Chapter 02
How the team's way of working became a system
Six weeks for three workflows, built one at a time in the map's order, about two weeks each. We were on site for the first week. Before any agent ran, we wrote down the real process as the SOP the agents would follow. We connected the systems read-only at first, and every output went to a person.
Sample deployment record. Tidewater Creative is a fictional client and every number here is illustrative.
SOPs compiled
Monthly client report
6 steps
Shadowed month-end plus the account lead's walkthrough
Approved by Account lead
Invoice and collect
5 steps
Bookkeeper interview plus 24 historical invoice cycles
Approved by Owner
New client onboarding
6 steps
The unused Notion checklist plus the last four onboardings
Approved by Owner
Exception handling
4 steps
Six months of exceptions, five repeatable types
Approved by Account lead
Systems connected
Meta Ads and Google Ads
API · Read
Spend and results per client, pulled nightly from the 1st to the 3rd
QuickBooks Online
API · Read and write
Writes draft invoices only and reads payment status
Google Sheets
API · Read and write
The report template, rebuilt once with locked formulas; the old workbook retired
Google Drive
API · Write
Filing the approved PDF into the client folder
Gmail
API, shared mailbox · Send
Approvals, client sends, and reminders all go from one agency address
Notion
Retired · None
The onboarding agent now tracks the checklist; nobody fills it in by hand
Agents configured
Report assembler
Builds each client's report from the platform exports, runs the mismatch check, and drafts the change summary from the account's history.
- Trigger
- Calendar: 1st of the month, then nightly until every client's report is out
- Approval
- Account lead edits and signs the commentary
- Guardrail
- A report with a mismatch flag cannot proceed to approval until a person clears it
Approval runner
Sends the owner one email per client with the PDF attached and approve or edit as the only two actions. On approval, sends the report to the client and files the PDF.
- Trigger
- Account lead marks the report ready
- Approval
- Owner, one tap from a phone
- Guardrail
- Nothing reaches a client without the owner's approval on record
Billing agent
Creates the invoice the day the work ships, checks spend against the retainer tier for overages, and runs the reminder cadence.
- Trigger
- Report sent, then days 7, 14, and 30 after the invoice
- Approval
- Owner approves any overage line before the invoice is sent
- Guardrail
- At day 45, the unpaid invoice goes to the owner with the history attached; the agent never decides what to do about a late client
Onboarding agent
Requests ad account access and follows up until it is granted, collects brand assets, and sets up the client folder and workbook.
- Trigger
- Signed proposal lands in the shared mailbox
- Approval
- Owner confirms the client record before anything is sent
- Guardrail
- After three attempts, the agent stops and hands the request to the account lead
Rollout
01 · Weeks 1 to 2
Monthly client report. Report template fed from the platforms, then the change summary, approval in email, send and file, and the mismatch check. The account lead reviews every output. The first month-end runs on the new path with the old path alongside. Target: reports out within two days of month-end.
02 · Weeks 3 to 4
Invoice and collect. Invoices created the day the work ships, overage detection against the retainer tier, and the reminder cadence. Target: invoices the same day.
03 · Weeks 5 to 6
New client onboarding. Access requests and follow-up, asset collection, and folder setup. The last workflow goes live and the proof window starts.
04 · Weeks 7 to 18
Proof window. Three months of monthly readouts against each workflow's own baseline; handoff documented. Then the client chooses a monthly run fee or the next zone.