Why Document Generation Should Be the First Process You Automate

Unlocking speed, consistency, and ROI with your very first flow

“It’s just a document” … until you’ve created the same one 127 times.

Whether it’s contracts, reports, invoices, or letters, most teams are stuck in the same cycle: copy a template, paste in the data, reformat the layout, double-check for typos, and send. Multiply that across every department, and suddenly, manual document creation becomes one of the biggest hidden inefficiencies in your organisation.

But here’s the good news: automating document generation is one of the fastest, easiest, and most impactful ways to modernise your workflows, especially if you’re using Microsoft 365 and Power Automate.

In fact, it’s the perfect place to start!

Why Start with Document Generation?

Automation can be overwhelming when you’re starting out. But document creation hits the sweet spot between technical simplicity and measurable business value. Here’s why it should be your first win.

1. The Tools Are Already in Your Hands

If your organisation uses Microsoft 365, you already have access to Power Automate. Add Encodian Flowr, our premium document automation solution, and you can build advanced flows with no code and no external systems.

There’s no steep learning curve, no complex integration work, and no massive rollout required. You can start building value immediately, using tools you already trust.

2. Every Department Creates Documents

From HR to Finance, Legal to Sales, every team relies on documents to communicate, record, and deliver value. Think:

• Employment contracts and offer letters
• Customer proposals and quotes
• Monthly reports and board packs
• Service agreements and NDAs
• Compliance forms and audit logs

These are the exact types of files that Flowr and Power Automate are built to streamline.

3. It’s Easy to Measure Success

When you automate document generation, you save:

⏱️ Time
🧠 Mental effort
🛠️ Manual errors
💰 Operational cost

Even a simple automation, like generating a PDF report from SharePoint list data, can save hours every week. And that’s just one flow.

4. It Builds Momentum for Automation Adoption

Document automation is visual. It’s tangible. It’s easy to demo.

Once colleagues see a contract or report being generated automatically, complete with logos, tables, and signatures, they get it. That’s how you turn sceptics into advocates and start building broader support for Power Platform initiatives.

Common Objections (and Why They Don’t Hold Up)

“Our documents are too complex.”
Flowr supports dynamic tables, conditional logic, custom formatting, bookmarks, metadata, and even JavaScript and CSS for HTML-based documents.

“We’re not ready to automate yet.”
Start with one document. One template. One flow. The barrier to entry is incredibly low, and the payoff is high.

“We don’t have the skills.”
Flowr is a no-code solution that works directly inside Power Automate. You don’t need to write code or be a developer. You just need a template and a process.

Real-World Use Cases We See Every Day

✔ HR teams generating onboarding packs with personalised info
✔ Sales teams automating branded proposals from Power Apps
✔ Legal teams standardising contract creation from templates
✔ Operations teams producing service reports with embedded data
✔ Finance teams converting Excel files into formatted PDFs

These aren’t theoretical. These are real processes running today, powered by Flowr.

Why Flowr?

Encodian Flowr is built specifically for document and data automation inside Microsoft Power Automate. With over 200 actions supporting Word, PDF, Excel, PowerPoint, images, and HTML, Flowr helps organisations go far beyond native connectors.

You can:

• Populate and convert dynamic templates
• Insert images, logos, or watermarks
• Add security, metadata, and branding
• Merge or split documents
• Work at scale without hitting native Power Automate limits

And most importantly, you can do it all without code.

Take the First Step

If you’re looking for a starting point in your automation journey, document generation is the one to beat. It’s fast, visible, and delivers immediate value, making it the perfect candidate for your first (or next) Power Automate project.