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Recurring Invoices

Recurring invoice templates generate each period's invoice on schedule — ideal for retainers, subscriptions, and SaaS. Choose auto-send or draft-for-review, and track how many invoices each template has produced.

Key capabilities

  • Six frequencies: daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, annually
  • Day targeting: Day of month (1–31) for monthly/quarterly/annual, Day of week (Monday–Sunday) for weekly/biweekly
  • Per-period due date via a Days until due offset (0–365, default 30)
  • Optional auto-send to email each generated invoice (invoice templates only)
  • Fixed total or line-item template amounts, with optional description
  • End conditions: an End date, a Max occurrences cap, or run indefinitely — whichever limit comes first stops it
  • Pause / Resume without losing history, Skip Next to skip one occurrence, and Clone to copy a template
  • Cancel to stop permanently; templates auto-complete when a limit is reached
  • Generation history showing every invoice produced, with status and amount
  • AI suggestions that detect recurring patterns from past transactions
  • Multi-currency (USD, CAD, AUD, EUR, GBP); the same engine also powers recurring bills

How it works

A background scheduler checks active templates each day. When a template's next occurrence is due, it generates the invoice, advances the schedule, and either emails it (auto-send) or leaves it as a draft.

flowchart TD
  template["Active template"] --> due{"Due & under limits?"}
  due -->|"No"| wait["Wait for next day"]
  due -->|"Yes"| generate["Generate invoice"]
  generate --> mode{"Auto-send?"}
  mode -->|"Yes"| sent["Emailed to customer"]
  mode -->|"No"| draft["Draft for review"]
  generate --> advance["Advance schedule"]

How to use it

  1. Open Recurring and click New Template.
  2. Set Type to Invoice, pick the customer, and choose a Frequency.
  3. Enter the template amount or line items and a Start Date (cannot be in the past).
  4. Set Days until due so each invoice's due date is offset from its generation date.
  5. Optionally turn on auto-send, set an end date or max occurrences, and add notes.
  6. Use the Invoices / Bills tabs to filter, and the row actions to Pause, Resume, Skip Next, Clone, or Cancel.
  7. Open a template's history to confirm generated invoices are being created and delivered.

Pro tips

  • For monthly billing on a fixed day, set Day of month; if a month is shorter (e.g., 31 in February), generation falls back to the last day automatically.
  • Leave Day of month / Day of week blank to inherit the weekday or day from the start date.
  • Use draft mode (auto-send off) for variable amounts you want to tweak before each send; use auto-send for fixed retainers.
  • Skip Next advances the schedule by one period without generating — ideal for a billing holiday — while Pause halts all generation until you resume.
  • Setting both an end date and a max-occurrences cap is fine; whichever is hit first stops the template and flips its status to completed.
  • Clone starts a fresh copy at 0 occurrences with active status and today's start date by default — handy for spinning up a similar plan for another customer.

In-depth guide

Lifecycle & generation

Templates start active on the start date, generate only while active and under caps, and move to Completed when limits hit or Cancel stops them permanently. Pause / Resume halt or restart without losing history. Each run increments the count, records the last date, and advances the schedule; generated invoices appear in history with status, amount, and due date.

Accounting impact

Recurring templates don't post journal entries themselves — they create invoices, and each generated invoice follows the normal invoice lifecycle:

  • Finalizing — debits Accounts Receivable and credits revenue.
  • Payments — reduce its balance.
  • Auto-send on — invoices are generated and emailed.
  • Auto-send off (draft mode) — invoices wait for you to finalize and send.

AI & automation

From transaction history, AI suggestions surface likely recurring patterns — a description, suggested frequency, average amount, counterparty, last occurrence, and a confidence score — that you can turn into templates. This complements manual creation when you're formalizing existing repeat billing.

Limits & edge cases

  • Start and end dates cannot be in the past at creation time.
  • Updating amount/total requires positive values; currency must be one of USD, CAD, AUD, EUR, GBP.
  • Deleting a template is permanent and separate from cancelling; already-generated invoices remain untouched.
  • Templates can be filtered by type, status, and customer.