Sort the foundations
Microsoft 365 and Entra set up properly, security and backups you can prove, devices managed, your website kept current. The essential stuff, run by a real person who picks up. Pairs with security audits.
for professional services
Your tech, sorted. Your document pile, handled.
We're the independent partner for the tech side of professional-services firms: the advice and the build. We get your Microsoft 365 and security right, connect the systems you re-key between, and put AI to work reading the document pile and drafting the routine, with your data handled carefully. Fast, plain, and we'll tell you what's not worth doing.
in plain terms
iterate is an independent digital partner for New Zealand professional-services firms: lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers, property developers, consultancies. We advise on what's worth doing, run your Microsoft 365 and security, automate the re-keying and reporting grind, and build AI that reads your contracts, reports and deal folders, extracting the dates and figures, answering "what's in this file", drafting the routine reply. We choose tools and settings that keep your data out of training sets and are plain about what goes where. Independent (we don't resell), fast (modern tools and AI, days not quarters), and we'll tell you when you don't need it.
sound familiar?
The work's the easy part. It's everything around it.
- Drowning in documentsContracts, reports, council decisions, statements, PDFs everywhere. Finding the one figure you need is a twenty-minute hunt.
- A spreadsheet is secretly running the businessThe feasibility model, the cashflow, the project tracker. Fragile, undocumented, and only one person really understands it.
- Re-keying between everythingMicrosoft 365, Xero and your practice tool don't talk, so the same data gets typed in three places.
- "Are we actually secure?"You hold sensitive client data, and you've no real picture of your exposure until an insurer or a client questionnaire forces the question.
- Whoever's least bad at computers is ITNo in-house IT, so it falls to you or a staff member, and it's nobody's actual job.
- The 9pm admin tailThe billable work's done by five. The reporting, chasing and filing keeps going long after.
what we do
Foundations, automation, and AI on your documents.
Take what you need. Most firms start with one painful problem, prove it works, then we run more over time.
Automate the grind
Connect Microsoft 365, Xero and your practice tools so data moves once, not three times. Turn the spreadsheet that's secretly a system into a real, auditable app. Often overlaps spreadsheet replacement.
Put AI on your documents
Read the pile, extract the figures, ask your files, draft the routine reply. Built around how you actually work, with your data kept out of training sets and contained.
document intelligence
AI that reads your files, handled with care.
Professional-services work is document-heavy and confidential. That's exactly where practical AI earns its place: pull the dates, figures and obligations out of contracts and reports automatically, ask a plain-English question of a whole matter or deal folder and get a cited answer in seconds, auto-draft the status update or routine reply from your own data.
And we're careful with confidential work. We choose the tools and settings that keep your documents out of training sets and appropriately contained, keep a human in the loop on anything that matters, and tell you plainly what goes where before anything runs. The time saving, handled responsibly.
- → Extract the figures, don't re-key them
- → Ask a whole deal folder, get cited answers
- → Auto-drafted reports & replies you approve
- → Your data kept out of AI training sets
- → A human in the loop on anything that matters
how we work
A conversation, then we ship.
Independent, advice-led, here for the long run. None of the enterprise process or fluff.
01
A no-obligation chat
A real conversation. No pitch, no fee. Tell us what's eating your time and we'll tell you honestly what's worth doing, and what can wait. Not the right fit? We'll say so.
02
Lay of the Land
We look at where you are, document it, and hand you a clear, prioritised plan. Often we start with one focused fix to prove the value before anything bigger.
03
Then we ship
We build the most valuable piece first, fast, and you start using it. Then we keep making it better, and over time run more of your tech as it earns trust.
how we engage
Start small. Grow only when it earns its keep.
We start with one focused fix, prove it, and grow from there. Bigger builds and an ongoing arrangement are quoted up front, fixed-price where the scope is clear. No big-firm minimums, no lock-in.
common questions
Answered straight.
We're a small firm with no IT person - is that who you're for?
Exactly who. We work with professional firms from a solo operator up to about fifteen people: lawyers, accountants (we have <a href='/for/accountants/'>a whole page for you</a>), architects, engineers, planners, surveyors, property developers, consultancies. No in-house IT, no time to be IT, and a pile of documents and spreadsheets quietly running the business. We're the outside partner who holds the bigger picture and does the work.
Is our confidential data safe if you use AI on it?
We treat that seriously. We choose AI tools and settings that keep your data out of training sets and keep sensitive work appropriately contained, we keep a human in the loop on anything that matters, and we tell you plainly exactly what goes where before anything runs. If a job's too sensitive for the tools available, we'll say so rather than do it anyway.
Can you actually automate our document and contract work?
Yes, and it's where we add the most. We build AI that reads the document pile - contracts, reports, council decisions, LIMs, statements - and pulls the dates, figures and obligations straight into your systems, no re-keying. We build an 'ask your files' search over a matter or deal folder, auto-draft routine reports and replies from your own data, and triage the inbox. Built around your actual process, tested on real examples, with you approving anything that matters.
We already run Microsoft 365 and Xero. Do you replace them?
No. The point is to make what you already own work together - connect Microsoft 365, Xero and your practice or job-management tool so the same data isn't typed in three places, and turn the fragile spreadsheet into a real, auditable app. We only replace something when it genuinely can't keep up, and we'll tell you straight when that is.
How do you charge, and what's the smallest thing you'll do?
We start small. Most firms begin with one painful problem (a document automation, a spreadsheet rebuild, a security audit), see it work for a fixed price, then it grows into us running more of their tech on a simple monthly arrangement. Fixed-price where the scope is clear, no big-firm minimums, no lock-in.
How fast do you move?
Fast. We use modern tools and AI to ship in days what a big consultancy turns into a quarter-long project. No drawn-out discovery, no governance theatre, no padded invoice. We start small, ship something working, then improve it - that's literally the name.
Are you secure enough to trust with our client data?
It's our day job. We run Microsoft 365 and Entra security audits against recognised benchmarks, lock down access properly, and can show you (and your insurer or a client questionnaire) exactly where you stand. And when we use AI on your documents, we're careful and upfront about how your data is handled, as above.
start a conversation
Tell us what's eating your time.
The document pile, the spreadsheet nobody dares touch, the security you're half-hoping is fine. Tell us what's on your plate. No pitch, no fee. We'll tell you straight what's worth doing and where to start.