Re: Generating Receipts, Reports, and Invoices | H...

kcb-biit · ‎07-11-2022

I'm working a project using SharePoint List (data source), Power Apps, and Power Automate. The intent was to use the free version of Power Automate to convert HTML to a PDF in order to generate custom reports and receipts with inputs from the Power App. I tried using OneDrive Create File & Convert File to create a PDF and send it via email. It works at a basic level, but certain features of HTML/CSS are not supported, so it doesn't fully fit our needs to build a receipt/invoice/reports formatted as desired.

We're looking at using one of the following paid features:

Encodian plug-in to power automate (Convert HTML to PDF

Adobe plug-in to power automate (Convert Dynamic HTML to PDF)

Power Automate Premium (Populate a Microsoft Word template & Convert Word Document to PDF)

It looks to me like Encodian does not require having Power Automate Premium but has its own associated cost if >50 transactions per month (this would end up being $500/yr with expected volume). Adobe requires Power Automate Premium and has its own added cost (pay-as-you-go, $0.05 per document transaction).

And, my understanding is that Power Automate Premium costs $15/user/month or $40/user/month, but it's unclear to me which would be needed for our potential use cases.

I would like to better understand the options (if there's anything I'm missing or unaware of based on the above) before proposing an alternate solution to the client.

Is anyone able to provide some insight on what Power Automate Pricing Plan this would require?

Has anyone come up with an alternate solution or way of handling custom reports/receipts/invoices with a presentable/professional format, other than what I've mentioned above?

Thanks

David- · ‎07-11-2022

I am using the free OneDrive version and I am generating the HTML header and footer information via two compose actions. I then combine this with the body in another compose action. For the content, all of my SharePoint columns contain formatted HTML content. For example:

<p><strong>Ship To:</strong><br>Customer Address<br>City, State ZIP<br>Contact Name<br>Phone</p>

Compose Header:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <style>
            body {
                margin: 10px; padding: 10px; color: #666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif;
            }
            h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {
                color: #0038a6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif;
            }
p { font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif; }
table, th, td {
  border: 1px solid black;
  border-collapse: collapse;
  padding: 3px;
  font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif;
}
table { width: 100%; } 
     </style>
</head>

Compose Footer:

</body></html>

Putting it together:

Maybe not as elegant as one of the paid solutions, but it works. I have only tested this with our expected daily volume of about 200 records and performance is fine.

Ev-at-Encodian · ‎07-12-2022

Hi @kcb-biit, I'm Ev from Encodian.

You're right when you say we are a standard connector, so we don't require the extra cost of a premium plan - we also offer free plans for up to 50 actions a month so that could be something you look into as well if you want to test us out before you move into higher actions.

Most other connectors will have their cost added on top as well, but some are hidden behind the Power Automate Premium plan.

From our recent customer survey, a few of our customers said that we actually convert to PDF better than Adobe too! So we were really pleased to hear that.

Feel free to have a chat with our Sales Director for a no-pressure chat about what we can offer.

🚀 Have a chat today!

acox · ‎10-12-2022

Hello @kcb-biit,

Another tool for HTML → PDF conversions you may consider checking out is Plumsail Documents. This is a paid tool but offers a free 30-day trial period that you can start at any time.

If you're interested, here are a couple guides from their documentation to help you get started:

Hope this was helpful!

David_MA · ‎10-12-2022

I do the same thing for a process I have, and it works fine so far. However, with the free version you are limited to 100 API calls per connection. My output looks like this (blurred and company logo removed for data privacy):

Generating Receipts, Reports, and Invoices | HTML to PDF

Helpful resources

Community will be READ ONLY July 16th, 5p PDT -July 22nd

Summer of Solutions | Week 4 Results | Winners will be posted on July 24th

Check Out | 2024 Release Wave 2 Plans for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform

Updates to Transitions in the Power Platform Communities