Set Up Automated Flows

Article
10/25/2022
5 minutes to read

APPLIES TO: Business Central online

This article explains how you set up Business Central online to run Power Automate flows when an event happens in Business Central.

Note

To use Power Automate with Business Central, you must have a valid Power Automate account.

About automated flows

Automated flows are designed to run automatically when an event occurs in Business Central. Unlike instant flows, which require a user to manually run the flow, automated flows run as the user works in Business Central, requiring no extra action on their part.

An automated flow consists of at least one trigger (the event that starts the flow) and one action (does an operation). To support creating flows, the Business Central connector includes several triggers and actions that you can use.

The connector seamlessly connects data and gives you the option to include Dynamic content when you create automated flows. The Business Central triggers return data, like the ID of a record, which can be consumed by actions later in the flow. Business Central actions also return data that can be passed to other actions.

Note

The Business Central connector for Power Automate supports multiple production and sandbox environments. If you haven't created multiple production or sandbox environments, Production is the only available option you can choose.

Create an automated flow from scratch

This procedure outlines that steps required to create an automated flow using the Business Central connector. To illustrate the process, it walks you through a basic example of a flow that sends a message to a Teams group chat when a new customer is created in Business Central. The following figure illustrates the flow.

Shows the structure of the flow that includes the record is created (V3) trigger, get record trigger, and the post message to teams chat trigger.

Complete the following steps:

Sign in to Power Automate or from a page in Business Central, select the actions Automate> Power Automate > Manage Flows.
Select Create from the left side, then choose to create by starting from blank or starting from connector:
- Starting from blank
- Starting from a connector
1. Under Starting from blank, select Automated cloud flow.
2. On the Build an automated cloud flow page, give your flow a name in the Flow name field.
3. Under Choose how to trigger this flow, search for the Business Central trigger for starting the flow.
For this example, type business central in the search box, then find and select When a record is created (V3).
1. Under Starting from a connector, select All connectors.
2. In the search, type business central, then select Dynamics 365 Business Central in the results.
3. The Dynamics 365 Business Central page opens and shows all available triggers. For the example, select When a record is created (V3) to open the new flow.
4. In the upper left corner, replace the text Untitled with the name of your flow.

Your flow will look similar to the following figure:

Shows the trigger called when a record is created (V3) in Power Automate.

Fill in the parameters to specify what the flow pertains to. The parameters and whether they're required depends on the trigger.

Shows the filled-in trigger called when a record is created (V3) in Power Automate.

Parameter	Description
Environment name	Name of the Business Central environment that the flow will run on. The Business Central connector for Power Automate supports multiple production and sandbox environments. If you haven't created multiple production or sandbox environments, Production is the only available option you can choose.
Company name	Name of Business Central company that the flow will run on
API category	Name of the Business Central API category that will run the flow (also called API route)
Table name	Name of the Business Central table that the flow will run on.

Now begin designing the flow by adding actions and more triggers. Start by selecting + New step.

Note

Because each step in the flow is independent of the next, you may be required to define the environment and company multiple times.
Add an action to get information about the new record from the table you specified in the previous step:
1. In the search box on the Choose an operation, select the Actions tab, then search for and select Get record (V3) for the Dynamics 365 Business Central connector.
2. On the Get record (V3) step, set the Environment name, Company name, API category, and Table name to the same values as the When a record is created (V3) the trigger.
3. For the Row ID, use dynamic content. Select the field to open the Dynamic content pane, then select RowID.
The flow will look something like this:
Selecting + New step to add a new step for posting a message to a Teams chat.
1. Select Microsoft Teams > Post a message in a chat or channel.
2. Set Post as to User and Post in to Group chat.
3. Set Group ID to the name of the chat group in Teams where you want to post the message.
4. Add content to the Message. Apart from text, you can use dynamic content to add information about the customer record, like number and name.
The flow will look something like this:
Select Save.

Create a flow from a template

Microsoft also provides automated flow templates that you can use to build your own templates. The templates provide as fast way to create flows, but they're also a good way to learn how to build your own flows. Here's a list of some of the templates:

When a vendor approval is requested
When a general journal line approval is requested
When a record is deleted
When a record is changed
When a record is created
When a record is modified
When a general journal batch approval is requested
When a customer approval is requested
When an item approval is requested
When a purchase document approval is requested
When a sales document approval is requested

Get started

Sign in to Power Automate or from a page in Business Central, select the actions Automate> Power Automate > Manage Flows.
Select Create from the left side.
Under Starting from a template, select All templates.
In the search, type business central and you'll see all the available automated flow templates in the results.
Select template to open the flow.
Make changes to the flow, for example, by adding or changing steps. There are typically a few parameters that you'll need to fill in before saving the flow as one of your own.

Note

Because each step in the flow is independent of the next, you may be required to define the environment and company multiple times
Select Save when done.

Use the connector for other scenarios

The connectors for Power Platform and Azure Logic Apps also support other scenarios. For example, use the Find records (V3) action to create or edit table data for document headers or lines. You can also build a Power App that creates and posts time sheets, or a Power Automate flow that posts journal lines.

The Find records (V3) action finds records in the same way as filter expressions in OData URIs. But it does so behind the scenes, so all you have to do is add the action as a step in your flow. Learn more at Find records (V3).