When an Employee Leaves, Their Automations May Break

Many businesses use Power Automate or Zapier to move information between apps. One workflow might copy website enquiries into the CRM. Another might save invoice attachments into the right folder. A workflow is just a set of steps that runs automatically.These workflows are often built under one employee’s account. They may also use that person’s login to read a mailbox or update another system. If the employee leaves and their account is disabled, those connections may stop working.

Microsoft calls a flow with no valid owner an “orphaned flow.”

The workflow may not stop completely. Microsoft says it can keep running if another active owner has been added, but any step that uses the former employee’s connection may fail.

Zapier also warns that workflows can be disrupted when the person who built them leaves.

You may not see a warning unless someone checks Power Automate or Zapier. Staff may only notice when website enquiries stop reaching sales or an approval email doesn’t get sent.

Fixing it takes longer if nobody knows who built the workflow or which accounts it uses.

You can prevent most of these problems by checking three things:

1. Start with an inventory. Check Power Automate, Zapier, Make, and any other tool your team uses. Record what each workflow does, who owns it, and which accounts it connects to.
2. Important workflows need a second owner. Add another employee or an IT-managed group as a co-owner before the original owner leaves.
3. Replace their connections before closing the account. Reconnect each app using the new owner’s account or another company-managed account. Test the workflow before disabling the employee’s login.

Add this check to your offboarding process. It takes less time than finding out weeks later that new leads aren’t reaching sales or invoices aren’t being saved.

If you want help, reply and we’ll check which automations your business has, who owns them, and whether any depend on accounts that should no longer be active.