Automation Scope Boundary Review (QA)

Automation Scope Boundary Review (QA)

1. 01

   Inventory every back-office workflow currently running without a named human owner

   List each recurring task (contractor payment runs, AP entry, reconciliation, compliance filing) and the person who signs off today. Any task with no owner is the first candidate for a scope boundary, not for more automation.

2. 02

   Classify each workflow by blast radius if the automation fails silently

   Separate tasks where an error costs a re-run (draft invoice, internal report) from tasks where an error reaches a client or a regulator (1099 filing, client-facing invoice, payroll validation). The second group needs a checkpoint before execution, not after.

3. 03

   Assign an autonomy tier to each workflow and record it in one shared register

   Use three tiers: agent executes and logs, agent executes and notifies, agent drafts and waits. A platform like Woodrow running reconciliations across an ERP can sit at tier one; anything touching client billing or contractor tax status should sit at tier three until it has run clean for a full quarter.

4. 04

   Insert a local review gate before any agent action that writes to a client system

   The gate is a human approval step between the agent's proposed change and the commit, mirroring the pattern of intercepting agent output before it reaches production. For agencies, the client system is the CRM, the billing platform, or the contractor payment rail.

5. 05

   Document the client-specific exceptions that must never be automated

   Every retainer has at least one process that exists because a specific client asked for it. Write those down explicitly. A contractor management platform like WorkMarket can standardize onboarding across a workforce, but a client's bespoke approval chain for spend over a threshold stays manual.

6. 06

   Set a review cadence tied to delivery milestones, not the calendar

   Re-examine autonomy tiers after any month where a client changes scope, a new contractor pool is added, or a reconciliation produces an unexplained variance. Calendar-based reviews get skipped; milestone-based reviews get triggered.

7. 07

   Log the boundary decision and the reviewer name for each workflow

   When a client asks why an invoice took two days instead of two hours, the answer needs to point to a documented decision, not a shrug. This log is also the artifact that supports a higher retainer when the agency can show deliberate risk management.