Power Automate with Business Central

What is Microsoft Power Automate?

Microsoft Power Automate is a low-code automation service that lets you build workflows (“flows”) that trigger when something happens, then run actions across Microsoft 365, Business Central, and hundreds of other connectors.

It’s designed to remove the boring glue-work: chasing approvals, moving documents, pushing notifications, and keeping systems in sync.

Power Automate supports:

• Cloud flows (automated / scheduled / instant)

• Desktop flows (RPA) for automating repetitive desktop tasks when there’s no clean API route

If Business Central is your “system of record”, Power Automate is the runner that carries messages between departments and systems without dropping the baton (most days).

Where Power Automate fits in the Microsoft stack

Power Automate sits in the Power Platform and is intended to connect business tasks across services like Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Excel, Dataverse, approvals, and partner services.

A practical way to think about it:

• Business Central = transactions, posting logic, inventory, purchasing, order processing

• Power Automate = orchestration, notifications, approvals, document handling, cross-app handoffs

• Power Apps = quick apps/forms for capturing data and guiding process steps

• Power BI = reporting and analysis

For SMEs, this matters because you can improve day-to-day processes without commissioning a mini-software project every time someone wants a better approval or a smarter notification.

How Power Automate works with Business Central

Business Central integrates with Power Automate through the Business Central connector (SaaS) and there’s also an on-premises connector (currently marked as preview).

Business Central Online (SaaS)

Microsoft’s Business Central Power Automate integration (as documented) applies to Business Central online, and supports two main flow types:

• Automated flows: triggered by events such as record/document creation, modification, deletion, or schedule.

• Instant flows: manually run by users from inside Business Central via the Automate action on many pages (lists, cards, documents).

It also supports starting flows via business events using the “When a business event occurs (V3)” trigger.

Important practical limitation:  Business Central connector doesn’t currently support service-to-service authentication (service principal / managed identity), which affects certain integration designs.

Business Central On-Premises

There is a Business Central (on-premises) connector (preview) that connects using a web service URL and username/password, with documented throttling limits (for example, API calls per connection).
This can be useful, but it’s not where you’d start, if you’re planning anything high-volume or business-critical without careful design and monitoring.

Who Power Automate is aimed at

Power Automate is a strong fit for organisations that:

• Run lots of repeatable admin processes (approvals, document filing, notifications)

• Live in Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Teams, SharePoint) and want to connect activity back to Business Central

• Have multiple systems and need “handoffs” between them without constant manual work

In our Business Central projects, the best outcomes come from using Power Automate to handle the process around the transaction (routing, nudging, filing, notifying), while Business Central stays responsible for the transaction and posting logic.

Where it’s genuinely useful with Business Central

1) Approvals and routing that people actually follow

Power Automate can stitch approvals into real working patterns — approvals via Teams/Outlook, escalations, reminders, and routing rules — while still keeping Business Central as the system of record for what’s been approved and why. (The exact setup depends on your workflow design and licensing.)

2) Document and audit trail automation

A common win for UK finance teams:

• When a document is posted/ready, automatically save a copy to SharePoint, alert a channel in Teams, or notify a responsible owner—without someone doing it manually.

3) Exception alerts (the “something’s wrong” moments)

• Overdue customers, blocked orders, stock exceptions, margin exceptions—push alerts to the right people in Teams or email so issues get handled quickly, not discovered at month-end.

4) User-driven “instant flows” inside Business Central

Instant flows can be run on records from within Business Central (from the Automate action), which makes adoption far more likely because users don’t have to leave the screen they’re working on.

Power Automate vs Business Central workflows: which to use?

Licensing: the part everyone ignores until it bites them

Licensing hinges on whether your flow uses premium connectors and how users run it.

• If an instant flow uses premium connectors, users who run it typically need Power Automate Premium, or you may need a process/flow-based licence depending on design.

• Microsoft publishes current pricing separately and it changes, so always validate against official pricing and licensing guidance before you scope a rollout.

Common mistakes (so you don’t create an expensive spaghetti monster)

• Automating a broken process: you’ll just get broken faster.

• No ownership: flows tied to one person’s account are a ticking time bomb.

• No error handling: silent failures are how finance teams end up back on spreadsheets.

• Using it for high-volume integration by default: Power Automate is brilliant for orchestration; it’s not automatically the best tool for heavy-duty data sync.

A sensible starting point for SMEs

1. Pick one measurable process (approval routing, document filing, exception alerts).
2. Decide the trigger: automated (event/schedule) or instant (user runs it inside BC).
3. Build governance: naming, ownership, permissions, error notifications.
4. Pilot with a small group, then expand.

FAQs: Power Automate and Business Central

Next Step

Get in touch if you want Business Central to work better for your business.