Month-end, connected.
A workflow connecting Xero records, close tasks and generated progress summaries, with task states and completion records.
Inspect the built workflow →Case studies / Illustrative examples
Finance, marketing, reporting, customer service. Ten specific jobs your team could hand to an agent or workflow, with a clear output and a person in control.
Find your department ↓These are illustrative applications, not customer success stories. Every saving is an explicit workload assumption, ready to test against the way your team works.
Ten specific jobs across eight industries. Choose the team that owns the work, then see its inputs, workflow, finished output and assumed time saving.
Finance
Industry example: Manufacturing / Agent + workflow
Give accounts payable a source-backed draft reply and a clear queue of questions that need the invoice owner to intervene.
Answer supplier invoice questions with the evidence already gathered.
The accounts payable team repeatedly searches invoice and payment records, checks what has been approved and drafts replies to supplier status enquiries.
Human owner: Accounts payable lead
Example content only. No customer records are shown.
Read the enquiry and identify the invoice reference and question.
Use fixed matching rules to retrieve the approved invoice and payment-status evidence.
Prepare a reply using only the supported status and agreed wording.
Accounts payable resolves exceptions, checks the reply and sends it separately.
When something is missing: A missing or conflicting status goes to the invoice owner. The agent does not promise payment dates, change bank details, make payments or send replies.
50 × (8 − 3) = 250 minutes back / week
After-time allowance, per item: 1 min check evidence; 1 min review reply; 1 min average exception handling.
Compare handling minutes for similar supplier queries, including evidence checks, corrections, review and exceptions. Exclude waiting for owners to respond; record setup separately.
These are planning assumptions, not measured results. After-time includes human review and an allowance for exceptions. Setup, ongoing maintenance and waiting time are excluded.
Marketing
Industry example: Hospitality / Agent + workflow
Give marketing a consistent campaign brief and channel-specific drafts, with unsupported claims flagged before creative work or publication.
Turn approved campaign inputs into a brief the team can use.
The marketing team gathers campaign goals, checks offer details and brand guidance, then rewrites the same information for each channel brief.
Human owner: Marketing lead
Example content only. No customer records are shown.
Collect approved campaign material and check required briefing fields.
Organise the goals, audience, approved facts and deliverables into a structured brief.
Prepare channel variations grounded only in the supplied approved facts and terms.
Marketing checks every external claim and approves the brief. Publication is a separate decision.
When something is missing: Missing or conflicting offer terms return to marketing. The agent does not invent prices, testimonials, performance claims or offer terms, and does not publish.
5 × (60 − 25) = 175 minutes back / week
After-time allowance, per item: 5 min prepare inputs; 15 min review and approve; 5 min average exception handling.
Compare active preparation and review minutes for similar briefs, including factual checks, revisions and exceptions. Exclude asset production and publishing; record setup separately.
These are planning assumptions, not measured results. After-time includes human review and an allowance for exceptions. Setup, ongoing maintenance and waiting time are excluded.
Reporting
Industry example: Retail / Agent + workflow
Give the trading meeting a checked pack, a short account of what changed and a clear list of questions to resolve.
Start the week with decisions, not spreadsheet assembly.
The retail reporting team copies weekly sales into a reporting template, checks the comparison period and writes the same opening commentary each Monday.
Human owner: Trading or finance lead
Example content only. No customer records are shown.
Gather the agreed files for the reporting week.
Apply fixed checks to periods, missing fields and source totals.
Prepare commentary linked to the checked figures; label possible explanations as questions.
The trading lead resolves exceptions and approves the pack for circulation.
When something is missing: A missing comparison file holds the affected analysis and gives the file owner a specific request.
1 × (240 − 75) = 165 minutes back / week
After-time allowance, per item: 20 min prepare inputs; 40 min review the pack; 15 min average exception handling.
Time report preparation over four comparable weeks, including corrections and review. Compare the same scope; record initial setup separately.
These are planning assumptions, not measured results. After-time includes human review and an allowance for exceptions. Setup, ongoing maintenance and waiting time are excluded.
Reporting
Industry example: Professional services / Agent + workflow
Give the project lead a consistent update with source references, missing decisions and clear next actions before the client meeting.
Turn scattered project updates into a review-ready brief.
The project reporting team reads meeting notes and task lists, chases owners for context and rewrites the material into a weekly client status report.
Human owner: Project lead
Example content only. No customer records are shown.
Gather updates for the agreed project and reporting period.
Apply fixed checks for missing owners, overdue dates and stale updates.
Summarise progress and unresolved questions with links back to the source material.
The project lead checks interpretation, confirms commitments and approves sharing.
When something is missing: Conflicting dates remain an explicit question for the owner. The agent cannot commit to a new delivery date or change the project status itself.
10 × (25 − 10) = 150 minutes back / week
After-time allowance, per item: 5 min review source-backed draft; 3 min edit and approve; 2 min average exception handling.
Compare weekly preparation minutes across similar projects, including source chasing, edits and approval. Check omissions and corrections as well as time. Record setup separately.
These are planning assumptions, not measured results. After-time includes human review and an allowance for exceptions. Setup, ongoing maintenance and waiting time are excluded.
Customer service
Industry example: Property / Agent + workflow
Give the property manager a complete draft job, the available evidence and the missing information before they assign work.
Get each repair request ready for the right person.
The customer service team receives maintenance requests as free-text messages, repeatedly identifies the property, asks for access details and retypes the problem into a job record.
Human owner: Property manager
Example content only. No customer records are shown.
Turn the message into a draft fault description without diagnosing it.
Match the property and identify missing contact or access information.
Apply agreed escalation rules and prepare an acknowledgement or information request.
The property manager confirms urgency, authorises work and selects the contractor.
When something is missing: Urgent or ambiguous safety concerns go directly to a person under the agreed emergency process. Automated interpretation is not an emergency service.
40 × (10 − 4) = 240 minutes back / week
After-time allowance, per item: 2 min review the draft job; 1 min approve the next action; 1 min average exception handling.
Compare intake handling time for similar requests, including follow-up drafting, corrections and review. Exclude repair time and response waiting; record setup separately.
These are planning assumptions, not measured results. After-time includes human review and an allowance for exceptions. Setup, ongoing maintenance and waiting time are excluded.
Customer success
Industry example: Software / Agent + workflow
Give the onboarding owner a concise handover showing the customer's agreed scope, named contacts and questions that need resolving before kickoff.
Start onboarding with the promises and gaps in one place.
Customer success teams search sales notes, order documents and messages to reconstruct what was agreed before starting a new customer.
Human owner: Customer onboarding lead
Example content only. No customer records are shown.
Collect the authorised handover material for the confirmed customer record.
Draft a source-linked account of the agreed scope, contacts and dependencies.
Flag missing checklist fields and disagreements between notes and approved documents.
The onboarding lead resolves gaps and approves the internal brief before kickoff.
When something is missing: A promise in sales notes that conflicts with the approved scope is escalated to the account owner. No account access or contractual commitment is created.
15 × (20 − 8) = 180 minutes back / week
After-time allowance, per item: 4 min review the brief; 2 min confirm next actions; 2 min average exception handling.
Compare active handover preparation and review time for similar onboarding cases, including corrections and follow-ups. Exclude implementation work; record setup separately.
These are planning assumptions, not measured results. After-time includes human review and an allowance for exceptions. Setup, ongoing maintenance and waiting time are excluded.
Purchasing
Industry example: Manufacturing / Agent + workflow
Give the buyer one review queue showing which supplier confirmations agree with the order and which need a decision.
Spot changed delivery dates before they disrupt the plan.
The purchasing team reads confirmation emails and attachments, compares them with purchase orders and copies discrepancies into a tracker.
Human owner: Purchasing lead
Example content only. No customer records are shown.
Extract proposed dates, quantities and order references from each confirmation.
Use fixed checks to compare identified lines with the purchase order.
Prepare a discrepancy summary and draft clarification where the evidence conflicts.
The buyer approves tracker updates and sends any supplier response.
When something is missing: An uncertain line match stays unresolved. The agent does not amend the purchase order or promise a delivery date.
60 × (8 − 3) = 300 minutes back / week
After-time allowance, per item: 1 min review the match; 1 min approve or respond; 1 min average exception handling.
Compare hands-on minutes per confirmation across a representative week, including rejected matches, corrections and buyer review. Record setup separately.
These are planning assumptions, not measured results. After-time includes human review and an allowance for exceptions. Setup, ongoing maintenance and waiting time are excluded.
Operations
Industry example: Logistics / Agent + workflow
Help the operations team find missing delivery evidence and answer status questions from a single checked queue.
Turn missing delivery paperwork into a clear chase list.
The transport operations team searches shared folders and carrier messages for proof of delivery, then prepares individual follow-ups for missing documents.
Human owner: Transport operations lead
Example content only. No customer records are shown.
Extract shipment references and relevant details from received documents.
Match references to the register and check required evidence fields.
Create an unresolved-items queue and draft evidence requests.
Operations checks the queue and approves each outward message.
When something is missing: A mismatched shipment reference is held for operations. A document match alone does not settle a delivery dispute or authorise invoicing.
100 × (6 − 2) = 400 minutes back / week
After-time allowance, per item: 1 min review evidence; 0.5 min approve follow-up; 0.5 min average exception handling.
Record active search, checking and follow-up time for comparable deliveries. Include unresolved cases and review; exclude waiting for carrier replies. Record setup separately.
These are planning assumptions, not measured results. After-time includes human review and an allowance for exceptions. Setup, ongoing maintenance and waiting time are excluded.
Operations
Industry example: Hospitality / Workflow
Bring availability, coverage needs and unresolved gaps into one draft so the manager can focus on the staffing decisions.
Give managers a rota to review, with gaps already visible.
Venue operations managers gather availability from several places, build each weekly rota and manually check coverage before publishing it.
Human owner: Venue manager
Example content only. No customer records are shown.
Bring the agreed availability and coverage inputs into one schedule.
Use fixed rules to propose assignments against the supplied constraints.
List unfilled shifts, clashes and assignments that need a manager's decision.
The manager checks suitability, makes adjustments and approves publication.
When something is missing: An uncovered shift remains a visible gap. The workflow does not invent availability or override the agreed constraints; no legal-compliance guarantee is implied.
4 × (90 − 35) = 220 minutes back / week
After-time allowance, per item: 10 min check availability; 15 min review and adjust; 10 min average gap handling.
Compare hands-on preparation and review time for similar venue rotas, including amendments and uncovered-shift handling. Record configuration and rule maintenance separately.
These are planning assumptions, not measured results. After-time includes human review and an allowance for exceptions. Setup, ongoing maintenance and waiting time are excluded.
HR & recruitment
Industry example: Recruitment / Workflow
Give the coordinator a ready-to-confirm interview slot, the right attendees and a consistent invitation without repeated calendar checking.
Spend less time finding a slot that works.
HR and recruitment coordinators compare interviewers' availability, check candidate preferences and draft invitations by hand as interview arrangements change.
Human owner: Recruitment coordinator
Example content only. No customer records are shown.
Gather availability for candidates already selected for interview by a person.
Use fixed scheduling rules to identify mutually available slots.
Populate an invitation and checklist with the agreed interview details.
The coordinator rechecks availability and approves the invitation before sending.
When something is missing: A withdrawn slot or conflicting time zone returns to the coordinator. The workflow does not score, shortlist or reject candidates.
30 × (12 − 5) = 210 minutes back / week
After-time allowance, per item: 2 min check the proposed slot; 2 min review and confirm; 1 min average rescheduling.
Measure coordination minutes per completed booking, including rescheduling and review. Compare similar panels; exclude candidate assessment and waiting for replies. Record setup separately.
These are planning assumptions, not measured results. After-time includes human review and an allowance for exceptions. Setup, ongoing maintenance and waiting time are excluded.
A fair way to read the numbers. Each figure is a separate illustrative scenario. Saving = weekly volume × (manual minutes − minutes with the workflow). Time after automation includes preparation, checking, approval and an allowance for exceptions. These estimates exclude setup, maintenance and time spent waiting; they are not measured customer results or cash savings. A real build starts with your baseline and is checked on agreed trial runs.
Work you can inspect
The department examples above show possible applications. These links distinguish built Clerq capabilities from worked examples.
A workflow connecting Xero records, close tasks and generated progress summaries, with task states and completion records.
Inspect the built workflow →The Trading Report, Month-End and Supplier Enquiry Agents are three examples of Clerq's built agent range.
Explore the available agents →A review of one team and its systems, opportunities to save time, and a prioritised plan with a price for each workflow.
Read the sample assessment →Walkthroughs use synthetic information. More to inspect: Renewl and the supplier contract register. Tool compatibility, permissions, delivery scope and support are agreed for each implementation.
Tell us where the copying, chasing or checking happens. We will discuss what a useful output would look like and whether a workflow is worth building.
Assessment £499 with a two-hour systems walkthrough and report. Simple workflow £995; connected workflow £1,500-£3,000; bespoke work individually quoted. Basic care £150-£250/month; active improvement from £750/month. Scope and final price agreed first.
Start with a free introductory call. Choose a time in Calendly. The optional £499 assessment includes a two-hour walkthrough of one team and its systems, preparation, a prioritised report and a short follow-up call. A defined build can be quoted directly.
We start with your current tools. We confirm suitable connections, access and file hand-offs before agreeing a build. The Xero example does not establish support for every accounting platform.
Payments, supplier decisions and customer replies stay under human approval. We agree the inputs, secure sharing method, access permissions and responsibilities before work starts. Use only a brief description in the public enquiry form. Do not send confidential records. See our privacy policy for website data handling.
Sometimes AI is not worth it yet. If the process is unclear, automating it makes it faster and worse, and we will tell you so. Try the readiness check.