Your ERP should give you answers — not more work.
Automaton, Inc. implements, rescues, and automates Microsoft Dynamics GP, Dynamics 365 Business Central, Epicor Kinetic, and Sage Intacct — then builds the dashboards that put your numbers in front of the people who need them, every morning.
Consulting that ships working systems
From first requirements workshop to the morning your team opens a dashboard instead of a spreadsheet — Automaton handles strategy, implementation, and the unglamorous detail work in between.
ERP Implementation & Migration
New implementations, re-implementations, and platform moves — including Dynamics GP to Business Central migrations. Chart-of-accounts design, data migration, opening balances that tie to the penny, and go-live support.
Implementation Recovery
Stalled go-live? Half-migrated books? Consultants gone quiet? We step into troubled ERP projects, stabilize what's live, re-plan what isn't, and finish the job — with a readiness monitor so everyone can see the path to done.
Finance & Accounting Automation
AP and payment workflows, bank and fuel-card reconciliations, recurring journal entries, intercompany billing, scheduled jobs, and AI-assisted agents — automation that removes the re-keying, not the controls.
Business Intelligence & Dashboards
Power BI reports and secure live web dashboards fed straight from your ERP — daily CFO flash reports, KPI scorecards, cost-per-unit metrics, and implementation health monitors your leadership actually reads.
Integrations & APIs
Your ERP shouldn't be an island. We connect Sage Intacct, Business Central, and SQL-based systems to banks, payroll, operations platforms, and Microsoft 365 with API-level integrations and reliable data feeds.
Multi-Entity Accounting & Close
Multi-entity consolidations, intercompany eliminations, fixed assets, historical balance loads, and audit-ready reconciliations. Every balance ties to source — and when something doesn't, you hear about it, not a plug.
Deep in the systems that run your business
Automaton works hands-on in four major ERP platforms — not as a reseller, but as the consultant in the system doing the work. That independence means the recommendation you get is the one that fits.
Microsoft
Dynamics GP
With Microsoft winding down Dynamics GP, every GP shop needs a plan. We support and extend existing GP environments — including direct SQL-level reporting and integrations — and we plan and execute the migration path when you're ready to move.
Microsoft
Dynamics 365 Business Central
Implementations and GP-to-Business-Central migrations: data migration and validation, process redesign, API integrations, and Power BI reporting built on BC data — managed with an action tracker so nothing falls through the cracks.
Epicor
Epicor Kinetic
Manufacturing-grade ERP consulting for Epicor Kinetic environments — implementation support, finance and costing process design, and the reporting layer that turns Kinetic's operational data into decisions.
Sage
Sage Intacct
Multi-entity Sage Intacct implementations end to end: dimension and chart-of-accounts design, consolidations and eliminations, historical data loads, and deep API automation — AP workflows, journal entries, reconciliations, and daily reporting feeds.
The name isn't decoration
Automation is what we do — it's on the door. We find the work your team does by hand every day, week, and month, and turn it into reliable, monitored processes inside and around your ERP. Controls stay in place; re-keying goes away.
Every automation ships with the same discipline: a design you approve before we build, verification against source data before it runs live, and monitoring after — so you always know it's working, and you're never dependent on a black box.
Automate Something- AP & payment workflows — vendor invoice application, payment runs, and approval-gated postings
- Reconciliations — bank, credit-card, and fuel-card feeds matched and tied out automatically
- Recurring journal entries — payroll allocations, intercompany billing, and accruals generated from source systems
- Scheduled reporting — daily flash reports and KPI refreshes delivered before the workday starts
- Monitors & alerts — chart-of-accounts drift, data-feed freshness, and exception alerts straight to your inbox
- AI-assisted agents — practical, supervised AI for triage, data entry, and follow-ups — with a human approving what matters
Numbers your leadership actually reads
A report nobody opens is decoration. We build the reporting layer on top of your ERP — in Microsoft Power BI or as secure, live web dashboards — designed around the handful of numbers that run your business.
- Daily CFO flash reports Revenue, cost, margin, and cash — pulled from the ERP automatically and on your screen every morning.
- KPI scorecards & owner dashboards Per-unit economics, trend views, and the operational metrics that explain the P&L.
- Implementation health monitors Live readiness tracking during an ERP project, so status meetings report facts instead of feelings.
- Mockup-first builds You approve a design before we build, and the finished product matches what you approved.
A disciplined path from mess to measured
The same method on every engagement — whether it's a full ERP migration or a single automated reconciliation.
Assess
We get into your systems and your close process, reconcile what's actually there, and give you an honest written picture — including the problems.
Design
Every build starts as a mockup or spec you approve. You see exactly what you're getting before a single thing is built.
Build & Verify
We build in your system, tie every number back to source data, and show our work. Nothing goes live on trust alone.
Run & Monitor
Automations run on schedule with monitoring and alerts, dashboards stay live, and you get documentation — not dependency.
Founder-led. Hands-on. Accountable.
The consultant you hire is the one in your system
Automaton, Inc. is a Chicago-based consultancy led by its founder, Shawn McDonough. No bench, no bait-and-switch, no junior staff learning on your dime — the person who scopes your engagement is the person designing your chart of accounts, writing your automations, and reconciling your balances.
The practice sits at the intersection of accounting and technology: fluent enough in debits and credits to close your books, and fluent enough in APIs, SQL, and modern AI tooling to make your systems do the heavy lifting.
Engagements range from full ERP implementations and multi-entity migrations to focused projects — one dashboard, one automated reconciliation, one recovered go-live.
- Every number ties to source. Deliverables reconcile to your bank, your ledger, your data — not to optimism.
- No unexplained variances. If something doesn't tie, you get a named cause, never a plug.
- Approve before we build. Mockups and specs first, so the finished product is the one you asked for.
- Documentation, not dependency. Everything we build is handed over documented and maintainable.
Let's talk about your systems
Whether it's a migration you're weighing, a go-live that went sideways, a close that takes too long, or a dashboard you wish existed — the first conversation is free, and you'll get a straight answer.
Email Shawn DirectlyPhone
Office
2045 W Grand Ave Ste B, PMB 927624
Chicago, Illinois 60612-1577