Should you build CFO reports manually or automate them? Here's a detailed comparison of time, cost, quality, and scalability to help you decide.
How manual and automated reporting stack up.
Manual reporting requires data export, analysis, formatting. Automation does it instantly.
At $50/hour professional time, manual is expensive. BizDoc is $29/month unlimited.
Manual quality depends on who builds it. Automated reports are consistent every time.
Manual scales with headcount. Automated handles 1 or 100 clients the same way.
Free your team from report production to focus on high-value advisory work.
Manual is typically monthly due to effort. Automated can be weekly or anytime.
Let's break down what manual CFO report preparation actually costs. A typical report requires:
Total: 3-5 hours per client per month
At $50/hour professional time, that's $150-250 per report. For 20 clients, you're looking at $3,000-5,000/month in labor — just for report production.
BizDoc automates the entire process. Connect QuickBooks once, generate reports anytime. Here's the math:
Automated reports aren't just faster — they're often more comprehensive. BizDoc's reports include analysis that would take additional hours to build manually: revenue by customer concentration, cash conversion cycle, working capital trends, and AI-generated strategic recommendations.