Approvals and requests
Forms, emails and requests routed to the right person with the context attached, and a record of who decided what.
Your Microsoft 365 estate can do more than forward emails.
Approvals, forms, files and notifications already move through your business. We connect them with flows and lightweight apps that people understand, support and can take ownership of.
Purchase request PR-2207
- TriggerForm submitted by Operations: Settled
- PrepareQuote attached, budget code checked: Settled
- £1,240 · over £500Waiting for the manager’s approval: A person decides
- ThenUpdate the SharePoint tracker, notify the requester: In hand
- If the flow failsAlert the named owner, not the customer: Needs a look
Flows that don’t break quietly. Built for the case nobody planned for.
Plenty of Power Automate flows work on the happy path and fail silently on the odd one. We design the checks, the retries and the route for exceptions first, so a flow is something you rely on rather than babysit.
The hand-offs are where the day disappears.
- Inbox-to-spreadsheet. Requests get retyped into trackers before anyone starts the real work.
- Approval limbo. Nobody knows who has the next action.
- Silent failures. A flow breaks and the team finds out from an unhappy customer.
Where it helps
Good jobs for the Power Platform.
Moving data between systems
SharePoint, Outlook, Teams, Excel and hundreds of connectors: the rekeying people do because nothing else would.
A small app for the gap
A Power App where a spreadsheet and an email chain are doing a job they were never built for.
A flow should do a job, and admit when it cannot.
Simple bounded automation pattern
- TriggerForm, file, email or event
- PrepareExtract, enrich, validate
- Review if neededA personAuthorised person confirms
- Complete & logUpdate, notify, monitor
See it run: Tina sketches this workflow, step by step, and shows which parts a person keeps.
What we build
- Power Automate cloud flows with retries, error handling and alerts
- Desktop flows (RPA) where a system has no API, used sparingly
- Power Apps for capture, review and approval steps
- Dataverse or SharePoint data models that won’t be outgrown in a year
- Environments, connections and permissions that don’t depend on one person’s account
- Documentation and a named owner for every flow
- Power Automate approval journeys, with a record of who decided
What stays with your team
- Approvals and anything with consequences
- Exceptions the rules don’t cover
- Changes to how the process works
AI prepares. People decide. Routine actions run only within limits you agree.
A flow, with somewhere to stand.
Illustrative architecture — the shape, not a fixed design
What you already run
- Microsoft 365 and Teams
- SharePoint libraries
- Line-of-business systems
What carries the work
Power Automate the flow, its schedule and its retries
Power Apps the screen for the step that needs a person
Dataverse where the records actually live- Named owner someone on your side who can change it
What stays with people
- Approvals
- Exceptions the rules do not cover
- Changing the rules
Microsoft product icons are used under Microsoft’s icon terms for architectural diagrams. Product names belong to their owners.
Usually built with
- Power Automate
- Power Apps
- Dataverse
- SharePoint & Lists
- Forms & capture
Technologies we work with. Product names and logos belong to their owners, who do not endorse Boring Future.
The evidence. Each with where it came from.
Founder experience · employed role
35 hrs → 30 min
Preparation only, approximate; same underlying project as other pages, not an additional case.
Large work-order packs prepared for people to review.
- The problem
- Preparing a batch of roughly 700 work orders took a substantial amount of repetitive investigation before any human decision.
- What was built
- Used Microsoft automation and agent tooling to assemble and summarise information into a reviewable preparation pack.
- What changed
- Approximate preparation effort moved from 35 hours to 30 minutes for that batch; the responsible reviewer still examined the output.
The same project is shown on Copilot Studio agents and Facilities & maintenance: one piece of work, not 3 separate cases.
Where we’d use something else
- If a job needs heavy logic or very high volumes, we’ll say so and build that part in code.
- If a system has a proper API, we use it rather than clicking through screens with RPA.
- Some steps are better removed than automated. If one shouldn’t exist, we’ll recommend taking it out.
How it works
- Free conversationFree
- Discovery & Design£2,500 + VAT, fixed
- CompleteFixed scope and fee
- OperateOptional, monthly
Running a business of 5 to 50 people? Essentials starts with a £395 + VAT half-day session
Questions. Anything else, just ask.
Ask us directlyDo we need premium Power Platform licences?
Not always. Many useful flows run on the standard connectors included with Microsoft 365. Premium connectors, Dataverse and some apps need extra licences; we’ll tell you before anything is built, and why.
Who owns the flows?
You do. We agree a business owner, environment, connection account and support route instead of relying on one person’s login, and the flows run under accounts your organisation controls, with documentation.
Can you fix flows someone else built?
Yes. A common starting point is a set of flows that work most of the time and fail quietly the rest. We review, document and harden them.
Is Copilot Studio part of this?
It’s part of the Power Platform and we build with it. It has its own page, under Copilot Studio agents.
Will it work with SharePoint and Teams?
Often yes, subject to your permissions, licensing and integration requirements.
Can automation send external emails or approve invoices?
Where risk and authority permit it. Higher-impact actions can require an explicit human confirmation.
Where it’s used. Where to go next.
The flow should follow the process. Not become the process.
Start a free 30 to 45 minute conversation. No deck, no obligation.