Project Description

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Overview

First Nations Legal & Research Services (FNLRS) manages a wide network of contacts, contact groups, subgroups, and legal meeting activities essential to their operations. For many years, these processes were supported by a combination of SharePoint lists and an extensive Excel-based solution that automated tasks such as journal creation, travel reimbursement calculations, PDF generation, and notifications.

However, as the organisation grew and the workbook aged, many of its automated processes became unreliable. Data integrity was increasingly difficult to maintain, and managing contact information across multiple groups became cumbersome. FNLRS required a modern, robust, and scalable system that could replicate the existing functionality while improving accuracy, security, user experience, and governance.

Access Analytic partnered with FNLRS to design and implement a modernised database solution built using Power Apps, Power Automate and Dataverse, bringing stability, automation, and strong data validation to their operations.

Business Challenge

Before engaging in this project with Access Analytic, FNLRS faced several operational challenges:

  • Reliance on outdated spreadsheets
    The core Excel file—while powerful—had become fragile. Key automation broke over time, leading to inconsistent functionality.
  • Human-error risk
    Manual data entry exposed the organisation to duplicate contacts, incorrect group assignments, invalid addresses, and incomplete records.
  • Limited validation and governance
    Excel and SharePoint lacked strong validation rules, making it difficult to enforce data quality.
  • Inefficient communication
    Sending notifications to groups or subgroups required manual steps and was prone to errors.
  • Difficulty tracking attendance and compliance
    Monitoring attendance, no-shows, and payment processing relied on disconnected processes.
  • Growing administrative overhead
    As the organisation expanded, the Excel system could no longer keep pace with operational needs, requiring constant workarounds.

Our Approach

Access Analytic developed a fully integrated Power Apps, Power Automate and Dataverse solution designed to modernise and enhance every core workflow in the legacy system. Key features delivered include:

Modern Dataverse Database

  • Structured data model for contacts, groups, subgroups, meetings, attendance, and payments
  • Strong validation rules and duplicate-detection to ensure data quality
  • Centralised source of truth accessible across the organisation

Power Apps Front-End Application

A user-friendly interface allowing staff to:

  • Create, edit, and manage contacts with enforced data completeness
  • Assign contacts to multiple groups/subgroups with confidence
  • Capture notes, tasks, and activities at the group, meeting, or contact level
  • Validate addresses and flag contacts as non-payable if required fields are missing

Automated Workflows (Power Automate)

  • Automated approvals for key processes
  • SMS or email notifications to entire groups or subgroups
  • Journals generation for payment reimbursement
  • PDF creation for reporting and filing
  • Attendance and no-show tracking
  • Payment notifications sent to recipients
  • Contact-details update form sent automatically; responses sync directly to their Dataverse record

Enhanced Reporting & Analytics

  • Built-in capability to analyse attendance, trends, and compliance
  • Reporting made easier and more reliable through structured, validated data

Process Improvements & Controls

  • Improved form validation to reduce human errors
  • Rule-based logic to enforce complete and accurate data entry
  • Automation of repetitive administrative tasks
  • Clear audit trails for activities, notes, and communication

Business Benefits

The transformation delivered significant operational value for FNLRS:

  • Strong Data Governance & Quality – duplicate contacts are reduced, records are complete, and data integrity is automatically enforced.
  • Streamlined Administration – complex manual tasks—such as sending updates, creating journals, generating PDFs, and validating addresses—are now automated.
  • Improved Communication – SMS and email notifications can be sent instantly to any group or subgroup with consistent, accurate messaging.
  • Faster & More Accurate Payments – payment-related data is validated automatically, non-payment flags prevent errors, and payment notifications are sent without manual intervention.
  • Better Insights & Accountability – attendance tracking, no-show analysis, and activity logs give management clearer visibility into meeting performance and engagement.
  • Scalable & Future-Ready Platform -with Dataverse as the foundation, FNLRS now has a secure, cloud-based system that will grow with the organisation and integrate easily with Power BI, Power Automate, and other Microsoft tools.

Through the Power Apps, Power Automate and Dataverse solution delivered by Access Analytic, FNLRS now operates with a modern, reliable, and automated system—significantly reducing risk, improving efficiency, and enabling better service delivery to the communities they support.

Client Feedback

“The new system has been a game-changer. Before, hours were spent fixing broken formulas and chasing missing details in spreadsheets. Now, everything is in one place, and the app makes it easy to keep records accurate and complete.

Sending notifications to groups takes seconds instead of hours, and we trust that the data is correct because of the built-in validation. The automation for journals and payment notifications has saved so much time.

Overall, it’s faster, more reliable, and lets us focus on supporting our communities instead of troubleshooting spreadsheets.”