Dynamics 365 Business Central Cloud Tips and Tricks: Power Automate Series – Part 2: Approval Flows

In this series of bi-monthly blogs, Western Computer shares our expertise with tips and tricks to help users work more efficiently in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Cloud. Based on our more than 30 years in business—with 1,250+ solution implementations, including more than 350 in the cloud—we share the expertise we have accumulated to enable users to work as proficiently as possible. You can also subscribe to these blogs in our LinkedIn newsletter. 

In my video, Unlocking Automation in Business Central with Power Automate, I introduced the four types of automation offered by Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Cloud in conjunction with Power Automate. Creating automations in your environment unlocks a new set of potent tools to boost team collaboration. 

For this four-part blog series, I further explore each automated workflow type—highlighting their key features and demonstrating how to use them within your daily operations. In Part 1, I discussed setting up Automated Flows. For Part 2, let’s explore Approval Flows:

Changing the Approval Flow Landscape

Approval Workflows are not new to Business Central. They have been around since early versions of NAV on the Role Tailored Client and have changed over the years. However, many users consider these workflows to be pretty basic. 

That’s because the NAV workflows were not very flexible and were somehow hard to customize. Most of our customers who needed approval processes accepted working with the workflows. But many complained that they lacked features such as approvals by e-mail or executing tasks—like dispatching additional e-mails.

Not to worry though—the Approval Flows between Power Automate and Business Central have changed this landscape greatly! 

How to Create Approval Flows

Approval Flows created in Power Automate integrate seamlessly with Business Central—showing up on the same list as regular Business Central workflows. They also come packed with all the power of Power Automate.

Creating them is easier than ever. All you need to do is go to the entity you want to have approvals over (e.g. Item Cards, Customer Cards, and Sales Orders) and select the <Create approval flow> action from the Power Automate action ribbon.

Quick Tip 

 If you don’t see the Power Automate action ribbon, 

your environment is probably not set up with 

Power Automate licenses, or your system administrator 

may have hidden the function.

When you hit <Create approval flow>, a new page opens to show flows from existing templates created by Microsoft. You can even see how many customers have tried them. You also have the option to develop a process from a blank flow as shown in the screenshot below:

My personal suggestion is to start with the templates created by Microsoft. They have evolved and come with nice features such as approving by e-mail! 

Approve or Reject Workflows in Email

Users are no longer required to actually open Business Central to approve or reject the Approval Flows. You may thus ask, “But how will I approve a record without even looking at it?” 

That’s where the Microsoft flexibility comes in. The information sent by e-mail for an approval is highly customizable and you can add any additional relevant information that you think is needed for the approver to assess each case—without any coding. You just change the Power Automate flow. 

Below, you can see an example of how an e-mail dispatched by Power Automate hits the approver’s mailbox:

With this approval integration between Business Central and Power Automate, you can not only customize the text displayed on the requested e-mail, but also trigger other Power Automate actions as part of the approval process. 

Approval Workflow Samples

Here are a few examples of Approval Workflows to get your ideas flowing for what might work well for your business:

• When requesting approval of a customer, send an e-mail to inside sales, legal, and procurement to run additional checks. Additionally, call a Web Service API to check if the customer’s tax ID is valid.
• When requesting approval of an item, automatically block it to prevent further usage. If approved, unblock it, call an external API to get additional information about this item on the vendor website, and link to it on the Item Card. 
• When requesting approval of a sales document, make sure the requester is informed of the outcome. If the approval is rejected, show the reason why.

These are just some of the many ways you can gain productivity by using the Power Automate workflows. In my next blog of this series, I explore Scheduled Flows so you can learn how to run reports and complete tasks based on their recurrence patterns.

To Learn More 

Western Computer offers deep expertise across the Microsoft technology stack, particularly in Dynamics 365 solutions. Our thought leaders can help you ensure your critical ERP application meets your business needs for today and beyond. For more information on how to use these Business Central tips, or for help in designing, deploying and supporting Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions, contact Western Computer today. 

About the Author

Marcelo Borges has been very enthusiastic about ERP systems since the time he first experienced Microsoft Dynamics, back in 2005. He joined Western Computer in 2017 as a consultant focusing on Microsoft Dynamics solutions for customers in the finance, trading, warehousing, and distribution sectors. When advising on technology and designing solutions, Marcelo calls upon his experience of having worked on both sides of the table: as a consultant for known Microsoft Partners, and as an end-user in multiple industries.

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