Automating Invoice Approvals for a Professional Services Firm
- Client Overview
A mid-sized professional services firm specializing in consulting and advisory services. The organization operates with regional teams and a centralized finance department handling hundreds of invoices each month.
- Problem Statement
The client faced chronic inefficiencies in their invoice approval process:
- Invoices were manually sent and tracked via email.
- Approval routing relied on finance team follow-ups and spreadsheets.
- Delays caused by regional managers not responding on time.
- Lack of real-time visibility and poor audit trails.
This resulted in:
- 3+ day delays for approvals.
- High manual workload for finance staff.
- Limited accountability and reporting.
- Solution Provided
We designed and deployed a custom Power Automate solution integrated with Microsoft Outlook, SharePoint, and Teams:
Automated email triggers upon invoice upload in SharePoint.
Dynamic routing logic based on invoice amount and business unit.
Approval flows with reminder emails and escalation logic.
Real-time status tracking via a central dashboard in Teams.
Audit trail generation for compliance and financial reviews.
The entire solution was delivered in under 4 weeks, including stakeholder workshops and UAT.
- Impact & Business Value
- Approval time reduced from 3 days to 3 hours
- 60% reduction in finance team workload related to follow-ups
- Improved compliance through full audit traceability
- Better visibility for managers and faster decision-making
- Enabled scalable automation with reusable flow templates
“This automation has completely changed how our finance operations run. Our team no longer wastes hours chasing approvals, and we finally have a real-time view of what’s happening. The productivity boost was almost instant.”
— Head of Finance, [Client Name Hidden]
- Tools & Technology
Microsoft Copilot Studio
Azure OpenAI Service
SharePoint (Knowledge base)
Microsoft Teams (chat integration)
Power Automate (escalation workflow)
Ready to Streamline Your Finance Workflows?
Let’s explore how Power Automate can help you eliminate manual work and accelerate business processes.