How do I automate a weekly report?
Pull from each source system directly, transform once in one scripted place, and deliver on schedule with every number traceable to origin. The Friday copy-paste from three systems is the most automatable hour in most businesses, and retiring it is usually a small, fixed-price job.
The longer answer
In practice.
The pattern
APIs or exports fetched automatically, one transformation with the business
rules written down at last, output to the spreadsheet, email or dashboard people
already read, on a schedule. No human hands between source and number.
The part that is actually valuable
Writing the rules down. The report's assembler carries silent decisions
(which statuses count, how refunds land) in their head; automation forces those
into the open where they can be checked. Businesses learn uncomfortable and
useful things at this step.
What it costs and returns
Typically days of work, fixed quote, repaying a person-hour or more weekly
forever, plus the removal of single-person dependency. Details at
data & reporting.
Same rabbit hole