Before you automate: the SMB systems readiness checklist.
27 questions that reveal exactly where your ERP, CRM, and reporting stack stand — before you spend another dollar on fixes, tools, or AI. Used by operations and finance leaders at $2M–$50M companies.
Identify the specific gaps slowing your month-end close
Know whether your CRM data is reliable enough to automate against
Understand if your systems are actually AI-ready — or just AI-marketed
Get a prioritized starting point before any engagement begins
What's inside — sample questions
ERP & Financial Systems
- Can your team pull a clean P&L without spreadsheet adjustments?
- Does your ERP reflect how your business actually runs — or how it ran at go-live?
- Is month-end close under 5 business days, consistently?
CRM & Sales Visibility
- Do your pipeline numbers and invoiced revenue agree within 5%?
- Can a new sales rep see accurate deal history in the CRM without asking someone?
- Does finance use CRM data, or do they maintain a separate forecast?
Integration & Data Flow
- Do you know what breaks when one system goes down?
- Is there a single source of truth for customer revenue, or does it depend on who you ask?
- Are there recurring manual data transfers that could be eliminated?
AI & Automation Readiness
- Can you describe your data quality with confidence — or is it mostly hope?
- Have previous automation attempts created more maintenance than they saved?
- Do your team's workflows match your documented processes?
+ 15 more questions across ERP, data quality, reporting trust, and workflow standardization.
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Used before every Systems Diagnostic. This checklist is the same readiness framework used at the start of every engagement — given away free because most businesses need it before they're ready to hire anyone.
Who this is for
CFOs & Finance Leaders
You suspect the close process is slower than it should be, or the numbers coming from operations don't match what finance sees.
COOs & Ops Leaders
Your team works around the systems instead of through them — and you're not sure if the answer is better tools or better configuration.
Founders & CEOs
You've invested in ERP, CRM, and reporting tools but still don't have a dashboard you actually trust for weekly decisions.
The natural next step
The checklist shows you where to look.
The Diagnostic tells you exactly what to fix.
After working through the checklist, most SMBs have 3–5 areas flagged as uncertain or broken. The Systems Diagnostic maps those gaps in detail — and delivers a prioritized 90-day roadmap in 1–2 weeks.
$2,500–$4,000 · 1–2 week turnaround · no retainer required