What you need to know first

What problem does this solve?: Documents are produced by copying last month’s file and editing it, then sent for approval by message or email. Versions multiply, the approved one is whichever attachment someone found last, and there is no reliable record of who approved what or when.
What exactly do I receive?: A working document and approval workflow: documents generated from authoritative data, routed to the correct approver with a defined escalation path, and an approval record that can be evidenced afterwards — with one authoritative version of each document.
How is it priced?: Fixed base package, or quoted for complex routingThe fee is quoted for your requirement, because scope, systems and complexity differ in every case.A single document type with a straightforward approval path is priced as a fixed base package. Several document types, conditional or multi-stage routing, or a generation system with no supported integration point is quoted. No figures are published yet; the basis and fee are confirmed in writing before work begins.
How long does it generally take?: Typically 3 to 5 weeks for a base packageIndicative, and dependent on the document template and approval rules being confirmed. Agreeing who approves what is usually the slowest step, and it is not a technical one.
What happens next?: Send an enquiry describing the requirement. We confirm the scope, the fee and the timescale in writing before any work begins. An enquiry is not an order: an engagement becomes binding only when it is expressly accepted, as set out in the Terms of Service.

Deliverables

Document generation from authoritative data for the agreed document types
Approval routing, including conditional and multi-stage paths where agreed
An approval record: who approved which version, and when
One authoritative version of each document, with superseded versions retained rather than overwritten
Handover documentation covering templates, routing rules and failure handling

Included

Template design for the agreed document types
Generation from the agreed data source
Approval routing and escalation rules
Approval recording and version handling
Notification to approvers
Two adjustment rounds and handover documentation

Not included

Stating the boundary is part of the offer. Anything here can usually be arranged separately.

Legal advice on the content of any document
A qualified electronic signature service, or any statement about the legal sufficiency of an approval — a signature provider can be integrated if you licence one
Software licences, subscriptions or storage costs
Migration of historical documents, unless separately scoped
Ongoing operation or support, unless separately scoped

Customer prerequisites

Defined document types and defined approval rules — including who approves what, and what happens when they are unavailable
A data source the documents can be generated from
A system to store the documents in, and access to it

Information and access we need

We will ask for these. Where the work needs access to a system, access is arranged and scoped with you rather than assumed.

The document types in scope, with current examples
The approval rules, approvers and escalation path
The data source for generation, and access to it
The storage system, and access to it
Any retention rule the documents are subject to

Expected process

Enquiry
You describe the document types and how approval happens today.
Scoping session
A working session to confirm the templates, the approval rules and whether the systems involved support the connections needed.
Written scope and fee
Base package or quoted requirement, with the fee and indicative timescale.
Build
Templates, generation, routing, recording and notification.
Review and handover
Testing against real cases, two adjustment rounds, then documented handover.

Meetings, revisions and scope

Meetings: Meeting required, during the assessment (about 60 minutes)
Revisions: 2 revisions included. Two rounds of adjustment to templates and routing after go-live. Additional document types are a scope change.
Scope: Deliverables are limited to those expressly included in the agreed scope. Additional revisions, meetings, research or services outside that scope may require additional fees — see the Consulting Terms.

Frequently asked questions about this service

What kinds of workflows can you automate?

The recurring, rule-based ones that currently depend on somebody remembering: moving information between systems, producing and circulating a document, routing something for approval, generating a recurring report, keeping two records in step, triggering a notification when a state changes.

What is deliberately not automated is judgement. A good automation keeps the decision with a person and removes the clerical work around it, which is also what makes it safe to operate when something unexpected arrives.

Feasibility is established by an assessment rather than assumed up front — Workflow Automation Assessment.

Can you connect applications we already use?

Often, yes — and that is the question the integration assessment answers for your specific systems rather than in general.

What determines it:

whether each application exposes an API, an export, a webhook or a supported integration point
whether your licence tier includes that access — this is a common blocker and is worth checking early
whether the data in the two systems can actually be matched reliably (a shared identifier, or a rule that produces one)
how often the data has to move, and what happens when one side is unavailable

We do not commit to an integration before those answers exist. Where a supported route does not exist, the assessment says so and sets out the alternatives, including the ones that are not software.

Will you need access to our systems?

For most Consulting work, some access is needed — but it is scoped and agreed with you, never assumed. Each service page lists what it needs under "Information and access we need".

The principle applied is least privilege and shortest duration: read-only where reading is enough, a sandbox or test environment where one exists, access limited to the systems in scope, and removal at the end of the engagement.

The Consulting Services Terms record that the client provides reasonably necessary access and credentials, and that each party will use reasonable safeguards for confidential information received in connection with the engagement.

Read every answer in the FAQ & Trust Center

Next step

Request a quote

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