The short version: A single table tracks each application by stage, a Power Automate flow updates the client the moment that stage changes, and the same table works as your document checklist so nobody gets asked for a form they already sent. One broker can run this on a free SharePoint list; a team that needs each person seeing only their own clients needs the Dataverse version instead.
One table, every stage
Enquiry, documents requested, submitted to the lender, approved, settled: a status column with those five values, on one record per application, answers "where's it at" for you and the client without a phone call. Attach a document checklist to the same record, each required item with a yes or no, and a flow that flips an item to received the moment the file lands in the matching folder. That single change is what stops the double-ask: you check the list, not your memory of a six-week-old email thread.
For one broker, a SharePoint list holds all of this at no extra cost inside the Microsoft 365 you already run. Once several brokers share the same pipeline and each one should only see their own clients, that is a genuine reason to move to a Dataverse table instead, with row-level security doing the separation SharePoint permissions do clumsily. That move is worked through on the SharePoint or Dataverse post, and the Power Apps Premium licence it needs runs NZ$32.40 per user per month.
Updates and compliance reminders that fire themselves
Point the same stage-change trigger at the client as well as your own pipeline, and a short status email goes out the moment an application moves, instead of the client ringing to ask. A second, scheduled flow checks every open application each morning for anything untouched for more than a couple of days, so a file does not go quiet because everyone assumed someone else had it.
The same structure covers the compliance side that has nothing to do with any one client: store each adviser's disclosure and review dates on their own record, and a scheduled flow flags anything approaching its renewal before it becomes a gap in the file. It will not write your advice document or your annual return, but a renewal date stops being the thing that slips because nobody was watching the calendar.
When it is not worth building
A broker running five or six applications a month can track all of this in a shared list with three honest updates a week, and the automation buys speed, not a fix for a genuinely broken process. Build the flow once volume means updates get missed, or once a second person needs to see the same pipeline without a phone call to you first. The compliance reminder flow is worth setting up regardless of size, a missed renewal date has real cost, and it takes an afternoon once to build.
Common questions
What's a good way to keep clients updated on where their application is at?
A Power Automate flow watches the stage field on the application record and sends the client a short status email the moment it changes, so nobody rings to ask how it's going. It is the same trigger you already use to move the file along, just pointed at the client as well as your own pipeline.
How can I automate compliance paperwork for a small advice business?
Store the disclosure and review dates on the same record as the application, and a scheduled flow flags anything approaching its renewal or review date before it becomes a compliance gap. It will not write the advice document for you, but it will stop a renewal date being the thing that slips.
How do I stop re-requesting documents clients already sent me?
A document checklist tied to the application record, with a flow that ticks off each item the moment the file lands in the right folder, is the fix. You check the list before you email, not your memory of the thread.
What's the easiest way to track an application through each stage?
A single table with a status column, Enquiry, Documents requested, Submitted, Approved, Settled, gives you and the client the same answer to "where's it at" without a phone call. A SharePoint list does this for one broker at no extra cost; several brokers sharing the same pipeline with per-client visibility is a Dataverse table instead.
Still chasing your own pipeline by memory?
Tell me how many advisers and how many applications a month. Book a free 30-minute call and I will scope the tracker and the update flow.