01
It repeats
At least weekly, usually more often. A workflow that happens four times a year is rarely worth the investment.
Business automation
Your systems can do more than they do today
Between website, CRM, accounting and online shop there are handovers that someone does by hand today. We connect the systems through their interfaces and let the workflows between them run on their own. No new software, no system switch.
n8n on Swiss servers
You own the workflows
Handed over with documentation
workflow · order-to-invoice
- Inquiry via web form
- Check and create contact
- Create quote as a draft
- Create order and task
- Invoice from logged hours
Manual steps before 5 after 1
Definition
What business process automation is
Business process automation means letting software, not people, carry out recurring steps between your existing systems. A workflow is described once, given conditions and exceptions, and then runs the same way every time it is triggered.
The term is often confused with two neighbors. Robotic process automation imitates clicks in user interfaces and is used where a system has no interface. Process digitization turns a paper process into a digital form without automating it. Business automation works through interfaces (APIs). It is more stable than RPA and goes further than digitization alone.
For an SME, that means: between website, CRM, accounting, time tracking and shop there are handovers. Every one of these handovers is a candidate for workflow automation.
Three terms that often get mixed up
Process digitization
Paper becomes a digital form. The workflow stays manual.
Robotic process automation
Software repeats clicks in the user interface. Breaks as soon as the interface changes.
Business automation
Systems exchange data through their interfaces. Stable, traceable, easy to document.
How to tell whether automation pays off
Four traits make a workflow a candidate. The more of them apply, the clearer the case. If none applies, we tell you before you pay for anything.
02
It follows rules
If you can explain when what happens, it can be built. Where a person has to judge anew every time, it can’t.
03
It touches several systems
The manual work you can get rid of happens exactly at the handovers between two programs.
04
A mistake costs money
A forgotten invoice, a customer created twice, an order that never became a sales order. Automation removes that source of errors.
Which workflows we automate
Four areas where Swiss SMEs regularly have the most manual work.
Sales and quoting
An inquiry turns into a contact, a prepared quote and, after acceptance, an order. Without anyone typing the same details three times.
- Form to contact
- Quote as a draft
- Order after acceptance
Invoicing and incoming payments
Logged hours become invoice items, recurring invoices run without anyone touching them, and incoming payments are matched to the document.
- Hours to invoice
- Recurring invoices
- Reminder before dunning
Master data across systems
Contacts, items and prices stay in sync in both directions, with a clearly defined leading system per field. Duplicates are detected before anything is written.
- Two-way sync
- Duplicate check
- Leading system per field
Analyses and reports
Figures from several sources land in a finished report on the due date, instead of someone copying spreadsheets together at the start of the month.
- Data from several sources
- Fixed delivery date
- Connected to web analytics
Integrations we build
We work with what you already have. The requirement is an interface. With Swiss business software, that is now the rule.
bexio
The most common request from Swiss SMEs. Contacts, quotes, orders, invoices, projects and time tracking can be reached through the API. Limits and approach are on its own page.
Project time and service tracking
Logged hours flow into invoicing, assigned to customer, order and rate. Unbilled hours become visible before the month closes.
CRM and marketing
HubSpot, Pipedrive, Mailchimp and similar systems through their official interfaces. Also as a destination for leads from a chatbot.
Online shops
Shopify and WooCommerce. Orders become sales orders, stock stays in sync, and invoices are created with the correct Swiss QR reference.
Website and forms
Inquiries land where they belong instead of in an inbox. With a confirmation to the sender and a task for the person in charge.
Your system isn’t listed?
Then we check its interface in the initial call. It costs nothing, and we tell you honestly if it isn’t technically possible.
How we work
Four steps. After each one you have something in hand, even if you don’t continue.
Process analysis
We sit down with you and the people who run the workflow every day. We record what happens today, where data is moved by hand and where errors occur. Then we check technically which steps can be reached through the existing interfaces.
Result: a prioritized list with effort and expected benefit per automation. The list is yours, even if you don’t continue with us.
Build and test
We build the workflow against test data first, then run it in parallel with your current manual work. Only when the results match across several runs do we switch over.
We deliberately provoke failures along the way, so you know what happens when a system doesn’t respond.
Handover with documentation
You get a description of every workflow: what triggers it, which data it touches, which conditions apply, what happens on failure and who gets notified.
It is written so that another provider can work with it. That is intentional.
Operation and further development
Automations break when an interface changes. We monitor the workflows, report incidents proactively and adapt when a provider changes its interface.
New requirements are added as small extensions, without turning into a new project every time.
Choice of tool
Why n8n and not Zapier or Make
Zapier and Make are good for getting started. If your workflow has two steps, they are the right choice, and we will tell you so. For serious use, two points speak against them.
Billing. Both count runs. A workflow that fires a hundred times a day quickly becomes a subscription line item, even though the computing power costs almost nothing.
Location. With both, your business data runs through the provider’s infrastructure, usually outside Switzerland. n8n can be self-hosted. We run it on Swiss servers, and the workflow logic belongs to you. It exists as a file you can take with you.
If you already work with Zapier and it works, we won’t rebuild it just to have something to build.
| Criterion | Zapier | Make | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billing | per run | per operation | per instance |
| Data location | Provider | Provider | your choice, Switzerland with us |
| Complex logic | limited | good | unrestricted, including custom code |
| Portability | tied to the account | tied to the account | workflow exportable as a file |
| Makes sense from | 1 to 2 steps | medium workflows | conditions and error handling |
What does manual work really cost you?
Enter how often a workflow happens at your company and how long it takes. The numbers come from you, we just add them up. None of it leaves your browser unless you request a report.
0
Hours per year
CHF 0
Cost per year
CHF 0
Possible savings per year
That is about 0 working days per year freed up for other work. Estimates, not a quote.
Your report is on its way (in German). Check your inbox, and if nothing arrives, your spam folder too. We will get in touch within the next few working days.
Why SEOX
We automate our own work first
Our own order and invoice processing runs on the same tools we offer you. We know where interfaces act up, because we got stuck there ourselves.
At SEOX, Enzo, our data architect, is responsible for bexio integrations.
Pricing
What it costs
Three building blocks, each available on its own. We only name the price once we know what it’s about. Anything else would be a guess.
25+ Years of experience
46+ Client projects
5.0 Stars from 13 Google reviews
The three building blocks
Process analysis with prioritized list
One-time
Implementation per automation
Fixed price
Monitoring and incident alerts
Operation
Adjustments when interfaces change
Operation
Documentation that belongs to you
Always included
Fixed price
instead of hourly billing
Monthly
cancellable operation
On request after process analysis
Book an initial call
46+ client projects since founding
How you get to a price:
- Initial call, 30 minutes, free
- Price range right in the call
- Binding fixed price after the analysis
Operation is cancellable monthly. With a 12-month term you get a 5% discount.
Frequently asked questions about process automation
What is the difference between business automation and RPA?
Business automation connects systems through their interfaces. Robotic process automation controls the user interface instead and repeats the clicks a person would make. RPA is the fallback for software without an interface and breaks as soon as the interface changes. If an interface exists, going through it is the more durable choice.
From what company size does process automation pay off?
It depends on repetition, not headcount. If one person spends ten hours a month typing data from one system into another, the case is usually clear. Work it out with your own numbers: the calculator on this page does exactly that.
Do we have to switch our software?
No. We work with the systems you already use. Switching systems is a project of its own with its own risks, and it doesn’t solve the handover problem, it just moves it. If one of your systems has no usable interface, we tell you in the initial call.
What happens if an automation fails?
Every workflow has a defined failure path. If a system doesn’t respond, the run is retried and then marked as open instead of failing silently. You get a notification, and the case stays editable. With the operations package we monitor this actively and get in touch before you notice.
Do we own the automations?
Yes. The workflow logic exists in n8n as an exportable file, and the documentation describes each workflow in detail. If you want to switch providers, you take both with you. We don’t build in dependencies to use as leverage later.
Where is our data processed?
On servers in Switzerland. We run n8n ourselves instead of putting a US service in between. Which data a workflow touches and how long anything is cached is set out in the documentation for each workflow.
Show us a workflow that annoys you
30 minutes, free. You describe a workflow someone does by hand today. We tell you whether it can be automated through the existing interfaces and whether it pays off for you. You can work with us in English.