Midwest Ops Desk

Midwest Ops Desk · Website inquiry intake for small tax-prep and bookkeeping firms

Every website inquiry lands in a shared Google Sheet with an alert, so none sits unseen in someone's inbox.

Inquiries come in by phone, email and your website form. When it gets busy, it gets "quite difficult to keep everything straight", and the follow-ups end up in an Excel file nobody checks.

Built in your own Google and Zapier or Make accounts · No passwords · No sales call · Automation only: it never handles tax documents, SSNs or bank details.

Start the 5-question scoping form

From $125. Starter $125: 1 form → 1 Google Sheet → 1 email or Slack alert, about 3 days. Standard $650: up to 2 forms, Sheet plus 1 CRM, routed Slack and email alerts, error alert, duplicate check, about 5 days. Advanced $1,200: up to 3 related workflows, Sheets dashboard tab, auto-reply to the sender, digest of unanswered inquiries, about 8 days. Paid Zapier or Make plans are bought by you. Custom work: use the scoping form.

Demo overview in four panels: inquiry form, Google Sheet row, team alert, and auto-reply email. Starter ($125) covers form, Sheet and one alert; the auto-reply and digest are Advanced ($1,200) features. Demo with fictional data.

See the demo

Captioned walkthrough, about 25 seconds, fictional data.

Demo for a fictional bookkeeping firm. The auto-reply and 48-hour digest shown are Advanced ($1,200) features.

The demo uses fictional data. Every name, email and firm in it is made up. The same demo is on Contra.

Before: quote form, one inbox, easy to miss. After: form, Sheet row, alert, then confirmation to sender and morning digest, the last two labeled $1,200 feature. Sample rows are fictional.

What it does

Starter ($125): form → Sheet → 1 alert

  1. Website inquiry form with name, email, business type, service needed and message fields

    Form

    Your website form collects name, email, business type, service needed and a short message.

  2. Google Sheet of inquiries with source, timestamp and status columns

    Sheet row

    A new row lands in a shared Google Sheet with source, timestamp and a status dropdown.

  3. Alert email to the firm summarizing a new website inquiry

    Alert

    Your team gets an email or Slack alert, so someone owns the inquiry.

Advanced ($1,200) adds

  1. Auto-reply email telling the sender what happens next, labeled $1,200 feature

    Auto-reply

    $1,200 feature

    The sender gets a confirmation email explaining what happens next.

  2. Morning digest email listing open inquiries and flagging any still New after 48 hours, labeled $1,200 feature

    48-hour digest

    $1,200 feature

    Each morning, a digest lists open inquiries and flags any still marked New after 48 hours.

How it works (no call)

  1. 1Scoping form. Answer 5 short questions about your form, your tools and who should get alerts. Open the form.
  2. 2Scope in writing. You get the tier that fits and a fixed price, including whether the free Zapier or Make plan covers your volume.
  3. 3Build and test. I build in your own accounts with access you grant, and you test it with a sample inquiry before you approve the work.

Pricing: from $125

Three fixed-price tiers. Every tier includes 1 revision and is built in your own accounts. No passwords.

Starter

$125

Form to Sheet + Alert

  • 1 form → 1 Google Sheet
  • 1 Zap or scenario
  • 1 email or Slack alert
  • 1-page how-it-works doc
  • About 3 days
  • Not included: duplicate check, auto-reply, digest

Standard

$650

Lead Intake + CRM

  • Up to 2 forms → Google Sheet plus 1 CRM
  • Up to 3 Zaps or scenarios
  • Slack and email alerts with simple routing, plus an error alert
  • Duplicate check
  • How-it-works doc plus walkthrough video
  • About 5 days
  • Not included: auto-reply, digest

Advanced

$1,200

Intake Ops Pack

  • Up to 3 related workflows
  • Google Sheet plus a Sheets dashboard tab
  • Up to 6 Zaps or scenarios, with filters
  • Alerts plus error alerts, duplicate check
  • Auto-reply to the sender
  • Digest of unanswered inquiries
  • How-it-works doc plus a captioned walkthrough video
  • About 8 days

Custom work? Start with the 5-question scoping form.

Not included in any tier: paid Zapier, Make or Google plans (you buy those from the vendors directly), ongoing monitoring, custom code or APIs without a Zapier/Make connector, moving old data, setting up a CRM from scratch, any bookkeeping or tax work.

What this build does not touch

This build only handles inquiries. Client tax documents, SSNs and bank details stay in your secure client portal.

The form, the Sheet and the emails carry contact details and a short message only. The auto-reply asks senders not to email documents.

Contact

The fastest start is the 5-question scoping form. Questions first? The email address is in the footer.