10 Everyday Business Processes You Can Automate with Power Automate Approvals

Written By Abhishek Gawde

1. Leave and Time-Off Requests

  • Scenario: Employees submit leave requests that need to be approved by their manager and, for extended leaves, by HR or higher management.

  • How It Works:

    • Route requests to immediate supervisors if the leave duration is under a specified threshold (e.g., 5 days).

    • Escalate to HR for review if the leave duration exceeds the threshold or falls during critical business periods.

2. Expense Reimbursement Approvals

  • Scenario: Employees submit expense reports, which must be validated and approved based on the amount and type of expense.

  • How It Works:

    • Route expenses below $500 to the department manager for approval.

    • Automatically escalate expenses exceeding $500 to the finance department or higher management.

3. IT Hardware and Software Requests

  • Scenario: Employees request new software licenses, hardware upgrades, or IT equipment that require different levels of approval based on the item and cost.

  • How It Works:

    • Route low-cost software license requests to IT support for review.

    • Direct high-cost equipment requests to the IT Manager and escalate to the CTO for items exceeding a specified budget.

4. Contract Review and Approvals

  • Scenario: Contracts submitted for review need approvals from legal, finance, and senior management based on the contract type and value.

  • How It Works:

    • Route standard contracts to the legal team for review.

    • Escalate high-value contracts to the CFO or CEO for final approval.

5. Project Budget Approvals

  • Scenario: Teams request budgets for new projects or campaigns that require approvals at multiple levels.

  • How It Works:

    • Route small budgets to the project manager for approval.

    • Escalate larger budgets to the finance department or executive team.

6. Vendor Onboarding Approvals

  • Scenario: Vendors must be approved based on specific criteria such as type, compliance certifications, and risk assessment scores.

  • How It Works:

    • Route low-risk vendors to the procurement team for review.

    • Escalate high-risk or non-compliant vendors to the legal or compliance departments.

7. Policy and Document Change Approvals

  • Scenario: Proposed changes to company policies or internal documents need review and approval by relevant stakeholders.

  • How It Works:

    • Route minor updates to the department head.

    • Escalate significant policy changes to HR or legal for further review.

8. Marketing Campaign Approvals

  • Scenario: Marketing teams submit campaigns for approval based on their budgets and target audience reach.

  • How It Works:

    • Route small-scale campaigns to the marketing manager.

    • Escalate large-scale or high-budget campaigns to the CMO or executive board.

9. Recruitment and Job Offer Approvals

  • Scenario: HR submits job offers for approval before they are sent to candidates.

  • How It Works:

    • Route offers within standard salary ranges to the HR Manager.

    • Escalate offers exceeding the standard range or for senior positions to the hiring manager or executive team.

10. Employee Performance Bonus Approvals

  • Scenario: Bonuses based on performance metrics need to be approved by managers and HR.

  • How It Works:

    • Route bonuses within the standard range to direct supervisors.

    • Escalate exceptional bonuses or adjustments to HR or finance for additional review.

Want to dive deeper into approval workflows?

Abhishek Gawde
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