Schedule Monthly Power BI Refreshes Using Power Automate

Published

By John Dalesandro

The standard Power BI scheduled refresh settings do not provide a monthly refresh interval. Power Automate provides a straightforward way to create a monthly schedule without requiring a Fabric-enabled capacity. This article walks through a 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 every to every 1 Month. If necessary, configure the recurrence trigger’s time zone so the flow runs at the intended local time.

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 the 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.

If a refresh fails, check the semantic model’s refresh history in the Power BI service for details.

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

Power Automate adds monthly refresh capabilities to Power BI semantic models, using only a scheduled trigger and a refresh action to automate updates on any monthly schedule. This approach fills a gap in the standard Power BI scheduled refresh settings, which have no monthly refresh interval.