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Julius Dela Peña

Selected WorkProject 05Automation

Automation Systems

Finance, CRM and sales-operations workflows built in Zapier and Make.

Integration workflows connecting accounting, project management, CRM and lead sources, each built around a specific operational handoff.

01Context

01Project type
Automation Work
02Tools
  • Zapier
  • Make
  • Xero
  • Asana
  • Apollo
  • Slack
  • Google Workspace
Workflow canvas
Make scenario connecting Asana, Xero, Google Sheets and Asana file upload
Open full-size image: Make scenario connecting Asana, Xero, Google Sheets and Asana file upload (opens in a new tab)
Xero transactions to Asana: Make scenario with Asana trigger, Xero API call, Google Sheets and Asana upload.

02Problem

Information moved between accounting, project management, CRM and lead sources by hand — re-keyed invoices, manual follow-ups and ad-hoc lead assignment.

03Connected Systems

Two orchestrators between the tools a business already uses.

Much of my earlier automation work connected accounting, project management, CRM and lead sources, so information moved between them without manual re-entry.

The highlighted path is the Xero-to-Asana reporting scenario shown above.

  1. Triggers

    • Finance

      Invoice webhook

      . Connects to Zapier.

    • Projects

      Asana task updates

      . Connects to Zapier, Make.

    • Sales

      New leads

      . Connects to Zapier.

  2. Orchestration

    • Workflows

      Zapier

      . Connects to Xero, Google Sheets, Apollo, Slack & email.

    • Scenarios

      Make

      . Connects to Xero, Google Sheets, Asana.

  3. Systems

    • Accounting

      Xero

    • Records

      Google Sheets

    • Reports

      Asana

    • Enrichment

      Apollo

    • Notifications

      Slack & email

  • Primary path

03Operational Safeguards

Checks where systems meet.

The workflows include checks that keep connected systems trustworthy: duplicates are caught, limits are respected and the team is told what happened.

03 stages07 steps

  1. 3 steps

    01Before writing

    1. Duplicate invoice check
    2. Find or create the Xero contact
    3. Skip reps at their daily cap
  2. 2 steps

    02On a duplicate

    1. An alert is raised
    2. No second invoice is created
  3. Output

    03After writing

    1. Team notified of new draft invoices
    2. Lead assignments recorded in Google Sheets

04Build highlights

A set of Zapier and Make workflows, each centred on a single handoff: an invoice, a pipeline stage, a new lead, a report.

04Workflows

Selected workflows.

  • Finance · Make

    Xero transactions to Asana

    Exports account transactions from Xero, structures them in Google Sheets and uploads the report to Asana as an attachment.

  • Finance · Zapier

    Draft invoices in Xero

    Receives invoice data by webhook, checks for duplicates, finds or creates the Xero contact, creates a draft sales invoice and notifies the team. Duplicates raise an alert instead.

  • Triggers on Asana task updates and routes each lead through five paths — Ready to Start, No Response, Quoted, Approved, Paid and Close — with folders, follow-up emails and delays.

  • Sales · Zapier

    Lead enrichment

    Enriches new leads with Apollo, then routes them by priority: logged to Google Sheets, emailed to sales, posted to Slack and sent personalised outreach.

  • Sales · Zapier

    Round-robin lead distribution

    Assigns incoming leads to reps in rotation, skipping anyone who has reached their daily cap, and records assignments in Google Sheets.

Zapier workflow splitting Asana task updates into five pipeline pathsOpen full-size image: Zapier workflow splitting Asana task updates into five pipeline paths (opens in a new tab)
Asana sales pipeline: Zapier paths for each pipeline stage.

04At Production Scale

The same discipline, orchestrated in n8n.

In the Construction Estimation Platform, n8n workflows coordinate payment verification, service routing and document readiness between connected systems.

These workflows belong to that platform and are covered in full on its project page.

n8n workflow for payment verification and operational status updatesOpen full-size image: n8n workflow for payment verification and operational status updates (opens in a new tab)
Payment Verification — Checks payment status in Xero and updates the relevant workflow state across connected systems.
n8n workflow routing projects by service pathway and pricing logicOpen full-size image: n8n workflow routing projects by service pathway and pricing logic (opens in a new tab)
Service & Pricing Routing — Determines the service pathway, pricing logic and downstream workflow route.
n8n workflow checking submitted project information and documents for readinessOpen full-size image: n8n workflow checking submitted project information and documents for readiness (opens in a new tab)
Document Readiness — Checks submitted project information and documents, identifies missing requirements and controls whether the workflow can continue.
View the Construction Estimation Platform project

05Result

Less data re-entry, follow-ups triggered by pipeline stage, and leads enriched and routed to reps in rotation.

Operational value

Manual follow-ups
Reduced
Pipeline stages trigger follow-up emails and delays automatically.
Lead routing
Automated
Leads are enriched, prioritised and assigned to reps in rotation.
Data re-entry
Reduced
Invoices and reports move between Xero, Asana and Google Sheets without retyping.

06My role

What I was responsible for.

  1. Workflow Design
  2. Systems Integration
Tools
  • Zapier
  • Make
  • Xero
  • Asana
  • Apollo
  • Slack
  • Google Workspace

Contact

Have a workflow, dashboard or CRM that needs fixing? Let’s talk.

Available for new projects

Tell me about the operation, the systems involved and where the work gets stuck. A short call is usually enough to see whether I can help.

Book a call (opens in a new tab)Email me