Recurring Invoices

Recurring Invoices

What Are Recurring Invoices?

Recurring invoices automatically generate a new invoice at regular intervals (weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, or a custom number of days). This is ideal for subscriptions, retainers, ongoing services, or any regular billing.

Requirements

To set up recurring invoicing, the source document must:

• Be an invoice (not a proposal, contract, quote, or receipt).
• Use a single lump-sum payment (no milestone payment schedules).
• Not already be generated from another recurring invoice.
• Not already have recurring settings attached.

Frequency Options

Choose how often invoices are generated:

• Weekly — Every N weeks on a specific day of the week (Monday through Sunday). For example, every 2 weeks on Friday.
• Monthly — Every N months on a specific day (1st through 28th). The day is capped at 28 to avoid issues with shorter months.
• Quarterly — Every 3 months on a specific day.
• Yearly — Once per year on a specific month and day.
• Custom — Every N days (1–365). Use this for non-standard billing cycles like every 10 days or every 45 days.

Duration

Control how long the recurring series runs:

• Ongoing — Invoices are generated indefinitely until you pause or cancel.
• Fixed Cycles — Generate exactly N invoices (1–999), then automatically stop. Useful for fixed-term contracts (e.g., “12 monthly invoices”).
• Until Date — Generate invoices until a specific end date, then automatically stop.

Proration (First Invoice)

When the recurring series starts mid-cycle, proration controls how the first invoice amount is calculated:

• None — Charge the full amount on the first invoice regardless of when in the cycle it starts.
• Prorated — Charge a reduced amount proportional to the remaining days in the first billing period. For example, if a monthly invoice starts on the 15th, the first invoice is approximately half the full amount.
• Skip — Skip the first invoice entirely and start billing from the second cycle. The client gets the partial first period for free.

Proration Methods

When proration type is set to Prorated, choose how the partial amount is calculated:

• Exact — Uses the actual number of days in the billing period (7 for weekly, actual days in the month for monthly, 365 or 366 for yearly). Most accurate.
• Thirty-Day — Assumes every month has 30 days. Simpler but slightly less precise.
• Custom — You manually set the first invoice amount to any value you choose.

For example, with a $1,000 monthly invoice starting on March 15 using exact proration: the first invoice would be $1,000 × (16 remaining days ÷ 31 days in March) ≈ $516.13.

Auto-Send

When Auto-Send is enabled, each generated invoice is automatically emailed to the recipient as soon as it is created. When disabled, generated invoices are saved as drafts for you to review and send manually.

Auto-Pay

Configure automatic payment collection:

• Disabled — The client must pay each invoice manually.
• Optional — The client can choose to save a Stripe payment method. If saved, future invoices are charged automatically on the due date.
• Required — The client must provide a Stripe payment method. Every generated invoice is charged automatically.

Recurring Statuses

• Active — Currently generating invoices on schedule.
• Paused — Temporarily stopped. No invoices are generated while paused. You can resume at any time, and the system will recalculate the next billing date if it has passed.
• Completed — The series has reached its cycle limit (fixed cycles) or end date. No more invoices will be generated.
• Cancelled — Permanently stopped. A cancellation reason is recorded.

Managing Generated Invoices

Each generated invoice is fully independent. You can edit, void, or delete any individual generated invoice without affecting the recurring series or other invoices. The recurring settings panel shows the total number of invoices generated and a link to view them all.

Changing Settings While Active

You can update frequency, duration, proration, and auto-send settings while the recurring series is active or paused. Changes apply only to future invoices — previously generated invoices are not affected.