Create a document workflow using Sharepoint and Flow in one day

Some time ago, a client who was looking for a document flow system with the following requirements came to our company:

1. The application is to enable the division of cost invoices according to their type
2. The application is to enable automatic notification of the entry of a document into the system
3. You should create patterns of handling a given document, e.g. a cost invoice is sent to an employee of a given department who accepts it – then the head of the department re-approves it, the invoice is returned to the accounting department
4. The most important requirement – all data is to be downloaded and compiled in an excel sheet, giving the result analysis of the company.
5. The system must be ready for yesterday 🙂

We offered the client the use of the following applications included in the Office 365 suite: Microsoft Sharepoint, Flow and Excel.

We started creating the application from Sharepoint Online. After creating the site, we prepared a series of lists that are the basic elements of the application. The list is like a database table. We added columns, specified the type of data to be stored, and added cost center columns that allowed us to classify documents. In such a created tool, the operator could enter document headers and scans. Each entry of a document triggered an action in the Flow application. We have built condition-controlled runs through it. Each run was assigned to a given list in Sharepoint Online.

If a new document is entered in the letter, send an email notification to the department manager, if the department manager confirms the correctness of the document, notify the department manager. The head of the department checks the document and, if it is correct, returns the confirmation to the accounting department for the approval of the payment. When creating waveforms, we are only limited by our imagination.

The described document returns to the sharepoint list and is included in the process of financial analysis of the company. We have prepared an excel sheet with full ratio analysis. Documents are downloaded directly to Excel via the built-in OData driver. Next are the functions: search vertically and sum conditions.

Building the tool in Office 365 turned out to be very fast, and the license costs were attractive (10 euros per month per user). Despite the large number of documents, we did not exceed the free plan in Flow.

A few tips:

• the sharepoint list can contain up to 30 million records, so we can store even large data sets in it
• Flow configuration is simple, but not all translations are used, so you should use English words, for example, when accepting actions
• Odata driver is not present in Excel for Mac – data reloading can only be done on a Windows computer – we can buy the driver, but they are very expensive
• forget about using Excel Online and reloading – the application is limited – if we want to show data in this way, we reload the file locally and then send it to any place (sharepoint library or one drive)

Document flow is just one of the ideas on how to build your own applications via Office 365. In addition to the described products, Microsoft provides, among others, Power Apps. Thanks to it, we can create a mobile application for the internal needs of the company.

If you are interested in trying the Office 365 application, please contact us.