$250k in Annual Cost Savings Identified for Property Inspection Company
A property inspection company faced manual data entry, duplicated efforts and a $2.5 million receivables backlog across its 35-person team. Osher Digital conducted a business process audit and developed a six-month automation roadmap. This initiative aimed to centralise data in a cloud CRM, automate repetitive tasks and recover lost efficiency, projecting savings of over 8,000 admin hours and $250,000 in annual costs.
Overview
A property inspection company operates in the ACT and surrounding regions, providing mandatory and requested reports for building, pest, compliance and energy ratings. The business handled 30 to 50 daily bookings through a fragmented system of email, spreadsheets and legacy tools, leading to inefficiencies in bookings, prepping, inspections and accounts receivable.
Osher Digital performed a business process audit, consisting of reviewing current operations and recommended a transition to a unified CRM with automation layers. The proposed changes included online booking forms, OCR for PDF processing, mobile apps for inspectors and automated invoicing. Projected outcomes included reduced errors, faster debt collection and staff reallocation to client-focused work.
About the Property Inspection Company
The property inspection company is a 35-person firm servicing property vendors and agents with inspection reports. In its primary territory, these reports are legally required; in adjacent regions, they are increasingly requested as standard practice. The company processes around 30 to 50 jobs daily, involving teams for bookings, prepping, inspections, proofing and accounts. Prior to the business process audit, operations relied on email software, word processors, PDF tools, spreadsheets and a custom booking portal, without an integrated CRM.
Problem
The company’s processes involved extensive manual work, leading to delays, errors and financial strain. Key issues included:
- Bookings: Requests arrived via email (60%), phone (20%) or web form (20%), requiring double entry into a legacy portal and job sheets. Invoices corrupted in 95% of cases, needing manual fixes in accounting software. Rescheduling updated three separate systems, risking clashes and rework. This consumed up to 8.3 admin hours daily, with waste equivalent to $19,000 monthly.
- Prepping: Daily handling of 20 government PDF bundles took 1.5 hours for triage alone. Templates were often incomplete, requiring re-keying of data. Map and plan retrievals involved trial-and-error searches, adding 1 to 2 hours daily. Missing documents affected one in ten inspections.
- Inspections: Inspectors spent time on-site without embedded photos, leading to later captioning. Document gaps prompted office calls, extending slots. PDF exports were manual, stalling proofing if forgotten.
- Overall Impacts: Duplicated data caused mismatched invoices and contact errors, contributing to a $2.5 million receivables backlog. Staff handled bespoke agent requests manually, increasing complaints and after-hours work.
Solution
Osher Digital performed a structured process audit and proposed a six-month transformation using a cloud CRM as the single data source, integrated with automation tools. The approach focused on high-impact areas first.
- Implemented online forms to feed bookings directly into the CRM, with smart calendar checks to prevent clashes and automated SMS confirmations.
- Used OCR bots to extract data from government PDFs, auto-fill templates and flag complete prep packs.
- Deployed a mobile app for inspectors to dictate notes, auto-label photos and sync drafts offline.
- Introduced shared document co-authoring for proofing, auto-PDF merging and ticketing software for edits.
- Automated accounts receivable with accounting-CRM sync, dunning sequences and property-settlement APIs.
The Results
The business process audit and roadmap identified significant improvements in efficiency and finances.
- Over 8,000 admin hours annually, equivalent to four full-time roles.
- Reduce annual costs by more than $250,000 through automation of PDF handling, data entry and debt chasing.
- Improve cash flow by accelerating collections on the $2.5 million receivables via automated reminders and integrations.
- Decrease errors in reports and invoices, minimising rework and complaints.
- Enable staff to focus on exceptions and client service, supporting business growth without added headcount.
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