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A program that takes over your mouse
RPA, robotic process automation, takes over the repetitive work someone now does with mouse and keyboard. The robot is not a machine but a program. It opens a website, logs in, reads a field, pastes it somewhere else and moves to the next record, just as you would, only faster and at three in the morning too.
What sets it apart from other automation is the route it takes. An integration talks to another program through its data, behind the screen. An RPA robot works through the screen, the route meant for people. That makes RPA useful for old software with no way to connect, and fragile the moment that screen changes.
There are two kinds. An attended robot runs on your own computer while you are there: you start it, it does the clicking. An unattended robot runs on its own machine or server, at a set time or on a trigger, with nobody watching.
A term from 2012, an idea much older
The name robotic process automation comes from the software company Blue Prism, now part of SS&C, which introduced the term in 2012. The idea is older than the name: Excel macros and screen-scraping programs did something similar. Blue Prism, UiPath and Microsoft turned it into products, with robots you schedule, logs per run and permissions per robot. Microsoft built RPA into Power Automate: you record your clicks or drag actions into a flow, and the robot repeats them in web apps, desktop programs, Excel and even old terminal screens.
The same invoices, through the screen or through the data
RPAThe robot works through the screen
- 1Open the portal in the browserbreaks if the address changes
- 2Log in with user name and passwordbreaks if the portal adds two-factor login
- 3Click Invoices, filter on last weekbreaks if the button moves
- 4Download every PDF
- 5Retype amount, VAT and due date into the accounting systembreaks if the supplier changes its template
- 6Report: done, or which invoice failed
Six steps, four breaking points. Every change to the screen needs maintenance.
The software works through the data
- 1The invoice arrives as a UBL file over Peppol or the supplier's API
- 2The accounting system reads amount, VAT and due date straight from the file
No screen, no retyping. Since 1 January 2026 Belgian businesses send each other e-invoices like this.
RPA is the answer for a system without a door. If the system has an API or the invoice comes over Peppol, use that door.
Sixty invoices from a portal, every Monday
Take a wholesaler of bathroom fittings in Breda that pulls sixty invoices every Monday from the web portals of four suppliers in Belgium and Germany. Someone in accounts logs in, filters on last week, downloads every PDF and retypes amount, VAT and due date into the accounting package. Four minutes per invoice is 240 minutes a week, four hours.
An RPA robot does the same moves overnight. It opens each portal, logs in, clicks Invoices, downloads the new PDFs and reads the fields, often with text recognition or a language model to help. On Monday morning everything is in, plus a list of the invoices it could not read.
Until a supplier redesigns its portal. A button moves, a second login step appears, or the invoice gets a new template, and the robot stops or reads the wrong field. So RPA needs maintenance you plan for up front. And check whether the portal is needed at all: since 1 January 2026, Belgian VAT-registered businesses must send each other structured e-invoices, usually over Peppol as a UBL invoice. Ask your Belgian suppliers to send that way and there is nothing left to scrape; the rules are in our guide to e-invoicing in Belgium, and Peppol registration shows how a company joins the network.
A robot project in five steps
- Measure the workHow often, how long each time, and how many exceptions? A five-minute task once a month is not worth a robot.
- Look for a door firstDoes the system have an API, an export, or can the data come over Peppol? Then take that route.
- Build on real casesTest the robot on a month of real invoices, including the odd ones: credit notes, two pages, another currency.
- Make it reportEvery run in a log, and an email to a person when something fails. A silent robot that stops is noticed only when the supplier sends a reminder.
- Plan the upkeepWhen a screen changes, someone adapts the robot. Agree who does that and how fast.
Robot, integration, webhook or AI agent
| Approach | How it works | Strong at | Weak at |
|---|---|---|---|
| RPA | A robot clicks and types through the screen | Old software without an API, portals, retyping | Breaks with every change to the screen |
| API integration | Two programs exchange data through their API | Stable, fast, auditable | Works only where an API exists |
| Webhook | One system notifies another of an event; see webhook | Reacting at once, without polling | Only for events the system offers |
| Integration platform | A flow between standard SaaS tools, built in a visual editor | Quick to set up for common packages | Monthly price per task, little control |
| AI agent | A language model decides which step comes next | Work that involves reading and deciding, like sorting email | Less predictable, needs review |
The line is blurring. An AI agent can operate your systems through MCP, and an RPA robot can call a language model to read a free-form invoice. The question stays the same: is there a door into the system, or does the robot have to go through the screen?
Licences at UiPath and Microsoft, and the upkeep
| Product | What you get | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Power Automate for desktop | Build desktop flows and run them yourself on your own computer, with a Microsoft account | free |
| Power Automate Premium | Attended robot plus cloud flows, per user | 15 dollars per user per month, paid yearly |
| Power Automate Process | Unattended robot on your own machine | 150 dollars per bot per month, paid yearly |
| Power Automate Hosted Process | Unattended robot on a Microsoft virtual machine | 215 dollars per bot per month, paid yearly |
| UiPath Community | Free edition to learn and test | free |
| UiPath Basic | 2 robots, up to 5 Basic, 5 Plus and 1 Pro user | from 25 dollars per month |
| UiPath Standard and Enterprise | No limit on robots or users | on request |
Microsoft notes that the actual price depends on currency and country, so in euros or pounds use the figure in your own admin centre. The licence is rarely the largest cost. Building, testing and absorbing every screen change takes hours from someone who knows the robot.
The sum for the wholesaler in Breda: four hours a week at 40 euros an hour is 160 euros a week, about 690 euros a month. An unattended Power Automate robot costs 150 dollars a month, plus build and upkeep. That pays, as long as the portals stay stable. Set it against an integration and work out both as ROI; for the wider choice, read build vs buy software.
What buyers ask before they deploy a robot
What is the difference between RPA and AI?
RPA follows fixed rules: click here, copy that, paste it there. AI reads and decides: what does this email say, which amount is the total. They work well together: the robot fetches the PDF, a language model reads it, and the robot enters the result.
Is Power Automate RPA?
Partly. Power Automate has cloud flows, which work through connectors, and desktop flows, which work through the screen. The desktop flows are RPA. With a free Microsoft account you build them and start them yourself on your computer; scheduling and running unattended needs a paid plan.
When is RPA a bad idea?
When the system has an API, when the data can arrive over Peppol, or when the screen changes often. Tasks with many exceptions fit badly too: a robot that gets stuck one time in five costs more review than it saves.
What does an RPA developer do?
They map a process, build the robot in a tool such as UiPath or Power Automate, test it on real cases and keep it running when screens change. That last part, maintenance, is the one most often left out of the budget.