How to Give Your Automation Engineer Access to Power Automate with an Internal Account

You’ve hired a Power Platform engineer to build flows, apps, or reports. Before any work can start, they need access to your environment. The simplest and most controlled way to do this is to create an internal account for them in your Microsoft 365 tenant, just like a new employee. This guide walks you through it, and the video below shows every click.

Watch the walkthrough

Why use an internal account?

• Full control. Your IT team manages the account, the password, and the security policies, as it does for any employee.
• Consistent security. Multi-factor authentication and conditional access apply in the same way as for the rest of your staff.
• Simple to remove. When the project ends, you disable or delete the account and all access ends with it.

Step 1: Create the account

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center (admin.microsoft.com).
2. Go to Users → Active users and click Add a user.
3. Enter the first name, last name, display name, and username, and choose your company domain.
4. Leave Automatically create a password and Require this user to change their password when they first sign in turned on.
5. Click Next, choose the location, and assign the licenses the engineer needs. This usually means a Microsoft 365 license plus Power Apps and Power Automate licenses. Premium connectors need a Power Automate Premium license.
6. Click Next, review the details, and finish.
7. Send the username and temporary password to your engineer through a secure channel, not plain email.

Step 2: Give access to Power Automate

The license lets the engineer use Power Automate. They also need a role in the environment where the work will happen.

1. Open the Power Platform admin center (admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com) and go to Environments.
2. Select the environment.
3. For a Dataverse environment, go to Settings → Users + permissions → Users → Add user, search for the new account, and assign the Environment Maker role. For a non-Dataverse environment, use Access and add the user as an Environment Maker.
4. If the engineer only needs to work on one existing flow, open the flow and add them as a co-owner under Share.

Start with Environment Maker. It’s enough to build and manage flows and apps. Only grant Environment Admin or System Administrator if the engineer needs to manage settings, connections, or data policies. In the default environment, every licensed user is already a Maker.

Step 3: Give access to SharePoint

If the automations use SharePoint lists or libraries, share the relevant site with the new account.

1. Open the SharePoint site and select the gear icon → Site permissions → Share site.
2. Enter the engineer’s new account and choose Edit. Use Owner only if truly needed.
3. Click Share.

You can also add the account to the Microsoft 365 group that owns the site, which gives access to the site and any connected Team.

Security best practices

• Use least privilege. Start with Maker, not Admin.
• Work in a Dev or Test environment whenever possible, not Production.
• Build inside Solutions so deployment to Production is clean and repeatable.
• Keep MFA on and follow the same policy you use for your staff.
• Set an end date. Disable or delete the account when the project finishes.

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to share a temporary password?

Send it through a secure channel such as a password manager or a secure message, not plain email. The account is set to require a password change at first sign-in, so the temporary password stops working once the engineer sets their own.

Which Power Automate license is needed?

It depends on the connectors used. Standard connectors are often covered by an existing Microsoft 365 license. Premium connectors need a Power Automate Premium license.

Can I remove access later?

Yes. Block sign-in or delete the user in the Microsoft 365 admin center, and their access to Power Automate and SharePoint ends with it.

Menus in the Microsoft admin centers change from time to time, so the labels you see may differ slightly from this guide.

Ready to get started?

Once the account is ready, send me the environment name or URL and confirm the role, and I’ll verify access and begin building. I’m Zeeshan, a Power Platform engineer working with Power Automate, Power Apps, and Power BI.