Client
Our client is a well-established entity based in the United States with highly skilled professionals across a range of departments. It is well-known for its commitment to innovation, operational excellence, and customer satisfaction and has a strong presence in its industry. Because of the company’s multidisciplinary workforce, a wide range of customers can receive high-quality goods and services.
Challenge
The organization had a broad procurement network and a relentless focus on operational excellence, with plans to?leverage its use of Microsoft 365 for deeper digital transformation by automating and simplifying purchase order management. The client’s current PO process was slow, error-ridden, and?lacked visibility:
- Disjointed Workflows: Employees raised purchase requests using email and spreadsheets, which were difficult to track and often delayed or misplaced.
- Complex, Manual Approvals: Multi-step approvals involving department heads, “star approvers,” power users, and finance required significant coordination. It was easy for requests to get stuck or overlooked in the process.
- Manual Data Entry: Approved POs were manually created and entered Dynamics 365 Business Central, consuming staff time and introducing the risk of errors and duplicate entries.
- Lack of Real-Time Insights: There was no easy way for employees or management to track PO status, monitor spend or analyse approval cycle times without consolidating data from multiple sources.
- Limited Auditability: Keeping digital, centralized records for audit and compliance purposes was a challenge, especially as the company grew.
Solution
To solve those challenges and to build a scalable, future proof procurement solution, the business developed an Purchase Order App based on Microsoft Power Platform integration using SharePoint for secure data storage and approval workflow, Power Apps for a modern user interface, Power Automate for adaptive?routing, notifications and get some insights back on to Power BI, all integrated to Dynamics 365 Business Central.
- SharePoint Online Backend: The approval matrix – which consists of dep heads, star approver, power user and finance – is maintained in?a single SharePoint list. Request, status, background documents and digital files for all purchases are maintained?for storage and audit purposes.
- Power Apps Canvas App: Employees initiate purchase requests through an intuitive app, accessible on desktop and mobile, that guides them step by step through entering required details (items, quantities, justification, attachments) and submits the request to the workflow.
Automated Approval Workflow with Power Automate:
- Purchase requests are first routed to the relevant department head for initial approval.
- Once approved, Power Automate dynamically sends the request to the designated second approver (star approver or power user) based on the SharePoint approval matrix.
- Upon approval by the second approver, the request is automatically sent?to finance for final review and acceptance.
- Throughout the process, automated email notifications keep all stakeholders—including the requester—updated on status changes, approvals, and next steps, ensuring nothing is missed.
- Finance Team Processing & PO Generation: When finance approves a request, the app generates a formal PDF purchase order from the entered data. This PDF can be saved, printed, or sent directly to vendors.
- Dynamics 365 Business Central Integration: The application will generate an open purchase order record in Dynamics 365 Business Central with no manual re-entry and offer a?real-time financial system updating.
- Power BI Analytics: All purchase data is fed into a Power BI dashboard, allowing management and finance teams to:
- Monitor open, approved, and historical purchase orders in real time.
- Analyse spends by category, department, vendor, or approval stage.
- Track approval timelines, spot bottlenecks, and improve cycle times.
- Identify trends and support audit and compliance needs with centralized digital records.
- Security and User Adoption: Your employees open the app using their Microsoft 365 credentials in Azure Active Directory and the app?UI integrates directly into Outlook and Teams, providing security, common user experience and fast adoption.
Result
- Accelerated, Transparent Approvals: Automate the routing and?instant notifications eliminate days of waiting, with every action documented and tracked.
- Standardization and Compliance: With a centralized approval?matrix, and digital files of records, all purchases go through the same steps and can be audited.
- Elimination of Manual Errors: Seamless integration with Dynamics 365 Business Central removes manual data entry, reducing errors and saving valuable staff time.
- Real-Time Insight and Reporting: Power BI dashboards empower finance and management with instant analytics for spend management, process optimization, and supplier performance evaluation.
- Higher User Satisfaction: Employees and managers appreciate the intuitive interface, clear approval process, and ability to track their requests from initiation to fulfilment.
- Scalable, Future-Proof Solution: The system is easily adapted to new approval structures, additional departments, or changes in business requirements as the company grows.
Tools Used
- Power Apps Canvas App
- SharePoint Online
- Power Automate
- Power BI
- Dynamics 365 Business Central
- Microsoft 365 (Outlook & Teams)