Power Automate for Finance Teams: Cloud Flows and Approvals Explained

Power Automate is Microsoft's tool for building automated workflows, for example one that starts when an email arrives. This guide covers two features: cloud flows, which connect services and run on a trigger or schedule, and approvals, which add a human sign-off step. This guide explains both using Microsoft Learn's documentation, and says clearly where the documentation stops. Features, names, availability and licensing change often and vary by plan, so check the linked Microsoft pages before you design anything. For how this sits next to screen-based bots and other tools, see our wider guide to robotic process automation in accounting and finance; this article stays with cloud flows and approvals.

What a cloud flow is

Microsoft Learn's overview of cloud flows (page updated 28 July 2026) describes them as automated workflows that connect your apps and services to automate tasks and processes. They can be triggered by an event, such as an email arriving, or by a time of day, and they can perform actions across multiple services. The page lists three types:

• Automated: starts on an event, for example when an email arrives.
• Instant: starts when someone presses a button, for example to kick off an approval in Teams or SharePoint.
• Scheduled: runs on a schedule, for example a daily data upload to SharePoint or a database.

The same page says you can create a flow by describing it to Copilot in natural language or by building from scratch in the designer. It adds that Copilot is available only in the new designer, is on by default and can be disabled by an admin.

Triggers, actions and connectors

A trigger is the event or time that starts an automated flow. Actions are the steps the flow then performs. Connectors, according to the overview, are links to cloud or on-premises services that let your accounts talk to each other. The overview does not define triggers and actions in depth and points to separate articles, so use those for detail on any specific connector. In practice, the choice of connectors determines which of your systems a flow can reach, which is why they matter for governance, discussed below.

How approvals work

Microsoft's "Get started with Power Automate approvals" page (updated 29 April 2026) says approvals automate sign-off requests and add human decision-making to workflows. It gives vacation requests, documents that need sign-off and expense reports as examples. It describes three approval actions: Create an approval, Start and wait for an approval (the quickest way to start, where the flow pauses until approvers respond) and Wait for an approval.

For Start and wait for an approval, the page lists these approval types:

• Approve/Reject, everyone must approve.
• Approve/Reject, first to respond.
• Custom responses, wait for all responses.
• Custom responses, wait for one response.
• Sequential approval, where approvers respond one at a time in order.

Approvers can respond in Outlook email, in a Microsoft Teams adaptive card or in the Power Automate action center. The page also explains that approval flows are saved in Microsoft Dataverse. In a non-default environment, the first user to run an approval flow needs the administrator role so that the Dataverse database can be provisioned. Approvals can be assigned to users, including guests, and to Microsoft 365 groups. The page lists situations where this does not work, so read it before relying on external approvers.

A documented example: a SharePoint request with approval

Microsoft's "Create and test an approval workflow" page (updated 19 August 2026) walks through a vacation-request example. In outline, an automated cloud flow starts when an item is created in a SharePoint list, adds a Get my profile (V2) action to retrieve profile information for use in the approval request, runs Start and wait for an approval, then uses a Condition on the approver's response. One branch emails the requester and updates the list item for an approval, and the other does the same for a rejection. The page notes that the flow creates a request in the approvals center and emails the approver, and that outputs such as the approver's name and comments can be used in later steps.

Two further notes from that page matter for finance. For approvals that may run longer than 30 days, it says to store approvals in Dataverse and use two flows built on the Create an approval (v2) action. And cancellation is supported on that action, through the Approvals area, by selecting a sent request and choosing Cancel.

Finance teams can adapt the same pattern to purchase requests or expense claims. That is our suggestion, not something the page prescribes.

Where desktop flows fit

Microsoft's "What is Power Automate?" page (footer date 27 November 2025) lists cloud flows, desktop flows and generative actions (preview), and describes desktop flows as automating tasks on the web or the desktop. A cloud flow can start a desktop flow using the action named "Run a flow built with Power Automate for desktop", where you choose attended or unattended run mode (documentation page updated 6 May 2026). The page says a registered machine or machine group and a desktop flow connection are required, and it lists limits, including a stated cap on runs per minute per connection. The page on unattended desktop flows (updated 31 August 2026) describes them as running without human supervision and lists machine requirements, such as the target machine being available with all users signed out. Licence requirements for the two modes are set out on Microsoft's pages and are not repeated here.

Build in error handling

Microsoft's guidance on robust error handling (updated 11 July 2025) recommends configuring "run after" settings so an action can follow a failed, timed-out, skipped or succeeded step, and grouping actions into scopes in a try-and-catch pattern. It also covers retry policies, the Terminate action for critical errors, and logging errors and notifying stakeholders. For finance flows that move money-related data, our suggestion is to decide at design time who is told when a flow fails and where the failure is recorded.

Governance: connectors and data

Microsoft's page on data loss prevention policies for Power Automate (updated 13 March 2026) says they define which connectors can access and share an organisation's data, and that administrators control them. For desktop flows, it describes grouping modules and actions as business, non-business or blocked, and says noncompliant flows are suspended. It also says users cannot run a desktop flow from a cloud flow if that desktop flow violates a policy.

Some practical points from us, labelled as such:

• Agree with IT who owns each flow, and what happens when the owner leaves.
• Keep a register of finance flows, what data they touch and which connectors they use.
• Check inputs. A flow that reads from a spreadsheet or mailbox inherits any errors in it, so data quality still matters: see our guide to financial data quality management.
• If your organisation uses Microsoft 365 Copilot or Copilot features in the designer, review permissions and data access too, as discussed in our piece on Microsoft 365 Copilot data governance and permissions.

Keep personal data in mind as well. If a flow handles employee or customer data, involve whoever looks after data protection in your organisation. This article does not cover legal requirements.

Learnsignal's offices are off Baggot Street in Dublin, and we offer in-person training from there. For current details, see our CPD pages.

Frequently asked questions

What are the three types of cloud flow?

Microsoft Learn lists automated flows (triggered by an event), instant flows (started with a button) and scheduled flows (run on a schedule).

Can an approval be sent to someone outside our organisation?

Microsoft's approvals page says approvals can be assigned to guests and Microsoft 365 groups, with conditions and exceptions listed on the page. Read those conditions with your administrator before relying on it.

Where do approvers respond?

According to Microsoft, in Outlook email, a Microsoft Teams adaptive card or the Power Automate action center.

Do we need Dataverse to use approvals?

The page says approval flows are saved in Dataverse and describes how the database is provisioned when the first approval flow is run in a non-default environment. Your administrator can confirm how your environment is set up.

Is licensing covered here?

No. Licensing and plans change, so check Microsoft's current licensing pages for your tenant.

In short: start with a small, well-documented approval flow, add error handling, and agree ownership and connector rules before it becomes business-critical.