https://shiftconsulting.io/log/Working notes on AI workflows for professional firms.en-AUhttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/30-day-ai-plan-professional-firm/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/30-day-ai-plan-professional-firm/A week-by-week plan: audit where the hours go, pick one workflow, build it properly, and measure whether it worked. Written for small professional practices.Workflowshttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/admin-hours-cost/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/admin-hours-cost/A method for measuring the hours your firm loses to non-billable admin, choosing an honest hourly rate, and testing whether fixing it is worth the money.Bottleneckshttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/ai-client-confidentiality/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/ai-client-confidentiality/A working checklist for professional firms: de-identification, the vendor questions on residency and retention, subprocessors, and engagement terms.Risk & Compliancehttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/automate-client-intake-law-firm/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/automate-client-intake-law-firm/A practical intake workflow for a small law firm: structured form, conflict check prompt, matter record and a drafted acknowledgement that waits for approval.Risk & Compliancehttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/automate-client-onboarding-accountants/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/automate-client-onboarding-accountants/How to automate accounting client onboarding end to end: engagement letter, ID verification, software access, document requests and first-meeting prep.Workflowshttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/automate-review-requests/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/automate-review-requests/How to trigger review requests when a job or matter closes, and route unhappy replies to a person before anything unpleasant lands on a public page.Workflowshttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/automated-owner-report/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/automated-owner-report/How to build a Friday owner's report that pulls itself together from timesheets, CRM, inbox and accounting, and why a person still reads it first.Workflowshttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/build-vs-buy-vs-hire/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/build-vs-buy-vs-hire/A decision framework for small firms: when automation is genuinely right, when off-the-shelf software wins, when to hire, and when to do nothing yet.Bottleneckshttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/five-workflows-firms-leak-time/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/five-workflows-firms-leak-time/Enquiry intake, quote to invoice, review requests, owner reporting and inbox triage: where each leaks hours in a firm, and what good looks like.Workflowshttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/getting-your-team-to-use-it/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/getting-your-team-to-use-it/Most automations fail on people, not technology. How to design defaults, run training that works, close the old path, and measure whether the new way stuck.Adoptionhttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/inbox-triage-ai/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/inbox-triage-ai/How to set up AI triage on a shared or reception inbox: sensible categories, deterministic routing rules, drafted replies, and what to never auto-send.Workflowshttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/is-ai-safe-for-law-firms/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/is-ai-safe-for-law-firms/Whether AI is safe in a law firm depends on what data goes where, whose account it lands in, and who checks the output before a client ever sees it.Risk & Compliancehttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/n8n-vs-make-vs-zapier/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/n8n-vs-make-vs-zapier/Choosing between n8n, Make and Zapier for a professional firm: hosting and data residency, the shape of the billing, complexity ceiling, and who maintains it.Toolshttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/partner-bottleneck/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/partner-bottleneck/How to tell when the principal has become the constraint in a professional firm, what that costs in capacity and risk, and which habit to change first.Bottleneckshttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/project-status-updates-without-chasing/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/project-status-updates-without-chasing/How to pull project and matter status from the systems your team already uses, instead of asking people for updates that arrive late and slightly wrong.Workflowshttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/quote-to-invoice-automation/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/quote-to-invoice-automation/How agencies and consultancies close the cashflow loop: an accepted quote becomes an invoice and a scheduled follow-up, with Xero or MYOB behind it.Workflowshttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/what-ai-automation-costs/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/what-ai-automation-costs/The five cost layers behind an AI automation: build, platform fees, model usage, maintenance and internal time, plus how to calculate the payback yourself.Bottleneckshttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/when-automation-breaks/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/when-automation-breaks/Every automation eventually fails. Fail-safe design decides whether you find out in ten minutes or ten weeks. What monitoring, alerts and support cover.Workflowshttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/which-ai-model-for-your-firm/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/which-ai-model-for-your-firm/Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or an open-weight model: how a professional firm should decide, based on data handling, account ownership and cost control.Toolshttps://shiftconsulting.io/log/who-owns-your-automations/https://shiftconsulting.io/log/who-owns-your-automations/Accounts, API keys, workflow files and code: what your firm needs in its own name, the lock-in patterns to watch for, and what to ask any provider.Risk & Compliance