Unbilled work check

SMB / AUTOMATE.md

Every Friday, compare tracked hours to invoices sent, then email me any job with unbilled time.

This is the whole automation. Run it as it is, or change any word, including the tools it names.

  • Hours worked but not invoiced
  • No job quietly under-billed

How it runs

  1. 1. Starts

    Every Friday at 4:00pm

  2. 2. Reads

    tracked hours

  3. 3. Delivers to

    Email

  4. 4. You decide

    Approve each time, or let the steps you trust run. Your choice.

Why small business owners set this up

The numbers exist somewhere in the accounting software, but pulling them together takes a weekend every month. The owner finds out how the business did after the money is already spent, so decisions get made on a feeling rather than on last month's result.

See the whole job: Monthly owner summary

Use it as is. Or make it yours.

Edit it the way you would edit a note to a colleague. It follows the new version from the next run.

  • Change when it runs

    Move it to another day or time, or start it when something arrives, like a new email.

  • Add your own rules

    Limits, exceptions and what good looks like go in the same file, in plain words.

  • Decide what waits for you

    Mark the steps that need your OK, and let the rest run.

You stay in charge.
At every step.

It does the admin. You decide what reaches a customer.

  • Nothing sent without your OK

    Reminders and replies wait in your drafts until you send them.

  • Undo what you don't want

    Every step is recorded, and a file it changed can be put back.

  • Only what you connect

    Each automation reaches only the email, calendar and folders you give it.

Unbilled work check

Approve before it sends the email?

ReviewApprove

Before you download.

Where does it run?
On your Mac or Windows computer, in the background. It keeps working after you close its window, and only reaches the folders and apps you connect for each automation.
How does it connect to our CRM and other tools?
Through each app's own connection where it offers one, signed in once by you, or by using the app in a browser the way you would. Each automation gets only the connections you give it, and the tools a page names are examples you can swap for your own.
Does it run when my computer is asleep?
It keeps your computer awake while a job runs and just before a scheduled one. While the computer is closed or off, nothing runs; when it wakes, it checks the inbox, calendar and other sources it watches for anything that arrived meanwhile.
How does my team use it?
Each person who runs automations installs the app. Keep a project in a shared folder, such as Google Drive or a network drive, and teammates can open it and follow every run, while one person owns it and runs it.
Do I need anyone technical to set it up?
No. Download the app, add an automation in plain words, and connect only what that job needs. Nothing runs until you switch it on.

Already have tools for this? Here is the difference.

The features in your invoicing or booking app

Sending standard reminders inside that one app.

They stop at that app's edge and can't follow your own rules or exceptions.

Flowchart automation tools

Connecting apps if you have the time to build and maintain the flow.

Most owners never have that time, and every exception becomes another branch.

Doing it in the evening

Full control, every time.

It waits for you, and it slips when the week gets busy.

AUTOMATE.md

Your routine, written in plain words. It runs on its own, follows your rules, handles the exceptions a flowchart can't, and asks you when it matters. The file stays yours, whichever AI model runs it.

Other setups for the same job.

Monthly profit one-pager

On the 5th, pull last month's income and spend and write a one-page summary with the three biggest changes.

On the 5th of each month

Quiet month alert

When income this month drops 20% below last month, Slack me the shortfall and the three biggest gaps.

When this month's income is 20% below last month

Related workflows

Bookkeeping handoff

Send the bookkeeper a clean, categorized month instead of a shoebox of receipts.

3 automations

Overdue invoice chase

Chase unpaid invoices on a fixed schedule, so nothing is written off because it was forgotten.

3 automations

Getting paid faster

Send the invoice the day the work is finished, with a payment option attached to it.

2 automations

Start with one job.
Make it your own.

macOS — coming soon
  1. 1

    Get the app

    It runs on your computer, next to your files.

  2. 2

    Add the automation

    Paste the instructions into the app, or save them as a file next to your work.

  3. 3

    Try it, then turn it on

    Run it once and check the result. It only runs on its own once you switch it on.

macOS — coming soon