Automation Audit Scorecard: What to Automate First
Automate first the tasks that cost you the most time and mistakes, follow the same steps every time, start from digital data, and are easy to build with tools you already have. This scorecard puts a yearly dollar cost on each recurring task, scores its readiness and effort, and ranks them, so you know what to automate, what to plan, and what to clean up first.
The scorecard (Excel)
One row per task. Enter how often it happens, how long it takes, what mistakes cost, and three 1 to 5 scores. It calculates the annual cost, a priority, a verdict, and a rank. Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers.
The rubric and worksheet (PDF)
The scoring rubric, the math, what each verdict means, a worked example, and a blank scorecard to fill in by hand during a team meeting.
How each task is scored
Annual cost is the time a task takes, at the hourly cost of whoever does it, plus what its mistakes cost, times twelve. Readiness is the average of the rules and data scores. Priority is annual cost times readiness, divided by effort.
Rules (1 to 5)
- 1: Judgment every time; no two are alike
- 3: Same steps most of the time, with regular exceptions
- 5: Identical steps every time; you could write them on a card
Data (1 to 5)
- 1: Paper, phone calls, or free-form conversations
- 3: Emails or PDFs that someone has to read and retype
- 5: Already in a form, app, or spreadsheet with consistent fields
Effort (1 to 5)
- 1: A setting or built-in feature in software you already pay for
- 3: A multi-step workflow in Zapier or Make, or a new app
- 5: Custom development or replacing a core system
What the verdicts mean
Readiness below 3
The steps change every time or the inputs are messy. Write down how it should be done and run it that way for a month. Then score it again.
Ready, but costs under $1,500 a year
Not worth a project yet. Revisit it when volume grows.
Ready, worth it, and effort 1 or 2
Start here. Usually a built-in feature or a simple Zapier or Make workflow you can finish in days.
Ready and worth it, but effort 3 or more
Worth doing, but it needs a real plan: a connector, some custom work, or a change of tools. Sequence it after the quick wins.
A worked example
Six recurring tasks at a hypothetical service business, sorted by priority. The most expensive task is not at the top, and the crew schedule is not ready to automate at all.
| Task | Hours / month | Annual cost | Readiness | Effort | Priority | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Send invoices after each job | 8.0 | $4,320 | 4.5 | 1 | 194 | Automate first |
| Reply to website quote requests | 10.0 | $10,800 | 3.5 | 3 | 126 | Plan the project |
| Enter receipts into QuickBooks | 4.0 | $2,340 | 3.5 | 1 | 82 | Automate first |
| Remind customers the day before a visit | 3.7 | $2,760 | 5 | 2 | 69 | Automate first |
| Build next week's crew schedule | 8.0 | $6,240 | 2.5 | 4 | 39 | Standardize first |
| Chase unsigned estimates | 2.0 | $720 | 4 | 2 | 14 | Leave it manual |
Hypothetical example for illustration, not a client result.
How to run the audit
List every recurring task for two weeks
Keep a running list of anything that happens more than once a month: data entry, reminders, follow-ups, reports, copying between apps. Ask everyone on the team to add to it.
Estimate frequency and time
For each task, write how often it happens in a month and how many minutes it takes, including the time spent switching between apps.
Put a cost on mistakes
Count how often it goes wrong and what a miss costs: redo time, a refund, a late fee, a lead that went cold.
Score rules, data, and effort
Rate each task 1 to 5 on how rule-based it is, how digital its inputs are, and how hard it would be to automate with the tools you have.
Sort by priority and read the verdict
The sheet ranks tasks by annual cost adjusted for readiness and effort, and labels each one: automate first, plan the project, standardize first, or leave it manual.
Automate one task, then measure
Start with the top 'Automate first' task. After a month, compare the time and errors to your estimate before moving to the next one.
More on why the order matters, and the traps that make automation projects stall, in what should you automate first? For a broader list of candidates, see which business processes to automate.
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Automation Audit Scorecard
Score your recurring tasks by cost, readiness, and effort to see what to automate first and what to standardize before automating.
Frequently Asked Questions
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