HAM Agency free tool: Printable checklist

Automation audit checklist

Find the first process worth automating, check your data and legal basics, design the human in the loop, and measure whether it worked. For small businesses and teams.

Use your browser's print command to print it or save it as a PDF.

What it is

A printable audit that shows you where automation and AI will save real time in your business, and what has to be true before you switch anything on.

Who it's for

Owners and managers of small businesses and teams who know they are drowning in admin but do not know where to start.

What's inside

A process inventory, a scoring grid, data and legal checks, a human in the loop design sheet, a 30-day pilot plan and a results sheet.

Part 1: Process inventory

List every repetitive task. Be honest about the time.

Process	Owner	Runs per week	Minutes per run	Hours per week	Mistakes per month

Hours per week = runs per week x minutes per run / 60.

Part 2: Score each process

Score each from 1 to 3. Start with the highest total.

Test	1	2	3
How often	Monthly or less	Weekly	Daily or more
Time per run	Under 5 minutes	5 to 20 minutes	Over 20 minutes
Rules	Judgement every time	Mostly rules, some judgement	Clear rules
Data	Scattered or on paper	Digital but messy	In one place, consistent
Cost of a mistake	High, hard to spot	Medium	Low, easy to catch
Measurable	Nobody knows the time or volume	Rough idea	Tracked already

Part 3: Data readiness

The data the process uses is in one place
It is in a consistent format
Someone owns keeping it accurate
You know which tools hold it and who has access
Personal data is identified, and you know why you hold it

Part 4: Legal and security basics

ICO data protection fee paid, or the exemption you rely on written down
Privacy notice covers the new processing, including anything automated
Data processing agreement in place with every tool that handles personal data
Marketing messages by email or text only go with consent or under the soft opt-in, with an opt-out every time
No solely automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects on people without safeguards: information, the right to make representations, human intervention and the right to contest
Two-factor sign-in on every tool the automation touches
Only the access the automation needs, and nothing more

Part 5: Design the human in the loop

Question	Your answer
Who owns this process?
What may the automation do on its own?
What always goes to a person?
What triggers a hand-off (value, risk, low confidence, a complaint)?
How does a customer reach a person?
Where is every action logged?
Who checks a sample, and how often?
Who can switch it off?

Part 6: The 30-day pilot

Week 1: map the process step by step and record the baseline: time, volume, mistakes
Week 1: clean the data it depends on
Week 2: build it, with a human approval step on anything customer-facing
Week 2: test on real, low-risk cases
Week 3: run it alongside the old way and compare
Week 4: measure against the baseline
Week 4: decide to keep, fix or switch off

Part 7: Results sheet

Measure	Before	After 30 days
Hours per week
Mistakes per month
Time from request to done
Hand-offs to a person
Customer complaints

Part 8: Decide

Keep: it saves time, mistakes are down, and the owner trusts it
Fix: the idea works but the build or the data needs work
Switch off: it costs more attention than it saves
Write down what you learned before you start the next one

Licence

Free to use and adapt. Commercial use allowed. Do not resell it as your own. Please credit HAM Agency (ham.agency). This checklist is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

Ham Agency Ltd. ham.agency. Last reviewed 11 September 2026.