6 workflow examples for businesses in 2024
What is a workflow?
A workflow is a system for managing repetitive processes or tasks in a streamlined and efficient way.
Workflows may involve documented processes that go over details, like the tools you’ll use and steps employees will take to complete a task. They can cover everything from how to manufacture products to how to onboard a new team member.
As your company grows and you need established processes to create consistent and high-quality results, workflows become essential. And thanks to the incredible advancement and accessibility of automation, many businesses are using automation tools or integrations to streamline workflows.
Automation may make certain processes more effective (and much faster) for teams, but it can also take some tasks off an employee’s hands entirely.
The benefits of automating your workflows:
Eliminate manual input errors
Humans make mistakes, particularly when entering data - and this can cause real problems for businesses. It’s crucial your processes reduce the risk of errors. Workflow automation is one way to do that.
Ensure compliance with different regulations
There are regulatory compliance and reporting obligations that all businesses need to adhere to. Automation can make sure your reports to the ATO are accurate and lodged on time.
Improve productivity
When your team uses automation to manage repetitive tasks, they’ll spend more time on the projects that need their attention. Improved productivity leads to increased revenue because you can produce more with less time and effort.
How enterprise resource planning (ERP) workflows can help
ERP workflows help enterprise-sized companies streamline and automate day-to-day tasks in functions like human resources (HR) or accounting.
They can manage time-consuming and repetitive tasks — like employee onboarding — and apply the same rules consistently. Ultimately, ERP workflows help you save money and allow your team to focus on high-value tasks.
Workflow automation examples and tasks
1. Accounting and Tax
Accounting is full of important yet repetitive tasks, making it a prime choice for workflow automation.
Examples of automated workflows include:
calculating tax, including goods and services tax (GST)
preparing and lodging business activity statements (BAS).
Take bank reconciliation as an example. It’s a crucial task for ensuring that all your records line up. It can spot potential theft from the company, and also help businesses monitor cash flow. However, while it’s an important task, it can also be extremely time consuming and mundane work that’s more effectively performed by automation software.
2. Customers
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools can help you keep track of what you need to know about your prospects and customers, including every interaction they’ve had with your brand. Marketing and sales teams can use this data to reach out to contacts at the right time to drive sales.
A few examples of CRM workflows include:
setting up autoresponder campaigns, so customers get personalised emails in response to specific actions, like requesting a quote
presenting products to customers that they might be interested in, based on their previous buying activity
sending customers invoices and following up on those that are overdue
generating quotes based on requirements.
3. Employee management
Examples of employee management workflows include:
managing leave and time-off requests
implementing a self-onboarding system for new employees
calculating and distributing superannuation contributions.
4. Finances
Workflows can improve visibility into how much money you have and where it’s going. Examples of financial workflow processes include:
automated expense tracking
setting up invoice financing for improved cash flow
scheduling loan repayments
tracking or scanning receipts
automatically processing payments.
5. Projects
Project management is challenging and involves keeping up with everything your team does. That includes external team members, too, like contractors and business partners.
Examples of project management workflows include:
setting deadlines, tracking task progress and sending reminders
using an automated system to manage online timesheets.
easy on-the-go quoting and invoicing
6. Supply chain
Workflows allow you to better manage your inventory, especially if it’s hard to stay on top of fluctuating demand. Supply chain management workflow automations include:
syncing inventory management to your eCommerce platform
creating automated processes that restock orders when supplies drop to a certain level
tracking orders throughout their entire lifecycle to delivery.
Automate your workflows with MYOB
MYOB is a business management platform that allows you to manage all your business workflows in one place. You can digitise and automate your business processes for your customers, employees, supply chain, projects, finances, and accounting and tax.
With MYOB, you pay for what you need today but can scale your platform and add on new modules and capabilities to meet tomorrow’s requirements. Streamline tasks, build powerful connections and grow confidently with a solution that’s future ready.
Disclaimer: Information provided in this article is of a general nature and does not consider your personal situation. It does not constitute legal, financial, or other professional advice and should not be relied upon as a statement of law, policy or advice. You should consider whether this information is appropriate to your needs and, if necessary, seek independent advice. This information is only accurate at the time of publication. Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of the information contained on this webpage, MYOB disclaims, to the extent permitted by law, all liability for the information contained on this webpage or any loss or damage suffered by any person directly or indirectly through relying on this information.