, owner, rule, tool and exception.
- Handed over
- Process map with rules and an exception list
- 02phase
Workflow specification
States, transitions, approval chains, deadlines and escalations written down and agreed with the process owner.
- Handed over
- Workflow specification and approval matrix
- 03phase
Build and test with real cases
The workflow is built and tested against past cases, so each rule is shown to produce the result people expect.
- Handed over
- Test report on historical cases
- 04phase
Side-by-side run
The automated workflow runs alongside the manual process for an agreed period; differences are reviewed and fixed.
- Handed over
- Reconciliation of automated vs manual outcomes
- 05phase
Go-live and monitoring
The manual path is switched off. Run logs, exception queues and ageing views are handed to the process owner.
- Handed over
- Runbook, monitoring views and source code
Ideal when
- Approvals and handoffs wait in inboxes and nobody can see the queue
- Staff re-key the same data between email, spreadsheets and accounting
- A process breaks quietly when one person is on holiday
You receive
- Process map, workflow specification and approval matrix
- A running workflow with exception queues and deadlines
- Integration logs, run history and an audit trail per record
- Runbook and source code in your accounts
Not in scope
- Standalone RPA programmes or bot licences
- AI agents and model-based automation (a separate Comtau service)
- CRM-specific sales automation (a separate Comtau service)
§ 09Questions
Questions about process automation
How do I start automating my business processes?
Pick one process that repeats often, crosses at least two people and has rules you can state. Map it as it really runs, including the exceptions. Then automate the routing and the re-keying first, and leave the decisions with people. A single well-mapped process is a better start than a list of twenty.
What are examples of business process automation?
Common examples are supplier invoice approval, purchase requests, employee onboarding and offboarding, customer credit checks, expense claims, stock reorder proposals, contract renewals and month-end close checklists. Each has a trigger, a few rules, one or more approvals and a final action in another system.
What is the difference between business process automation and RPA?
Business process automation redesigns how work moves: states, rules, owners and integrations through APIs. Robotic process automation services (RPA) imitate a person clicking through an application’s screens. RPA can bridge a system without an API, but it breaks when screens change and does not give you queues, approvals or an audit trail. We use it only where no better interface exists.
Can you work with finance processes such as accounts payable?
Yes. Invoice approval, purchase-to-pay, expense approval and close checklists are typical candidates, because they have clear rules, approval limits and an accounting system at the end. We design them with your finance lead and your auditors’ requirements in mind. We do not claim sector-specific regulatory expertise.
Will automation take people out of the process?
It takes people out of copying, forwarding and chasing. Decisions that need judgement (approvals, exceptions, disputes) stay with people, but they arrive with the data attached and a clear deadline. In practice, automation changes what the team spends its time on more than how many people it needs.
Do you build workflows in tools like n8n or Zapier?
This page describes custom workflow systems. Connector tools are often the right choice for small flows between SaaS products, and we will recommend them when they fit. We do not offer tool-specific implementation packages for them.
Next step
Name one process that waits in an inbox.
We will map it with you: the trigger, the rules, who decides and where it breaks today. That map is useful whether or not you automate it with us.
brief.txt · what helps us most
- 01What starts the process and how often it happens
- 02Who approves, and the limits they approve within
- 03The systems data is copied between
- 04The exceptions that cause the most delay