What is Business scenario

Often, a desktop flow is part of a bigger overall automation solution. For example, an event management company provides different package tiers to their clients to help them with cost savings on their event. This means that clients don’t need to pay separately for each service. The event management company pays the vendors on behalf of the client. For example, when they plan a wedding, they book the venue, hire the caterer, book the entertainment, and even sometimes hire a florist. When the event is complete, each vendor sends them an invoice for the services they provided.

That process is as follows:

• Vendor invoices are received as email attachments in a dedicated email box.
• Invoice attachments are downloaded from the email and scanned to determine what the invoice is for. Details such as the vendor, invoice date, and invoice amount are extracted from the attachment.
• Invoices are sent to a specific person to be evaluated and either approved or denied, based on the services provided.
• Individuals receive and interact with this request in Teams.
• Invoice is approved and a new invoice is created in the event management companies legacy invoice application.
• Invoice number is generated once the invoice has been entered. A confirmation email that the invoice was processed is sent back to the vendor. This includes the invoice number.

The image shows a high-level breakdown of what this automation would look like in a Power Automate flow.

The whole process is done with a cloud flow.

1. The cloud flow is triggered automatically when an email is received in the dedicated mailbox in Outlook.
2. AI Builder is used to extract details from the invoice attachment such as the vendor, invoice date, and amount.
3. An approval request is sent to the appropriate person in Microsoft Teams. The request includes the invoice details extracted from it.
4. Once the approval request is complete, a condition evaluates if the invoice was approved or rejected.
5. Based on the approval status:
   • Approved: If approved, the cloud flow runs a desktop flow that was created to interact with the legacy application. The invoice details such as the vendor, invoice date, and amount are used in the creation of the invoice record.
     • Once the invoice is logged, the invoice number is captured, and a new email is created in Outlook. The email includes the status of the invoice and the invoice number.
   • Rejected: if the invoice is rejected, the cloud flow creates a new email in Outlook, letting the vendor know their invoice wasn’t approved.