Automate reviewing daily files to find new accounts
A daily file gets opened, cleaned, re-keyed into another system and checked by hand, eight hours a day. One scheduled run does it in about three minutes and flags anything that doesn't match.
This is the shape of most of the work we take on: a person, a set of files, the same hunt every day.
In short
Several files arrive every day and someone hunts through them for accounts that are new, then keys them in and checks the entry. We build a scheduled job that reads each file, compares it to the system, loads the new records and sets aside anything that does not match. Plain automation, no AI. Usually a larger workflow, $25,000 to $75,000, because of the files and the two systems. First deliverable running within 30 days.
Watch a simulated run of this job- Free evaluation
- Fixed quote before work begins
- First deliverable running in 14 days, guaranteed
- Small tasks welcome
What this costs you today
Every morning several files arrive. Someone opens each one, scans it for accounts that are not in the system yet, and keys the new ones in. Then they check what they entered against what was in the file. In the companies we meet this takes a full day, and it is the same day every day.
It breaks quietly. A file arrives late and the day slips. A record is missed and turns up weeks later as a problem. The person doing it is careful, and it still happens, because the task is built for a machine and a person is doing it.
Call a fully loaded employee $45,000 a year, as an illustration. When this review takes a full day, every day, that is 40 hours a week, and all of that cost goes to a task that should take minutes.
- Typical time
- 40 hrs / week
- That is
- a whole person
- At an illustrative $45,000 a year
- $45,000 / year
Typical figures, using $45,000 as an illustrative fully loaded cost. Your numbers go in the calculator below. If your version is a couple of hours a week, that still counts. Or open these figures in the calculator and change them.
How it works
- 1
Step 1
We sit with the person who does the review and write down what makes a record new, what makes it a match, and what they do when a file looks wrong.
- 2
Step 2
We get a week of real files and confirm the rules against them before anything is built.
- 3
Step 3
We build the job to read the files, compare them to the system and load the new accounts. Where the target system has a proper way in, we use it.
- 4
Step 4
Exceptions go on a short list with the reason. The person reviews that list; the job never guesses.
- 5
Step 5
The first deliverable runs on one file in your operation. Then we add the rest.
What CBIT builds instead
We build a scheduled job that runs before anyone is in the office. It opens each file, reads the records, and compares them against what is already in the system. New accounts are loaded. Records that match are left alone.
Anything that does not fit the rules is not guessed at. It is set aside with a note on why, and the person who used to do all of it reviews only those. That is the part that still needs a person, and it is a short list.
Plain automation handles most repetitive work. We use newer tools only where they clearly earn their place, and we tell you when we do. This task did not need them.
What the person gets back is their day. A few minutes reviewing exceptions, then the work only a person can do.
Plain automation or AI?
This is plain automation. No AI. A scheduled job reads the files, applies the rules a person was applying by hand, and loads the results.
What business automation actually costsOne example, names left out
Before
Going through several files by hand, looking for new accounts to add to the system. Open a file, hunt for the records that were new, key them in, check them. Eight hours, every day.
After
A scheduled run reads the files, identifies the new accounts, loads them, and flags anything that doesn't match. The process now takes about three minutes a day, mostly a person reviewing the exceptions. The rest of the day went back to the team.
The numbers
About 40 hours a week before. About 15 minutes a week after. The calculator below is set to those figures.
Real work from real clients, with the names left out. What matters is the shape of the problem, and how often we see it.
Price band and timeline
- Usually
- Larger workflow
- Band
- $25,000–$75,000
- First deliverable running
- Within 30 days
This kind of project
Sized to the files and the systems
The example above took a full day, every day, with several files and two systems, so it was a more involved build. A version that reads one clean file and loads one system is a smaller project. We look at the file formats, the matching rules and how the target system accepts data before we recommend what to build.
- Small tasks and larger workflows are both welcome. We look at what needs to happen and give you a fixed quote before work begins. No hourly meter.
- First deliverable running in 14 days, guaranteed.
- Changes to outside systems (a portal redesign, a vendor's API change) may require separately quoted repair work. We tell you when that happens.
All prices and the guaranteeWhat business automation actually costs
Run your own numbers.
Set to the typical figures for this task. Change them to match your team, however small the number.
What this task costs you in time
Hours a week, times the people doing it, at whatever a person costs you. $45,000 a year is an illustration; set it to your own figure.
People doing this work
1
Hours each, per week
Half an hour counts. 40 is a full week.
40
Fully loaded cost per person, per year
Salary, benefits, taxes, overhead. $45,000 is an illustration; set it to yours.
$45,000
Time spent on this task
40 hrs / week
About 2,080 hours a year of a person's time.
- Labor value of that time
- $45,000 / year
- Your project price
- Fixed quote after a free evaluation
These figures show the value of time spent on the task, not a project quote or guaranteed cash savings. We will help estimate what can realistically be automated.
Questions about this task.
What if the files look different every day?
That is the usual case, and the rules handle it as long as the differences are consistent: a different layout per sender, a different column order. A file that changes shape without warning stops the job and tells us rather than loading bad records. During the evaluation we look at a sample of real files to see which kind you have.
How do new accounts get into our system?
Where the system has an API, EDI or a file import, we use that. Where the only way in is the screens, the automation fills them the way a person does, through your own authorized login, after we review the system's terms with you. The evaluation tells you which applies.
What happens to the records that do not match?
They are set aside with a note on why: a field missing, a name that matches two accounts, a value outside the rule. That list is what the person reviews each morning. In the example above it is a few minutes of work.
How is this priced?
It is usually a larger workflow, $25,000 to $75,000, because there are several files and two systems, and the matching rules take care to get right. A version with one clean file and one system is smaller. The quote is fixed after the free evaluation, before work begins.
How long until it is running?
The first deliverable is running in your operation within 30 days: one file, end to end, loading real accounts. The remaining files and edge cases follow. The clock starts when we have access and sample files.
What if a file source changes later?
The job stops and tells us instead of writing bad data. A fix is quoted as it comes up, or it is covered under the managed plan, which includes unlimited fixes when a file format or a login changes.
Tell us about the task your team keeps doing by hand.
Every morning, every Friday, or every time an order comes in. Small tasks and larger workflows are both welcome. The evaluation is free, and if we take it on, the first deliverable is running in your operation within 14 days, guaranteed.
Free evaluation. Fixed quote before work begins.
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Guide
What business automation actually costs
What makes a project small or large, how the fixed quote works, and how the cost compares to the time the task takes today.
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