# 5 Processes Your Company Still Does Manually | AvantIT > Discover the 5 business processes SMEs still manage in Excel and email in 2026 — and how the Power Platform solves each one in weeks, without a dedicated IT team. Canonical: https://www.avantit.pt/en/blog/power-platform-2026-manual-processes/ Source: AvantIT — https://www.avantit.pt (Microsoft Partner, Matosinhos, Portugal) --- [Back to blog](https://www.avantit.pt/en/blog/) ![Operations director replacing manual Excel processes with Microsoft Power Platform low-code solutions] [Power Platform](https://www.avantit.pt/en/blog/category/power-platform/) # Power Platform in 2026: 5 Processes Your Company Still Does Manually ![Arsénio Ferraz] Arsénio Ferraz 2026-04-10 8 min Your company pays qualified employees to copy data between Excel files, send approval emails, and update tables manually. That cost does not appear on any budget line — but it is there, consuming time and generating errors every day. In 2026, the Power Platform eliminates these processes in weeks. Without a dedicated IT team. With the tools your company already has. ## The invisible cost of manual processes According to recent Forrester research, manual processes cost European SMEs between 20 and 30% of their teams’ productive time. In practice, for a 20-person company with an average cost of €25 per hour, that represents between €104,000 and €156,000 per year in unrecoverable time. The problem is that this cost never appears on an invoice. It is distributed across dozens of small tasks that “have always been done this way”: the email approval that takes three days, the report someone spends two days consolidating at month end, the paper form that then has to be copied into a system. The Power Platform — Microsoft’s low-code toolset that includes Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI — was designed to eliminate exactly these processes. Key insight: You do not need a developer to automate. The Power Platform allows business users themselves to build applications and flows — with initial technical guidance from AvantIT to ensure governance and security. ## The 5 most common processes still done in Excel and email ### 1. Document and contract approval How it works today: a contract arrives by email, is forwarded for approval, the response takes days, versions multiply in the inbox. Nobody knows which is the final approved version. How it works with the Power Platform: - Power Apps — document submission form with required fields and categorisation - Power Automate — approval flow with Teams notifications, automatic escalation if there is no response within 48 hours, and result logging - SharePoint — centralised repository with version control and a complete audit trail Implementation time: 2 to 3 weeks Typical impact: 75% reduction in average approval time; zero lost documents ### 2. Client data collection and validation How it works today: an employee sends an email with a list of required documents. The client responds with disorganised attachments. Someone spends hours checking everything is there, requesting what is missing, and filing manually. How it works with the Power Platform: - Power Apps — client portal with a document checklist, direct upload, and automatic format and completeness validation - Power Automate — automatic notifications to the client when information is missing, team alerts when the process is complete - SharePoint — client folder created automatically with a standardised structure Implementation time: 3 weeks Typical impact: 80% reduction in collection time; more professional client experience ### 3. Monthly management reports How it works today: at month end, someone spends one or two days consolidating data from multiple sources — CRM, ERP, Excel sheets from each department — to produce a management report in PowerPoint. How it works with the Power Platform: - Power Automate — automatic data extraction from relevant sources on the first working day of the month - Power BI — dashboard updated in real time, accessible by management without exports - SharePoint — historical report archive with role-based access control Implementation time: 3 to 4 weeks Typical impact: elimination of 1.5 days of manual work per month; data available in real time instead of with a 5 to 10-day delay ### 4. Internal request management (IT, HR, procurement) How it works today: an employee needs a new device, wants to update personal data, or requests office supplies. They send an email, wait for a response, with no visibility into the status of the request. How it works with the Power Platform: - Power Apps — internal request application with categories, forms adapted by request type, and statuses visible to the requester - Power Automate — automatic routing to the correct owner, configurable SLAs, and alerts for breaches - SharePoint / Dataverse — complete history of requests by employee and department Implementation time: 2 weeks Typical impact: full visibility on open requests; 60% reduction in follow-up email volume ### 5. Project and task tracking How it works today: projects are managed in shared Excel files or email chains. Status updates are requested individually. The manager has no real-time visibility into what is delayed. How it works with the Power Platform: - Power Apps — project management application tailored to the company, with task creation, assignment, and status updates - Power Automate — automatic reminders for tasks nearing their deadline, manager alerts for items at risk, weekly status report sent automatically - SharePoint + Microsoft Planner — integration with existing M365 collaboration tools Implementation time: 3 to 4 weeks Typical impact: managers save 3 to 5 hours per week in status meetings; projects completed with greater on-time delivery ## How long does it take to implement each solution Process Complexity Implementation time Prerequisites Document approval Low 2 to 3 weeks SharePoint, M365 Client data collection Medium 3 weeks SharePoint, M365 Management reports Medium 3 to 4 weeks Identified data sources Internal request management Low 2 weeks SharePoint, M365 Project tracking Medium 3 to 4 weeks SharePoint, Planner The essential condition in all cases is having data in structured format — SharePoint lists, Dataverse, or Microsoft Forms. If data is still in loose Excel files, the first step is to structure it. ## AvantIT’s role: from diagnosis to production in 3 weeks AvantIT works with SMEs following a direct process: - Process diagnosis (1 week) — we identify the manual processes with the greatest impact, quantify the current cost, and prioritise by return - Design and development (2 weeks) — we build the solution in Power Apps and Power Automate, with testing in a real environment - Training and activation (3 days) — we train key users and activate in production with support The typical investment for a first Power Platform project in an SME ranges from €3,000 to €8,000, with a first-year return frequently exceeding 200%. To find out which of your company’s processes have the greatest potential — and get the numbers to justify the investment — [request a free process diagnosis](https://www.avantit.pt/en/contact/) from our team. [AvantIT’s Power Platform services](https://www.avantit.pt/en/services/power-platform/) cover everything from initial analysis to post-production support, ensuring solutions are integrated into the team’s way of working — and not just sitting on a server. #### Editorial Policy At Avantit, we value authenticity and human expertise. This article was written and reviewed by our experts, ensuring technical accuracy grounded in real-world projects. We do not publish content generated exclusively by AI without validation by one of our consultants. ### Share and Comment Share: [Comment on LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/company/avantitlda) ### Related Topics Power Platform automation Power Apps SME Europe eliminate manual processes Microsoft low-code automate business processes Power Automate use cases 2026 ## Keep reading More articles on this topic. 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Compare Power Automate with Nintex, K2 and SharePoint Designer: when to migrate, cost differences, real migration challenges and why the switch pays off for Microsoft 365 organizations. 7 min](https://www.avantit.pt/en/blog/power-automate-vs-traditional-workflow-systems/) [See every article on Power Platform](https://www.avantit.pt/en/blog/category/power-platform/) If this sounds familiar because it is your problem, not just curiosity: [Power Platform consulting](https://www.avantit.pt/en/services/power-platform/) ### Enjoyed this article? Subscribe to our newsletter to receive more content like this or contact us to learn how we can implement these solutions in your company. ### Send us a message Fill out the form below and we will get back to you shortly. 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