When embarking on your RPA journey, choosing the right processes to automate first is crucial for building momentum and demonstrating value. Here are the five processes we recommend prioritizing:

1. Invoice Processing

Manual invoice handling is time-consuming and error-prone. Automating invoice data extraction, validation, and entry into accounting systems typically saves 20-30 hours per week for SMBs while reducing errors by 95%.

2. Employee Onboarding

From creating email accounts to provisioning software access and updating HR systems, onboarding involves repetitive tasks across multiple systems. RPA can reduce onboarding time from days to hours.

3. Report Generation

If your team spends hours each week pulling data from multiple sources and formatting reports, automation can complete these tasks in minutes with greater accuracy.

4. Customer Data Updates

Keeping customer information synchronized across CRM, billing, and support systems is tedious but critical. RPA ensures data consistency without manual effort.

5. Email Processing and Routing

Automating the sorting, categorization, and routing of routine emails (orders, inquiries, reports) frees your team to focus on complex customer interactions.

Starting with these high-volume, rule-based processes builds confidence in RPA and generates quick returns to fund broader automation initiatives.