Most businesses know they should automate, but they don’t know where to start. Here are five processes that consistently deliver the highest return on investment when automated.
1. Invoice Processing and Accounts Payable
Manual invoice processing costs companies an average of $15-$25 per invoice. AI-powered automation can reduce this to under $3 by extracting data automatically, matching it to purchase orders, and routing for approval with zero human touch for standard cases.
2. Customer Onboarding
Whether you’re onboarding a new SaaS user, a banking customer, or an employee, the process involves collecting documents, verifying identity, creating accounts, and sending welcome communications. Automation can reduce onboarding time from days to minutes.
3. Reporting and Data Aggregation
How much time does your team spend pulling data from different systems into spreadsheets? Automated reporting pipelines extract, transform, and visualize data in real time. Your Monday morning report is ready before you arrive.
4. Email and Ticket Routing
Support teams waste 30% of their time sorting and assigning tickets. AI agents can read incoming messages, classify them by urgency and topic, and route them to the right person immediately - with suggested responses for common cases.
5. Inventory and Supply Chain Alerts
Set up automated monitoring that triggers purchase orders when inventory drops below thresholds, sends alerts when shipments are delayed, and generates demand forecasts based on historical data. One automation replaces three full-time roles.
The Common Thread
The best processes to automate share three characteristics:
- Repetitive: Done the same way every time
- High volume: Happens frequently enough to matter
- Data-driven: Decisions follow clear rules or patterns
If a process checks all three boxes, it’s ready for automation.
What This Means for Your Bottom Line
Companies that automate these five processes typically see:
- 40-60% reduction in processing costs
- 3-5x faster turnaround times
- 90%+ reduction in human errors
- Team freed up for higher-value work
Want help identifying which processes to automate first? Let’s talk.