Business process automation (BPA) is all a about strategy. It’s how smart companies eliminate repetitive tasks, reduce errors, and free up their teams to focus on work that actually moves the business forward.
But let’s be clear: achieving solid automation isn’t a simple task. Real impact comes from understanding your processes, identifying what to automate, and building systems that scale with your company.
In this guide, we’re breaking down everything you need to know about BPA. We’ll cover what it is, why it matters, how it differs from other automation models, and how to apply best practices that lead to long-term success.
What is business process automation?
Business process automation (BPA) is the practice of using technology to execute recurring tasks or processes in a business where manual effort can be reduced. The goal is to streamline operations, eliminate repetitive tasks, reduce human error, and free up time for high-impact work.
BPA often gets a bad reputation for being a way to replace people. And, while that does happen, its real focus is about improving the efficiency, consistency, and accuracy of your workflows. Whether you're automating invoice approvals, employee onboarding, or data entry across systems, BPA tools can help your organization move faster without sacrificing quality.
Unlike general-purpose automation or IT scripts, BPA focuses on end-to-end workflows that impact business operations. These are typically processes that touch multiple systems, involve multiple team members, and have well-defined rules and triggers. Think customer onboarding, purchase order routing, or expense reporting.
Why is business process automation so important?
Business process automation is a competitive requirement. Organizations that still rely on manual workflows are slower, more error-prone, and more expensive to run. Teams spend too much time on repetitive tasks that don’t move the needle.
In short, BPA transforms business process analysis into execution. You identify inefficiencies, map them out, and deploy automation to optimize the flow of work. The focus here is removing the busywork so your teams can focus on what really matters.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown on what BPA unlocks for your business:
Efficiency gains: When repetitive tasks are automated, teams can shift their focus to strategy, innovation, and customer experience.
Scalability: BPA allows businesses to scale operations without a corresponding increase in headcount. It’s how modern organizations handle growth while keeping costs down.
Improved accuracy: Manual processes often lead to mistakes—especially in data handling. BPA reduces human error by enforcing rules and validation at every step.
Faster turnaround times: Whether it’s routing approvals or processing customer data, BPA speeds up execution, leading to faster outcomes and better service levels.
Better compliance and reporting: Automated processes leave an audit trail and make it easier to enforce business rules and industry regulations.
Stronger alignment between business and tech: BPA requires collaboration between technical teams and business stakeholders. When implemented well, it supports unified goals and accelerates cross-functional productivity—an approach we live and breathe at DevSquad.
Understanding the acronyms surrounding business process automation
If you’ve started researching business process automation, you’ve likely been hit with a wall of acronyms: BPA, BPM, RPA, IDP, DPA, IPA, EPA. It’s like trying to decode a secret language. And while these abbreviations might seem like industry jargon overload (because they are), they each refer to different layers and types of automation strategies.
The problem is that many resources throw these terms around interchangeably, or worse—without explaining what they actually mean. So let’s cut through the noise.
Business process management (BPM)
BPM is the discipline of analyzing, modeling, optimizing, and monitoring business processes from end to end. It’s the overarching practice of improving processes.
You can think of BPM as the strategic blueprint that guides BPA. Where BPA is about execution, BPM is about continuous improvement. Done well, BPM helps you identify inefficiencies, map out the ideal workflow, and then choose the right automation tools to support it.
Robotic process automation (RPA)
RPA is the use of software robots (or “bots”) to mimic human interactions with digital systems. These bots perform repetitive, rules-based tasks like data entry, system updates, or copying information between platforms.
RPA works best for high-volume, low-complexity workflows. It’s often the fastest way to eliminate manual labor. This is especially true for legacy environments where APIs are limited or non-existent. But RPA is only one piece of the automation puzzle, and it’s most powerful when used alongside other technologies.
Intelligent document processing (IDP)
IDP combines machine learning, OCR (optical character recognition), and natural language processing to extract and understand data from unstructured documents. Think PDFs, scanned forms, or handwritten notes.
It’s ideal for automating document-heavy workflows in finance, legal, HR, and healthcare. While RPA handles structured data, IDP enables automation of processes that start with messy, non-standardized inputs.
Digital process automation (DPA)
DPA is often used interchangeably with BPA, but technically it refers to the use of low-code/no-code platforms to design and automate digital workflows.
DPA makes it easier for non-developers to model processes, build logic, and integrate with existing systems. BPA is the broader concept, whereas DPA usually refers to the platforms that allow you to do it faster and without heavy custom code.
Intelligent process automation (IPA)
IPA takes RPA a step further by adding AI into the mix. Think of it as “RPA with a brain.”
IPA uses technologies like machine learning and natural language processing to make bots smarter. These bots can make decisions, learn from data, and handle exceptions—something traditional RPA bots can’t do. For example, IPA can help automate customer service workflows that require some contextual understanding.
Enterprise process automation (EPA)
EPA refers to large-scale, cross-departmental automation initiatives. While BPA might be applied at a departmental level, EPA spans the entire organization.
EPA typically involves integrating multiple systems, centralizing process governance, and aligning automation efforts with strategic business goals.
Mixing them all together
Here’s the reality: these aren’t competing frameworks—they’re complementary layers in the automation stack.
BPM defines how your business operates.
BPA turns that strategy into automated workflows.
DPA gives your team the tools to build and deploy.
RPA handles repetitive, rule-based tasks.
IDP unlocks data from unstructured documents.
IPA applies intelligence to automation for smarter decisions.
EPA ties it all together at scale.
When combined, they create a comprehensive automation ecosystem. But you don’t need to deploy everything at once, and you might find that some are never needed for your business. Most companies start with BPA and RPA, then layer in DPA, IDP, or IPA as their needs evolve.
15 business processes you can automate
Business process automation (BPA) is most effective when applied to repeatable, rule-based workflows that span tools, teams, or departments. These processes might be time-consuming, error-prone, or just inefficient when managed manually.
Below, we’ve broken down 15 key processes that are ideal for automation—organized by function.
HR and employee operations
Your people are your most valuable asset, but managing employee lifecycles manually creates unnecessary complexity. BPA helps HR teams streamline tasks like onboarding, offboarding, and reviews—boosting both accuracy and experience.
1. Onboarding: New hire onboarding involves multiple systems and steps—email account setup, equipment requests, benefits enrollment, training schedules. Automation centralizes these into a single, repeatable flow.
Example: Vector Media utilized Zapier for the automation of employee onboarding. They had a time consuming 30 step onboarding process which posed significant delays when the steps were not followed appropriately. Through automation they were able to trigger 29 of the 30 steps to improve the efficiency and accuracy of onboarding new team members.
2. Offboarding: Employee exits require swift action to protect data and remain compliant—revoking access, collecting equipment, processing final pay. BPA ensures this happens consistently and securely.
3. Time and attendance tracking: Manual time tracking often leads to inaccurate payroll and compliance risks. BPA can automatically log work hours, flag anomalies, and sync time data with payroll systems.
Example: CARE utilized ServiceNow to automate attendance tracking in schools to better track meal distributions. Better attendance tracking is attributed to the right amount of food being prepared and helps CARE’s life-saving aid have maximum impact.
4. Performance reviews: Coordinating quarterly or annual reviews is admin-heavy. Automation handles reminders, feedback collection, scoring, and report distribution.
Finance and procurement
Finance teams are often stuck chasing approvals and tracking down documents. Automating financial workflows increases speed, accuracy, and auditability.
5. Accounts payable: BPA can intake vendor invoices, validate amounts, match purchase orders, and route approvals automatically. This eliminates paper trails and speeds up payments.
Example: Omega Healthcare was able to create a BPA around claims processing with the help of UiPath. The result of the automation was 50% faster turnaround time on invoices.
6. Expense management: Manual expense reporting is messy—receipts get lost, policies are skipped, and reimbursements lag. BPA enforces policy rules, routes approvals, and triggers payments.
7. Procurement and vendor onboarding: Adding a new vendor shouldn’t take weeks. BPA can automate data collection, compliance checks, and internal approvals, speeding up time to transact.
Legal and compliance
Legal workflows and compliance checks are critical—but tedious. BPA reduces risk by standardizing how contracts are managed and how regulatory reports are prepared.
8. Contract management: From drafting to e-signature to renewal tracking, BPA helps legal and sales teams eliminate bottlenecks and missed deadlines.
Example: At Viva, significant time was spent creating pre-meeting briefs for calls with potential clients. Utilizing Zapier, they were able to automate the bulk of the pre-meeting brief generation. A new Google Calendar event with external attendees triggers a chain of commands that pulls the relevant information into a preformed template. The result is a 50% reduction in time spent creating these pre-meeting briefs.
9. Compliance reporting: Compliance often involves collecting data from multiple systems, formatting it to spec, and submitting it on time. BPA takes the manual grunt work out of reporting.
Example: For PayWhiz, the security and regulation bottlenecks required to comply with the strict data protection regulations surrounding employee data and payroll were hindering their ability to scale. Utilizing Make they were able to implement a system that automated the safe file transfer and management of sensitive payroll information.
Sales and marketing
Revenue teams benefit enormously from BPA—accelerating lead handling, campaign launches, and handoffs between marketing and sales.
10. Lead scoring and routing: Instead of manual triage, BPA can assess leads by behavior or demographics, then assign them to the right sales rep or nurture sequence.
Example: Vonage utilized MuleSoft from Salesforce to link data across several systems. With the sales and business teams having a complete view of their accounts, they were able to provide faster, more consistent support and significantly improve cross-selling across their different business lines.
11. Campaign launches and follow-ups: Campaign management requires timing and coordination. BPA handles email sequences, follow-ups, CRM updates, and alerts to sales teams.
Customer service and operations
BPA improves service quality while reducing the load on support and ops teams. Faster response times and cleaner data mean better customer experiences.
12. Customer support workflows: Support tickets can be automatically triaged based on keywords, routed by urgency, and escalated when SLAs are at risk.
Example: The digital insurance company Nsure.com had to process more than 100,000 customer interactions per month. This required a workforce of over 100 customer representatives to manage the massive volume of calls, texts, and emails. Through the implementation of BPA practices, they were able to reduce the manual processing time by 60%.
13. IT service requests: Provisioning tools, approving access, and resetting accounts are repetitive, but critical. BPA brings structure to internal support.
14. Data synchronization and cleanup: Multiple systems often create data discrepancies. BPA handles syncs, deduplication, and formatting between CRMs, ERPs, and marketing tools.
Example: With the use of Service Cloud, Southwest Airlines was able to consolidate 15 distinct customer data systems into one. This consolidation of customers data gave agents the ability to serve customers faster and in their preferred channels of communication. This resulted in 30% of customer service calls being resolved by chat.
15. Inventory and supply chain visibility: Inventory tracking and restocking can be automated with BPA by monitoring thresholds and triggering reorders across systems.
Business process automation best practices
Automation only delivers value when it’s planned and implemented with intention. These best practices are about creating workflows that scale, adapt, and actually serve the people using them.
Below are the core principles of successful BPA, grounded in practical execution and strategic thinking.
1. Start with process clarity, not just automation enthusiasm
Before you automate anything, get brutally honest about how the process works today. What are the inputs? Where are the delays? Who touches it, and when?
Too often, companies try to automate around broken systems. Instead, take the time to map out the workflow from start to finish. Clarify the objective and identify where automation will actually add value. Otherwise, you’re just scaling inefficiency.
2. Validate before you automate
If a process hasn’t been proven to work manually, it’s not ready for automation. Use simple, testable workflows first. Pilot the process with a small team. If it consistently delivers the outcome you want—at scale and without constant intervention—then it’s ready to be automated.
This lean validation approach saves time, budget, and frustration later on.
3. Focus on high-friction, high-impact workflows first
Not every process is worth automating. Start with the workflows that drain your team’s time or directly affect customer experience, revenue, or compliance.
These are the areas where BPA will provide the fastest and most noticeable return. Think of areas where minutes matter and mistakes are expensive.
4. Involve end users in workflow design
The people closest to the work are the ones who understand its quirks. When you’re designing automation logic, involve the actual users. Those could be sales reps, support agents, HR coordinators, or operations managers to name a few. Their insight will prevent blind spots, surface edge cases, and lead to automation that mirrors how the business really operates.
5. Design for flexibility and iteration
Requirements change. Customers change. Your product evolves.
That’s why your automation should be built with adaptability in mind. Don’t hard-code rules that are likely to shift. Instead, use configurable logic, rule sets, and conditional flows that can be updated without rewriting everything.
And revisit workflows regularly—just because it worked last year doesn’t mean it still fits your process today.
6. Keep humans in the loop where necessary
Not every decision should be left to the software. Certain tasks like large financial approvals, sensitive HR actions, or exception handling still need human oversight. Hybrid automation allows software to handle the heavy lifting while routing specific steps to people when judgment is needed. This approach increases confidence in the system and reduces risk.
7. Minimize tool sprawl
One of the biggest automation pitfalls? Building workflows that rely on too many disconnected tools. The more platforms in play, the more brittle the system becomes. Prioritize integrations that plug into your existing ecosystem. Use platforms that centralize automation management, rather than creating 10 separate mini-processes in 10 different apps.
8. Think in systems, not silos
Automating a process within one team is good. Connecting that process across departments is better.
Look for handoffs like where marketing passes to sales, or sales to finance, or HR to IT. These transitions are where most delays and disconnects happen. BPA should close those gaps and create visibility across the entire system, not just optimize isolated steps.
9. Document everything—even when it feels obvious
Automated workflows often run silently in the background, which means people forget how they work or why they exist. Clear documentation solves that. It makes it easier to troubleshoot, onboard new team members, and update flows without relying on tribal knowledge. Even simple diagrams and checklists can make a huge difference in transparency.
10. Measure success in business terms
Don’t judge automation by how “slick” it looks. Measure it by what it improves. Set clear KPIs tied to the business outcome the process is meant to support. This might include hours saved per week, reduction in manual errors, faster response times, or increased lead conversion rates. Tie every automation initiative back to a metric that matters.
11. Continuously review and refine workflows
BPA isn’t a one-and-done project. Over time, business needs shift, systems change, and users evolve their expectations. Set a cadence—monthly or quarterly—to review active workflows. Look for steps that are no longer needed, places where logic could be improved, or feedback from users that hasn’t been addressed. A lightweight audit can unlock major efficiency gains.
12. Secure sensitive data at every step
Automation often involves moving, storing, or exposing sensitive data—especially in finance, HR, or healthcare. Build security into every layer. Use platforms with robust access control, audit logs, and encryption. Only grant access to those who truly need it. The more streamlined and secure your automation is, the less vulnerable your workflows are to internal or external risk.
Customizing business process automation for your needs
No two businesses operate the same way—and your automation strategy shouldn’t be built from a template. Every company has its own structure, systems, pain points, and pace of change. That’s why the most impactful automation efforts are those built around the way your business actually works.
Customization starts with smart prioritization. That means pinpointing the processes that waste time, create errors, or slow down decision-making, and understanding why they matter. Ask yourself:
What workflows are repeated daily or weekly?
Which ones involve multiple systems or handoffs?
Where do things get stuck, break down, or go missing?
Start there. Don’t try to automate everything at once. Instead, focus on the areas where automation can unlock speed, visibility, or strategic advantage right away.
And, don’t forget about the future. Tackling today’s challenges without preparing for what’s next will keep you chasing your tail. Whether you're planning to grow your team, expand your product offering, or integrate new systems, your automation should be flexible and scalable. That means choosing the right platforms, building modular workflows, and documenting logic for easy updates.
Consider bringing in the right partner
While some automation can be tackled internally, a truly strategic automation initiative often benefits from an experienced development partner. The right partner won’t just write code—they’ll help you:
Identify the most valuable areas to automate
Map and validate existing processes
Design workflows that support scale and change
Integrate systems securely and efficiently
Build tools that feel like a natural extension of your business
At DevSquad we even take it a step further—we give you ownership and when the time is right we will train your teams for a smooth transition of your product.
Ready to eliminate bottlenecks and build smarter workflows? Learn more about our business process automation services.
