Trigger Power Automate flow on the first working day in a month

“Is there a way to trigger Power Automate flow only once a month on the first working day, no matter what day it is?”

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There’re already posts on trigger a flow on a specific day in a specific week in a month, or by the end of a month. What about another alternative in the form of a first weekday in a month? If the 1st is a weekday, send in on that day, but if it’s Saturday or Sunday, wait for Monday.

Start from 1st

The easiest situation would be if the 1st is already a weekday. You don’t have to evaluate anything, you just run the flow. Let’s add it as the first condition, and to make it shorter let’s reverse it – it’s the 1st day and it’s not Saturday nor Sunday.

Firstly, check that the day part from today’s date is 1.

equals(int(utcNow('dd')),1)

Secondly, check that the day is not Saturday.

not(equals(dayOfWeek(utcNow(),6)))

Thirdly, check that the day is not Sunday.

not(equals(dayOfWeek(utcNow(),0)))

Now combine it all together using the and(…) expression.

and(equals(int(utcNow('dd')),1),not(equals(dayOfWeek(utcNow(),6))),not(equals(dayOfWeek(utcNow(),0))))

Send it on 2nd if 1st was Sunday

The other situation that could happen is that 1st is on Sunday, therefore, the flow should be triggered on Monday.

Check if the day part of the date is 2.

equals(int(utcNow('dd')),2)

And at the same time the day is Monday, otherwise it’d trigger on every 2nd day.

equals(dayOfWeek(utcNow(),1)

Again, put it together using the and(…) expression.

and(equals(int(utcNow('dd')),2),equals(dayOfWeek(utcNow(),1)))

Send it on 3rd if 1st was Saturday

The last situation is if the 1st day was Saturday, in that case you want to send it on Monday 3rd. Following the same logic as before, check that the day is 3…

equals(int(utcNow('dd')),3)

…and the day is Monday.

equals(dayOfWeek(utcNow(),1)

Combining them together:

and(equals(int(utcNow('dd')),3),equals(dayOfWeek(utcNow(),1)))

Build the final trigger conditions

The conditions above covered all situations:

1. If it’s the 1st day and it’s not Saturday and Sunday, run the flow
2. If it’s the 2nd day and it’s Monday, run the flow as 1st day was Sunday
3. If it’s the 3rd day and it’s Monday, run the flow as 1st day was Saturday

This time you must connect them with the OR(…) expression as it must always fit into one of the options:

or(
   and(equals(int(utcNow('dd')),1),not(equals(dayOfWeek(utcNow(),6))),not(equals(dayOfWeek(utcNow(),0)))),
   and(equals(int(utcNow('dd')),2),equals(dayOfWeek(utcNow(),1))),
   and(equals(int(utcNow('dd')),3),equals(dayOfWeek(utcNow(),1)))
)

Add the @ before the expression and use it as a trigger condition.

Summary

You can trigger Power Automate flow on the first working day in a month if you check all the possible situations. If the 1st day is a working day, trigger the flow right away. The only situations when it should be delayed is if it’s Saturday or Sunday, in that situations you want to send it on Monday. Either Monday the 2nd or Monday the 3rd.

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