Power Automate often connects modern cloud services with Tallyfy through APIs. But what about those ancient desktop applications still running in your organization? The ones without APIs? That’s where Robotic Process Automation (RPA) comes in - and Power Automate Desktop is Microsoft’s tool for building these UI-based automations. RPA helps you bridge Tallyfy with older systems, extending your Tallyfy process automation to systems that don’t offer modern integration methods.
What is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?
RPA uses software “robots” (bots) to automate repetitive tasks by mimicking how humans interact with digital systems. Instead of connecting programmatically via an API (Tallyfy’s preferred method), an RPA bot interacts with an application’s user interface - it clicks buttons, types text into fields, and navigates menus. Just like you would.
Here’s the difference from API-based automation (like Tallyfy’s Open API or webhooks): RPA works at the presentation layer - the screen. It’s an option when target systems are old, don’t have accessible APIs, or when API development is too costly for the specific task you need to integrate with Tallyfy.
RPA comes in two flavors:
Attended RPA: The bot works alongside a human, often initiated by them to automate part of their task. It runs on the user’s workstation.
Unattended RPA: The bot runs independently in the background, typically on a dedicated machine. Perfect for batch-processing tasks that interact with systems connected to Tallyfy.
Power Automate Desktop
Power Automate Desktop is the application you’ll use to design RPA flows (desktop flows). It provides a visual designer and actions to interact with desktop applications and UI elements.
What you get:
UI element recorder: Records mouse clicks and keyboard inputs to generate initial flow steps.
UI element selector: Precisely identifies UI elements so the bot can reliably interact with them.
Pre-built actions: A library of actions for common desktop operations.
Variable passing: Receives input data from cloud flows (which might be triggered by Tallyfy) and passes output data back.
When to consider RPA with Tallyfy
Let’s be honest - RPA is your last resort when API-based integration with Tallyfy isn’t feasible. But it can work in these scenarios:
Bridging Tallyfy with legacy systems: Your Tallyfy process needs to interact with that ancient on-premises desktop application that has no API (like a 15-year-old accounting system)? RPA can automate those interaction steps, triggered by or feeding data to Tallyfy.
Automating data entry from Tallyfy to legacy apps: Data collected in a Tallyfy task’sform fields can be automatically entered into a legacy desktop application. Think customer details from a completed Tallyfy onboarding task being created as a record in an old CRM.
Extracting data from legacy apps for Tallyfy: An RPA bot logs into a legacy system, scrapes data, and a Power Automate cloud flow uses that data to initiate or update a Tallyfy process.
Remember: if a system offers an API, use it. APIs through Power Automate’s HTTP connector or custom connectors are far more stable than RPA. Tallyfy’s Open API and webhooks remain your best bet for direct integration with Tallyfy.
Core concepts in Power Automate Desktop flows for Tallyfy integration
When building desktop flows to interact with Tallyfy data (passed via a cloud flow):
UI elements: Specific components of an application’s interface your bot interacts with.
Recorder: A feature to translate your actions into flow steps, often requiring refinement.
Actions: The Power Automate Desktop designer provides actions like “Launch application,” “Click UI element in window,” and “Populate text field in window.”
Input/Output variables: Critical for connecting desktop flows with Power Automate cloud flows. Input variables allow a cloud flow (triggered by Tallyfy) to pass data into the desktop flow. Output variables allow the desktop flow to pass results back to the calling cloud flow, which could then update Tallyfy.
Example: updating a legacy desktop app from Tallyfy task data (conceptual)
Building a full RPA flow takes work. Here’s a conceptual outline for updating an old desktop CRM using data from a completed Tallyfy task.
The scenario: A Tallyfy “Client Information Update” task is completed. You’ve got client details (like a new phone number) captured in its form fields. These need to go into a legacy desktop CRM with no API.
RPA integration flow
This diagram shows how data flows from Tallyfy through Power Automate’s cloud and desktop components to update legacy systems.
What to notice:
Cloud-desktop separation - Steps 1-4 happen in the cloud, while steps 7-12 execute on your local machine or server
Data handoff at step 5 - The gateway bridges cloud flows with desktop automation, passing Tallyfy form data as input variables
UI automation sequence - Steps 7-12 show the RPA bot mimicking human interactions with the legacy CRM interface
1. Cloud Flow (Power Automate):
Trigger: Tallyfy connector - When a task is completed.
Filter for the specific “Client Information Update” Tallyfy task. (See creating your first flow for trigger basics).
Action: Tallyfy connector - Get task details.
Use the Task ID from the trigger to retrieve all Tallyfy form field data.
Action: Power Automate Desktop connector - Run a flow built with Power Automate for desktop.
Desktop flow: Select the desktop flow you will create.
Run Mode: Choose Attended or Unattended (unattended requires specific licensing and gateway setup).
Input Variables: Pass data from Tallyfy’s “Get task details” output to the input variables in your desktop flow.
2. Desktop Flow (Designed in Power Automate Desktop):
Define input variables:
In Power Automate Desktop, define input variables to receive data from the Tallyfy-triggered cloud flow.
Action: Launch application.
Provide the path to your legacy CRM executable.
UI interaction sequence (example):
Action: Focus window (to ensure the CRM window is active).
Action: Click UI element in window (e.g., a “Search Client” button).
Action: Populate text field in window (e.g., enter client ID received from Tallyfy).
Action: Click UI element in window (e.g., click the “Search” button).
(Wait for client record to load).
Action: Populate text field in window (e.g., update the phone number field with new phone from Tallyfy data).
Action: Click UI element in window (e.g., click a “Save Changes” button).
Action: Close application.
Close the legacy CRM.
Setting up Power Automate Desktop and gateways for Tallyfy integration
Power Automate Desktop installation: Install Power Automate Desktop on the machine where the RPA bot will run.
On-premises data gateway: For Power Automate cloud flows (like those triggered by Tallyfy) to initiate unattended desktop flows on an on-premises machine, an on-premises data gateway must be installed and configured. This acts as a bridge for secure communication.
Considerations for RPA with Tallyfy
Robustness and fragility: UI automation is less stable than API integrations. One UI change in the legacy application can break your entire RPA flow. You’ll need regular maintenance for RPA solutions connected to Tallyfy.
Error handling: You must implement comprehensive error handling in your desktop flow. Check out managing and monitoring flows for error concepts.
Security: Be extremely cautious with credentials in desktop flows (especially for unattended bots).
Alternative exploration: Before jumping to RPA, investigate whether the legacy system has any other integration methods - undocumented APIs, file import/export capabilities. These work more reliably for Tallyfy integrations.
Tallyfy’s strengths: Tallyfy provides powerful API and Webhook capabilities. Always use these first for integrating directly with Tallyfy or triggering external automations from Tallyfy. Don’t use RPA to interact with Tallyfy itself.
RPA with Power Automate Desktop extends Tallyfy’s reach into environments with older applications lacking APIs. Just plan carefully.
Microsoft Power Automate enables workflow automation by connecting Tallyfy with various business applications through triggers and actions while Tallyfy manages human-centric processes and Power Automate handles system integrations and repetitive micro-tasks.
Microsoft Power Automate serves as an integration bridge that connects Tallyfy’s human-centric process management platform with Microsoft ecosystem applications and other business systems to automate data flows and system-to-system tasks while Tallyfy handles workflow management and process tracking.
Tallyfy serves as an orchestration layer that seamlessly connects RPA systems with human workflows to create comprehensive end-to-end process automation while maintaining complete visibility and accountability across both automated and manual tasks.
