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. See managed IT and 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 — kept private and on-shore. 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. Sensitive documents can run on controlled, on-shore inference, not a US cloud. Independent (we don't resell), fast (modern tools and AI, days not quarters), and we'll tell you when you don't need it. Engagements from $400.
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. See automation and 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, and able to run private and on-shore for sensitive files. See practical AI.
the bit nobody else does
AI that reads your files — and keeps them yours.
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 it doesn't have to leave the building. For your most sensitive files we can run the AI on controlled, on-shore infrastructure — your documents stay private, never sent to a US cloud or fed into a training set. The time saving without the trust trade-off. Nobody else in this market offers that.
- → Extract the figures, don't re-key them
- → "Ask your deal folder" — cited answers
- → Auto-drafted reports & replies you approve
- → Private, on-shore option for sensitive files
- → A human in the loop on anything that matters
how we work
A conversation, then we ship.
Like a good financial planner: 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 from $400 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.
what it costs
Engagements from $400. Published, not "contact us".
Most firms in this market hide their pricing behind a discovery call. We don't. Start with a focused fix from $400, prove it, and grow from there — bigger builds and an ongoing arrangement are quoted up front, fixed 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-services firms from a solo operator up to about fifteen people: lawyers, accountants, 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.
What is the 'private, on-shore AI' and why does it matter for us?
Most AI tools send your files off to a US cloud, where you have little say over what happens to them. For sensitive client work — contracts, deal documents, financials, client records — we can run the AI on controlled, on-shore infrastructure instead, so the documents never leave a place you trust and are never fed into someone's training set. You get the time saving without handing your confidential files to a black box.
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 private '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?
Engagements start from $400 — a focused fix to prove the value, not a big project you have to commit to. Most firms start with one painful problem (a document automation, a spreadsheet rebuild, a security audit), see it work, then it grows into us running more of their tech on a simple monthly arrangement. Transparent and 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 the private AI option above means your most sensitive documents needn't leave infrastructure you control.
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 — and we'll tell you straight what's worth doing and where to start.