web
You’re offline. This is a read only version of the page.
close
Skip to main content

Announcements

No record found.

News and Announcements icon
Community site session details

Community site session details

Session Id :
Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Small and medium business | Business Central, N... / Custom approval WF by ...
Small and medium business | Business Central, N...
Answered

Custom approval WF by PowerAutomate VS by Extension

(0) ShareShare
ReportReport
Posted on by HarukaMatsumoto 126

Hi Team

Please share your opinion about custom approval WF by PowerAutomate VS  by Extension. When I checked custom approval for BC, I see 2 types of articles: one is by customization in extension and the other is setup a flow by PowerAutomate. What are the difference and pros/cons between these 2 solutions?

Especially I am questioning which one is suggested to configure an approval on the documents/journals that are not supported by BC standard templates, such as Transfer Order, Assembly Order, Sales/Purchase Price Master, Item Journal etc.

Any feedback is highly appreciated!

Thank you

Haruka

Categories:
Dynamics 365 Business Central
I have the same question (0)
  • Suggested answer
    Inge M. Bruvik Profile Picture
    Inge M. Bruvik 1,165 Moderator on at

    If you are running BC online there is no doubt in my mind that you should do as much as your approval flows as possible in Power Automate.

    I think that is the direction the product is moving and it is smart to adapt to that.

  • Suggested answer
    JAngle Profile Picture
    JAngle 157 on at

    Sometimes a mix of the two is necessary. From a Microsoft perspective I think this carries some weight on the direction things are headed: docs.microsoft.com/.../action-group-run-chosen-instant-power-automate

  • Verified answer
    YUN ZHU Profile Picture
    YUN ZHU 99,662 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

    Hi, If it's just a one-step approval and there are no complicated conditions, I recommend using the standard Workflow.

    Power Automate makes flow more flexible.

    Below are some tests I did, hoping to give you some hints.

    https://yzhums.com/8295/

    https://yzhums.com/19698/

    https://yzhums.com/20111/

    https://yzhums.com/23383/

    Thanks.

    ZHU

  • HarukaMatsumoto Profile Picture
    HarukaMatsumoto 126 on at

    JAngle  Thanks for your feedback. You mentions that Sometimes a mix of the two is necessary, but what case it requires a mix? can you give me an example?

  • HarukaMatsumoto Profile Picture
    HarukaMatsumoto 126 on at

    yzhums  Thanks for sharing the tech detail! those articles are very helpful. Have you tried a workflow that is not supported by the standard templates (14 templates as of 2021/09/19 you mentioned in the article)? Mostly I consider a custom WF when my client request approval on other than the standard ones, such as Item journal, Transfer Order etc. Do you know that the current PowerAutomate is capable to create Approval on non-templated documents/journals?

  • Suggested answer
    JAngle Profile Picture
    JAngle 157 on at

    Let’s say you push forwards with a document approval using PA. A user makes use of the standard approval buttons in BC for this. However, if they cancel an approval nothing happens in PA. Hence why this blog exists: joshanglesea.wordpress.com/.../

    One of your examples is Transfer Order. For that one I’d add buttons for approve/cancel but I’d have them call a PA flow I’d setup. Similar to the pattern in the blog where I use codeunit 50100 PA_CancelApproval. In AL create a json body and send it to PA. From there you can mix up how you want notifications to work. Yun has a nice blog on that for using Teams.

  • Verified answer
    YUN ZHU Profile Picture
    YUN ZHU 99,662 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

    Hi, This can be done by simply adding a field to the page you need to control the flow, for example on Item journal you can add an Approved field (boolean) on the line, if this field will not be True, it will not allow to post. These controls are done in BC (using AL Language).
    Also as Josh said, add new buttons, such as send approvals, etc. This can be associated with PowerAutomate.

    PS: Business Central 2022 wave 1 (BC20) new features: New Automate action group (Run Power Automate flows without leaving Business Central)

    https://yzhums.com/23383/

    Hope this will help.

    Thanks.

    ZHU

  • HarukaMatsumoto Profile Picture
    HarukaMatsumoto 126 on at

    Thank you Josh and Yun for sharing details. Now I am more clear and confident of the capability of custom WF options in BC.

Under review

Thank you for your reply! To ensure a great experience for everyone, your content is awaiting approval by our Community Managers. Please check back later.

Helpful resources

Quick Links

Introducing the 2026 Season 1 community Super Users

Congratulations to our 2026 Super Stars!

Meet the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center Champions

We are thrilled to have these Champions in our Community!

Congratulations to the March Top 10 Community Leaders

These are the community rock stars!

Leaderboard > Small and medium business | Business Central, NAV, RMS

#1
OussamaSabbouh Profile Picture

OussamaSabbouh 1,871 Super User 2026 Season 1

#2
YUN ZHU Profile Picture

YUN ZHU 1,017 Super User 2026 Season 1

#3
Khushbu Rajvi. Profile Picture

Khushbu Rajvi. 700 Super User 2026 Season 1

Last 30 days Overall leaderboard

Featured topics

Product updates

Dynamics 365 release plans