An End-to-End Invoice Approval Automation Journey That Enhanced Transparency and Cut Approval Times in Half.
The client is a well-established organization based in UAE, responsible for managing large, complex projects. Each project undergoes multiple billing phases—such as upfront (advance) billing and billing upon completion. SharePoint functions as the core data repository, including all billing and project-related data. Each invoice requires approval from multiple teams and departments, and the manual nature of the invoice approval process made it slow and inefficient.
“Previously, invoice approvals involved multiple people, email chains, and manual checks across numerous SharePoint lists. It was time-consuming and prone to delays. The solution built using Power BI and Power Automate has completely redefined the process. We now approve invoices with just a click, get real-time notifications, and never lose track of where things stand. Thanks to Difinity Digital.”
The client was experiencing persistent delays in their invoice approval process due to a lack of integration and visibility across the approval stages. Each invoice had to pass through multiple layers of review with no unified system in place to track the workflow. Difinity Digital thus designed a comprehensive solution leveraging Power BI and Power Automate. With this solution, stakeholders can access relevant invoice information, take action, and monitor status updates — all from within a centralized Power BI dashboard. Power Automate ensured real-time notifications and seamless transitions between approval stages, eliminating the need for manual follow-ups or data retrieval from multiple SharePoint lists.
Invoices were subjected to a lengthy, step-by-step approval process involving multiple layers of reviewers, including team leads, department heads, and client stakeholders. Without a centralized system, stakeholders had to go through numerous SharePoint lists to gather information and complete approvals. This manual and disjointed workflow led to extended approval times of over 15 days, created a heavy burden on back-office teams, and caused delays in invoice processing and collections due to poor visibility and lack of coordination.
Difinity Digital designed and implemented an automated invoice approval system using Power BI, Power Automate, and SharePoint. Power BI served as the central platform, offering interactive dashboards with role-based access that allowed managers and leads to view, approve, or reject invoices directly. Power Automate managed the entire approval workflow, triggering real-time notifications to the next approver after each action, while SharePoint remained as the central data repository, seamlessly connected to the Power BI data model for live updates. Once the final approval was completed, the system automatically logged the status in SharePoint and sent email notifications to client partners with all relevant invoice details.
“By leveraging Power BI and Power Automate on top of the client’s existing SharePoint ecosystem, we eliminated inefficiencies and gave stakeholders real-time control over invoice approvals. What once took over two weeks now takes less than a day — and the process is more transparent and accurate than ever.”
Manu George Michael, Director, Difinity Digital
–from Execution Team