Supercharging Power Platform with AI Builder and Copilot

September 4, 2024

3 mins read

Power Platform has had a huge impact on business process automation and its augmentation with AI and Copilot has elevated it into new heights. The emergence of AI and large language models has become far more accessible to developers and non-developers alike.  The Accord team have been working with Copilot since 2023, using Copilot to aid the development of bespoke Power Apps and AI Builder for the purpose of processing unstructured data.

Over the past year, our team has harnessed AI to streamline business processes. Whether you’re faced with challenges in natural language processing, document analysis, or contextual search, Accord, coupled with an AI enabled Power Platform suite, offers tailored solutions that can meet your business needs. 

Supercharging Power Platform with AI Builder and Copilot

The Challenge


Our client sought an Expenses App that would enable real-time receipt capture, eliminating the need for laborious end-of-month reconciliation. The key pain points were:

  • Speed: Manual reconciliation of receipts with credit card statements consumed significant time. Missing receipts resulted in under recovery of VAT.
  • Complexity: Apart from reconciling receipts, the client also had to separate net values from gross amounts to determine the amount of VAT.
  • Integration: The existing process lacked integration with accounts, leading to double handling and the risk of transposition errors.
Power Platform AI application

The Solution

Utilising Microsoft Power Apps, SharePoint and AI Builder, Accord designed and developed a Credit Card expenses app that improved both accuracy and speed of reconciliations.  

Power Platform AI application
1. Live Submissions:
  • A Power App which can be installed on employees devices allowing them to capture expenses as and when they happen.
  • Receipts are photographed, with the inbuilt AI tool picking out key information and populating an expense line.
  • Users review the pre-populated expense lines and make edits only where required.
2. Expense Compilation:
  • Every month Expense lines and Receipt images are collated ready for the Accounts team to process.

3. Account Integration:
  • On approval, an expense journal is automatically generated in a format which the Accounts team can import directly into Accounts.
4. Confidence Scoring:
  • AI Builder adds a confidence score to each item it captures from a receipt image. This flags to the user any pre-populated information that requires further review.

The Results

  • Streamlined Process: Improved the Expenses process, reducing administrative overhead and errors. 
  • Enhanced Efficiency: Employees now experience a smoother journey, resulting in quicker approval and less admin.
  • Live Claims: Receipts are capture real-time resulting in better compliance and effective VAT reclaim. 
Power platform ai application

Conclusion

The Accord Expenses app exemplifies how Power Platform and AI solutions can streamline business processes without increasing the admin burden.

This case study highlights the successful implementation of an Expense App utilising Power Platform and AI technologies.