The short version: Your business software keeps running until something tied to that person changes: an account disabled, a password reset, a licence removed. For a firm under 20 staff the fix is done before they go, not after: a second owner on everything, connections that belong to a role rather than a person, and a handover pack. Replacing a leaver's premium flow licence is NZ$24.30 a month.
What actually stops when the builder goes
Nothing stops on the day they hand in their notice. What stops is whatever was tied to them personally, and the offboarding checklist usually breaks several of those at once.
| Layer | Who usually holds it | What happens when they leave |
|---|---|---|
| Admin rights | The contractor, as the only admin | Nobody in the firm can add a user, change a licence or fix a permission. Microsoft says the Power Platform administrator and Dynamics 365 administrator roles must be assigned directly to a person, not inherited from a group |
| Flows | The builder, as owner | Actions on the leaver's connections fail once the account is disabled, and a flow with no owner is orphaned, so failure emails go to no one |
| Apps | The builder, as owner | Users keep running it, but nobody can edit it. A co-owner can use, edit and share an app but not delete it or change its owner, so add one before the day |
| Licences | A premium licence assigned to the builder | Any flow running under that licence stops when it is unassigned |
| Source and notes | A laptop, a personal repository or a head | Gone, or unreadable to whoever comes next |
Source: Microsoft Learn, Use service admin roles to manage your tenant, Share a canvas app with your organization and Manage orphaned flows when the owner leaves the organization, read on 30 September 2026. The flow-by-flow mechanics are in the flow that broke the day the person who built it left.
Who owns it: the question to ask before the build starts
The answer you want is you, in your own Microsoft 365, under accounts your firm controls. Ownership is set by your written agreement and by where the thing was built, not by who clicked the buttons. Software built inside a contractor's own tenant or a personal environment is theirs to export, not yours to open, and that is the version that hurts most later. I build from one named account inside your tenant, set up only after you sign, and hand over the code, the credentials and the documentation, with the handover recorded so anyone can watch it back. That is the standard I would hold any contractor to, including me. This is not legal advice; put the ownership terms in the agreement.
The handover pack
Ask for this from any contractor before their last day, and ask for it at the start of the job so it is written as they go, not remembered at the end.
- Two named admins in your firm holding the Power Platform administrator role (and Microsoft 365 Global Administrator), assigned to each person directly, neither of them the contractor.
- Everything in your tenant. Every app, flow and table sits in an environment your firm owns, in a solution you can export.
- A second owner on every flow and a co-owner on every app, with failure alerts going to a shared mailbox.
- A connections list. For each flow, whose sign-in each action uses, and a plan to move personal ones to a role account or service principal.
- A licence list. Which flows need a premium licence, whose it is, and the monthly cost: Power Automate Premium NZ$24.30, Power Apps Premium NZ$32.40, both per user, paid yearly.
- A copy of the source in a repository your firm owns, not the contractor's.
- One page per app or flow: what it does, who uses it, where the data lives, what breaks if it stops.
- A recorded walkthrough of each system, under half an hour each.
- A cold-open test. Someone who did not build it opens the pack and finds their way round without phoning the builder.
What it costs to fix, and how long
| Item | Cost | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Power Automate Premium seat for a replacement flow owner | NZ$24.30 a user a month | Microsoft NZ list price, September 2026, on the price ledger |
| Power Apps Premium seat where an app uses Dataverse | NZ$32.40 a user a month | Microsoft NZ list price, September 2026 |
| Building the handover pack for three to five flows and one app | One to two days of the builder's time | Estimate from how I scope handovers, not a fixed price and not a measured average |
| The cold-open test | About half a day for whoever tests it | Estimate |
The cheap version is doing this while the builder is still around and cooperative. The expensive version is reverse-engineering flows from run history after they have gone, which is slower, and can be impossible if the tenant admin rights left with them.
When you do not need to worry
If the software is a SharePoint list and a couple of standard flows that two of your own staff built and both can edit, there is no single point of failure to fix. If you run a packaged product the vendor supports, the vendor owns that risk. The exposure is custom work built by one person, in one login, that the business now depends on every day.
Who can build and administer, as opposed to who can see which rows, is in Environment Maker, System Admin or Power Platform Admin: what to give a contractor.
Common questions
What happens to my Power Automate flows when the person who built them leaves?
A flow with another active owner keeps running, but any action using the leaver's own connection can fail once their account is disabled or their password changes, and a flow running under their premium licence stops when it is removed. Move ownership and connections before the account goes. Step by step in the flow that broke when the builder left.
How do I stop one contractor being the only person who can administer my Power Platform?
Assign the Power Platform administrator role to two named people in your own firm, directly rather than through a group, as Microsoft requires, and make sure neither is the contractor. That role manages environments and policies but does not create users or assign licences; those sit with Microsoft 365 admin roles.
Who owns software a contractor builds for my business?
Your written agreement decides it, not who logged in and built it. Ask for ownership of the code, credentials and documentation in writing before work starts, and check the work is built inside your Microsoft 365 rather than the contractor's own tenant. This is not legal advice.
Can a Power App have more than one owner?
Yes. Share it with another person as Co-Owner: they can use, edit and share the app but cannot delete it or change its owner. Microsoft Learn, read 30 September 2026.
Before someone's last day
Tell me who built what and I will list what is at risk and who should own each piece. Book a free 30-minute call, or read what a free second opinion covers.