# Your weekly status report takes hours to build

> For the full documentation index, see https://250highstreet.com/llms.txt

> Hours each week copying numbers into a status report means the data is in the wrong place. A SharePoint list and Power Automate can build it for you.

Short answer: a weekly report takes hours when the numbers live in many places and someone copies them by hand. Put the work in a SharePoint list first. Then a scheduled Power Automate flow can count items by status and send the summary each week.

## Signs the report is costing too much

- One person spends part of every Friday on it.
- The numbers are copied from email and spreadsheets.
- When that person is out, the report does not go out.

## Steps to automate it

1.  Write down what the report shows: counts by status, late items, items closed this week.
2.  Make sure that data lives in one SharePoint list.
3.  Build a scheduled flow that runs once a week.
4.  Have it get the items and count them by status.
5.  Format the counts into an email or Teams post.
6.  Send it to the people who read the report today. Ask them what is missing.

## Honest limits

- Automation reports the data you have. If the list is not kept current, the report will be wrong too.
- Charts and deep analysis may need Power BI or Excel, which is a bigger step.
- Some reports need a person's judgment. Automate the counts, keep the comments human.

## When to get help

You can build all of this yourself in Microsoft 365. If you would rather have it built, tested and handed over, I do that at a fixed price. One tracker like this, with its reminders and late alerts, is \$5,000 and takes 2 weeks. Bring one example of the problem to a free call.

See a working one with made-up data: [Delayed Shipments demo](/demo/delayed-shipments/).

I am Al Davies. I run 250 High Street LLC and build SharePoint trackers and Power Automate flows for operations teams. The first call is free, and I will not try to sell you anything.

## FAQ

### Can the report include a list of late items?

Yes. The flow can filter for late items and add them as a short list in the message.

### Do we need Power BI?

Not for a simple weekly summary. Power BI helps when you need charts and trends.

## Sources

- Microsoft Learn, Get started with triggers in Power Automate: [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/triggers-introduction](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/triggers-introduction)
- Microsoft Learn, Limits of automated, scheduled, and instant flows: [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/limits-and-config](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/limits-and-config)

## Related guides

- [Email a SharePoint list as an Excel file every week with Power Automate](/guides/power-automate-export-sharepoint-list-to-excel-weekly/)
- [SharePoint list export to Excel fails or misses rows](/guides/sharepoint-list-export-to-excel-not-working/)
- [A volunteer hours tracker in SharePoint for a nonprofit](/guides/volunteer-hours-tracker-nonprofit/)

Source: https://250highstreet.com/guides/weekly-status-report-takes-hours/