Most delay is paperwork. A payslip, an accountant's reference or a signed form outstanding for a week is what holds up a case, and knowing exactly what is missing per client is the difference between chasing and waiting.
The expiry dates are a pipeline that already exists. Every completed case carries the date its fixed period ends, and a practice that works those dates has next year's business written down today.
Compliance is a long memory. What was recommended, on what information and why, has to be retrievable years later, and it is the part of the job nobody thinks about until somebody asks.
Fees arrive after completion and from several lenders. Reconciling what was paid against which case, and chasing what did not arrive, is money most small brokerages simply lose.