John Dalesandro

Schedule Monthly Power BI Refreshes Using Power Automate

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By John Dalesandro

Monthly refresh schedules for Power BI semantic models are not available out of the box in the Power BI service. While you can configure daily or weekly refreshes in the semantic model settings, there’s no built-in option for monthly timing. Fortunately, Microsoft Power Automate provides an easy way to fill this gap. This article walks through a straightforward Power Automate flow that refreshes a Power BI semantic model on the first day of each month.

Instructions

Step 1: Create a New Scheduled Cloud Flow

In Power Automate, select Create and choose Scheduled cloud flow from the Start from blank section.

Screenshot of the various options to create a new flow in Power Automate.
Power Automate: Options to Create New Flow

In the Build a scheduled cloud flow dialog, enter the Flow name, starting date and time, and set Repeat to every 1 Month.

Screenshot of the configuration options to build a scheduled cloud flow in Power Automate.
Power Automate: Build a Scheduled Cloud Flow Configuration

Click the Create button to generate the flow.

The new flow will include a recurrence trigger set to run monthly based on your provided start date and time.

Screenshot of a monthly Recurrence trigger configuration in Power Automate.
Power Automate: Monthly Recurrence Trigger Configuration

Step 2: Add a Power BI “Refresh a Dataset” Action

After the recurrence trigger, add a Power BI Refresh a dataset action. Configure it by selecting the correct Power BI Workspace and Dataset.

Click the Save button, then choose Test to manually run the flow. Confirm that the appropriate dataset refreshes as expected.

Screenshot of a Power BI Refresh a Dataset action in Power Automate.
Power Automate: Power BI Refresh a Dataset Action Configuration

Results

In this example, the flow was initially scheduled for October 1. It will now automatically run on the first of each following month, refreshing the specified Power BI semantic model.

Screenshot of the overall flow to refresh a Power BI dataset on a monthly schedule in Power Automate.
Power Automate: Overall Flow to Refresh a Power BI Dataset on a Monthly Schedule

Summary

Using Power Automate is a simple and effective way to add monthly refresh capabilities to Power BI. With just a scheduled trigger and a refresh action, you can automate semantic model updates on any monthly schedule you choose. This approach fills a key gap in the Power BI service and is quick to implement.