Manual work is quietly draining your business. Every time an employee re-enters data into a spreadsheet, chases down an approval by email, or spends hours reconciling invoices, you’re losing productivity and increasing the risk of mistakes.
The truth is, most of these tasks can (and should) be automated. With Microsoft tools like SharePoint, Power BI, Power Automate, Copilot AI, and Azure, Proven IT builds custom automation solutions that free your team from busywork, reduce mistakes, and streamline collaboration.
Below, we’ll break down the manual tasks holding businesses back, show how they show up in daily work, and explain how automation can unlock efficiency, accuracy, and growth.
Manual Tasks You Can Streamline with Custom Integrations
Almost every department in your business relies on processes that still get done manually. But these tasks eat up valuable time and lead to inconsistent results. With the right custom integrations, they can be streamlined into fast, reliable workflows.
Here are seven of the biggest opportunities for automation:
1. HR Onboarding
The problem: HR teams often juggle new-hire forms in spreadsheets, send manual emails for IT access, and chase approvals from managers. The result is a slow and inconsistent process that leaves new employees waiting and HR buried in admin work.
The automation fix: SharePoint onboarding checklists, Power Automate workflows for IT and equipment requests, and Copilot AI for generating welcome materials bring structure and speed to the process, giving new hires a better experience and HR teams back their time.
2. Data Entry
The problem: Copying customer, sales, or financial data from one system to another eats up hours and creates costly errors that ripple across departments.
The automation fix: Custom integrations between CRM, ERP, and accounting platforms eliminate duplicate entry and sync data automatically. That means accurate information everywhere, without the manual drag.
3. Invoice Processing
The problem: Finance teams spend hours manually routing invoices for approval, entering them into accounting software, and reconciling payments.
The automation fix: Power Automate and Azure AI capture and route invoices instantly, while Power BI dashboards give finance leaders real-time visibility. Approvals happen faster, errors drop, and cash flow stays predictable.
4. Sales Approvals
The problem: Deals often stall because approvals get stuck in inboxes. Waiting days for a manager’s green light slows the pipeline and frustrates reps.
The automation fix: With Power Automate flows, managers can approve deals directly in Teams or mobile apps. What used to take days now takes minutes, keeping momentum in the pipeline.
5. Project Tracking
The problem: Many project managers still rely on spreadsheets and status emails. Updates get lost, and stakeholders never share the same version of the truth.
The automation fix: SharePoint and Teams automatically update project progress, while Power BI visualizes real-time status. Everyone sees the same data, reducing confusion and keeping projects on track.
6. Document Management
The problem: Employees spend an average of 4 hours every week searching for documents. That lost time compounds across teams and slows collaboration.
The automation fix: SharePoint and AI-powered Copilot integrations tag, version, and organize files automatically. Employees find what they need in seconds, not hours.
7. Reporting
The problem: Leadership often waits days for reports that require manual data pulls and spreadsheet formatting. By the time the report is ready, the data is already outdated.
The automation fix: Power BI connects directly to your systems to deliver live dashboards and accurate insights instantly. Leaders can make decisions with confidence and speed.
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Manual vs. Automated Time Savings
Numbers tell the story best. Here’s what happens when you replace manual work with automated workflows:
Task: Data entry between systems
Manual Time Spent: 6 hours
Automated Time Spent: 1 hour
Hours Saved/Week (per employee): 5 hours
Task: HR onboarding tasks
Manual Time Spent: 5 hours
Automated Time Spent: 1 hour
Hours Saved/Week (per employee): 4 hours
Task: Searching for documents
Manual Time Spent: 4 hours
Automated Time Spent: Less than 30 minutes
Hours Saved/Week (per employee): 3.5 hours
Task: Invoice approvals
Manual Time Spent: 3 hours
Automated Time Spent: Less than 30 minutes
Hours Saved/Week (per employee): 2.5 hours
Task: Sales approvals
Manual Time Spent: 2 hours
Automated Time Spent: Less than 15 minutes
Hours Saved/Week (per employee): 1.75 hours
Task: Inventory updates
Manual Time Spent: 3 hours
Automated Time Spent: 30 minutes
Hours Saved/Week (per employee): 2.5 hours
Task: Meeting scheduling
Manual Time Spent: 2 hours
Automated Time Spent: Less than 15 minutes
Hours Saved/Week (per employee): 1.75 hours
Task: Employee time tracking
Manual Time Spent: 2 hours
Automated Time Spent: 20 minutes
Hours Saved/Week (per employee): 1.5 hours
Multiply those hours across your workforce, and automation doesn’t just save time — it creates capacity for growth.
The Hidden Cost of Manual Work
When teams rely on outdated, manual processes, it wastes time and affects revenue and decision-making. This is why forward-looking companies are turning to custom business solutions.
- Productivity loss: Employees spend an average of 4 hours per week searching for documents. That’s more than 200 hours per year, per employee.
- Higher error rates: Manual data entry and approvals introduce mistakes that ripple across finance, sales, and HR.
- Scaling challenges: As organizations grow, manual processes simply can’t keep up.
How Microsoft Tools Eliminate the Bottlenecks With Custom Business Solutions
Modern businesses can’t afford to waste time with disconnected systems and manual processes. Generic software may get the job done at a surface level, but it rarely addresses the complexity of real workflows.
Microsoft’s ecosystem offers a powerful foundation for custom automation, and with Proven IT, those tools are transformed into custom business solutions that align with your exact needs.
SharePoint
Replace scattered folders and endless email chains with a centralized hub. SharePoint streamlines document management, approvals, and collaboration so your team always works from one secure source of truth.
Power Automate
Eliminate repetitive tasks like invoice routing, HR approvals, and data entry with automated workflows. Power Automate reduces manual errors and keeps processes running in the background — no chasing, no delays.
Power BI
Stop waiting on static spreadsheets. Power BI connects directly to your systems and delivers real-time dashboards that let leadership make smarter, faster decisions based on live data.
Copilot AI
Free your team from time-consuming busywork. Copilot AI can draft reports, summarize meeting notes, and generate onboarding checklists in seconds, reducing hours of effort to just minutes.
Azure
Behind it all is Azure, Microsoft’s secure cloud platform. It powers scalable automations, integrates AI across systems, and ensures your solutions are built to grow with your business.
Why Proven IT Is Your Trusted Automation Partner
Off-the-shelf tools can only take you so far. Proven IT specializes in custom business solutions that connect your unique systems and processes to your people. We don’t just automate tasks — we design workflows that drive growth.
With Proven IT, you’ll get:
- Custom integrations that unify disconnected systems
- Automation strategies that prioritize your biggest pain points
- Microsoft-powered solutions built to scale securely with Azure
- Proven expertise in transforming manual processes into seamless digital workflows
Our difference? We eliminate inefficiency at its root, so your team can stop chasing spreadsheets and start focusing on what drives the business forward.
Start Turning Manual Tasks into Automated Workflows with Proven IT
Every approval that sits in an inbox, every duplicate entry into a system, and every outdated project spreadsheet adds up to lost hours and costly errors. You deserve an organization that runs faster, smarter, and with less friction.
Proven IT helps you zero in on the manual tasks that slow your business down the most and replace them with Microsoft-powered automations that work reliably in the background. From onboarding to invoice approvals to project tracking, we design workflows that eliminate errors, accelerate processes, and free your team to focus on high-value work.
