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Almost every company has workflows where data is retyped, forms are printed or information is sent back and forth by email. But not all of these processes are equally worth digitalising. This article explains the criteria for finding the right candidates and which areas work well as a starting point in many small and mid-sized businesses.
What "digitalising a process" actually means
A process is a recurring sequence of work steps with a clear result, such as "pay an incoming invoice" or "set up a new employee". Digitalising it means handling the information electronically from start to finish, with as few media breaks as possible. A media break occurs when data has to be transferred from one format to another, for example from paper into software.
There are levels to this: a PDF instead of a paper form is a first step. Real digitalisation begins when data is captured in a structured way and processed automatically. The highest level is automation, where rules or software take over parts of the decisions.
Five criteria for choosing
A good candidate for digitalisation meets as many of these criteria as possible:
- Frequency: the process happens daily or weekly, not just once a year.
- Clear rules: the steps are largely the same and can be described.
- High manual effort: lots of retyping, copying, searching or follow-up questions.
- Error-prone: mistakes cost money, time or customer satisfaction.
- Good data availability: the required information already exists digitally or is easy to capture.
A sixth criterion is external pressure: legal requirements or customer demands can make a process urgent regardless of your internal assessment.
Processes with typical potential in SMEs
Incoming and outgoing invoices
Invoice processing is the obvious place to start for many companies. Since 1 January 2025, businesses in Germany must be able to receive e-invoices in domestic B2B transactions. An e-invoice is a structured electronic format such as XRechnung or ZUGFeRD (from version 2.0.1, excluding certain profiles); a simple PDF does not count. From 2027, companies with more than 800,000 euros in prior-year turnover must also issue e-invoices, and from 2028 all companies must (as of November 2026).
If you have to switch anyway, you can rethink the whole workflow: automatic import, matching against the purchase order, approval and handover to accounting.
Quotes and order processing
When quotes are written in Word, orders are confirmed by email and then entered into the inventory system, several media breaks occur. An end-to-end solution, such as a CRM connected to the ERP system, saves time and prevents transcription errors.
Online shop and inventory management
For retailers with an online shop, the link between shop and inventory system is often a bottleneck. Orders, stock levels and customer data should be synchronised automatically rather than reconciled by hand.
HR processes
Leave requests, sick notes, travel expense claims and onboarding new staff follow clear rules and occur regularly. Digital forms with an approval workflow replace paper and spreadsheets here.
Customer enquiries and service
Enquiries via website, phone and email often end up in different inboxes. A central ticket system or forms that capture requests in a structured way and route them automatically provide a clear overview.
Reports and analysis
Monthly reports that someone pastes together from several spreadsheets are a classic time sink. A dashboard that pulls data automatically from the source systems delivers current figures without manual work.
Assessment at a glance
| Process | Frequency | Rule-based | Typical effort today | External pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invoice processing | high | high | high | E-invoicing mandate |
| Quotes and orders | high | medium | medium to high | low |
| Shop and inventory | high | high | high | low |
| HR processes | medium | high | medium | low |
| Customer enquiries | high | medium | medium | low |
| Reporting | medium | high | medium to high | low |
This is a typical starting point. The weighting may look different in your company, so it is worth doing your own assessment.
Roughly estimating the benefit
Before you invest, a simple back-of-the-envelope calculation is worthwhile. Multiply the number of cases per month by the time each case takes today, and estimate how much of that could be saved. A purely hypothetical example: with 200 incoming invoices a month and ten minutes of manual work each, that adds up to just over 33 hours. If half of that could be saved, it would free up around 16 hours a month.
Weigh this benefit against one-off costs for implementation and training as well as ongoing costs for licences and operation. Do not forget benefits that are harder to measure, such as fewer errors, faster responses to customers or less dependence on individual people.
Which processes can wait
Not everything needs to be digitalised right away. Restraint makes sense for:
- Rare workflows: if a process only happens a few times a year, the effort is often out of proportion to the benefit.
- Highly variable workflows: processes that run differently every time are hard to standardise.
- Processes in transition: if an area is undergoing fundamental change, wait for the new structure.
- Workflows with a high advisory share: where personal judgement is central, digitalisation supports rather than replaces.
From candidate to project
Once you have chosen a process, proceed in this order:
- Map the current process: document steps, people involved, systems and time spent, ideally together with the people who run the process every day.
- Simplify the process: remove unnecessary steps and loops before software comes into play.
- Describe the target process: who does what, which data flows where, where are decisions made automatically?
- Choose the tool: extend existing systems, introduce standard software, or connect systems via interfaces and automation platforms such as n8n.
- Define a metric: for example lead time, error rate or effort per case.
- Test and roll out: start with a small group, gather feedback, then roll out.
- Mind retention rules: for tax-relevant documents, comply with the GoBD, Germany's principles for the proper keeping and storage of electronic books and records.
How Simplify Data can help
Simplify Data in Kiel helps companies in Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and across Germany identify and implement suitable processes. This includes process analysis, interfaces between existing systems, automation with n8n and reporting with Power BI or Metabase. Learn more on our page about IT consulting for SMEs.