Set Up Recurring Billing
Create recurring invoices for retainers, subscriptions, and repeating services.
Use recurring invoices when the same customer should be billed on a repeating schedule.
Set up recurring billing only after the first invoice pattern is correct. The schedule will reuse customer, line item, tax, template, and email behavior over time.
Steps
- Confirm the customer contact or account exists.
- Configure invoice numbering, payment terms, taxes, and payment gateway settings.
- Open Finance > Recurring Invoices.
- Create a recurring invoice.
- Add line items, schedule, billing cycle, start date, and end behavior.
- Review email delivery settings.
- Save the recurring invoice.
- Monitor generated invoices and payment status.
Good Use Cases
- Monthly retainers.
- Maintenance plans.
- Subscription services.
- Repeating support packages.
Use a normal one-time invoice instead when the amount, scope, customer, or approval changes every billing period. Recurring billing works best when the agreement is stable and the invoice can be generated from a saved pattern.
Before Activating
Confirm:
- Start date and billing frequency.
- End date, number of cycles, or ongoing behavior.
- Line items and tax.
- Payment method expectations.
- Email delivery timing.
- Customer-facing notes and terms.
Also confirm who receives billing questions. Add a clear note or reply-to mailbox when the customer should contact finance, support, or an account owner after receiving the recurring invoice.
Monitor Generated Invoices
Review the first generated invoice before relying on the schedule. Confirm the invoice was created on time, sent to the right customer, and has the right payment status. Pause or edit the recurring invoice before the next cycle if anything is wrong.
For the first cycle, compare the recurring template, generated invoice, email, PDF, payment page, and finance report. The customer, amount, tax, due date, invoice number, and payment methods should match across all of them.
Test A Recurring Setup
Before using recurring billing for a high-value customer, create a low-risk test schedule or use an internal customer record:
- Create the recurring invoice with the same line-item pattern.
- Use a near start date if your workspace process allows it.
- Confirm one generated invoice.
- Check the customer email, public invoice page, PDF, tax, and payment options.
- Pause or delete the test pattern when the review is complete.
This test is especially important after changing finance settings, templates, payment gateways, tax defaults, or SMTP delivery.
Change or Stop Recurring Billing
Pause the recurring invoice when billing is temporarily on hold. Edit the template when future invoices need a new amount, line item, contact, tax, or delivery setting. Cancel or archive the recurring setup only when the agreement has ended and no future invoices should be generated.
Do not edit a single generated invoice and assume future invoices are fixed. Changes that should repeat must be made on the recurring invoice template.
Review Before Renewal Changes
When a customer renews, compare the current agreement against the saved recurring invoice before the next cycle runs. Update quantity, price, tax, discount, customer notes, payment terms, and recipient list together so the next invoice is consistent.
If the contract changes mid-cycle, decide whether to adjust the next recurring invoice, issue a one-time invoice or credit, or stop the old schedule and create a new one. Keep the customer-facing history clear.