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Create a recurring invoice

Subscriptions, monthly retainers, annual mandates: schedule once and Bill Alps issues invoices at the right cadence.

Billing6 min read
Table of contents+

Recurring invoices suit every business model based on a subscription or a flat fee: hosting, maintenance, coaching, accounting mandate… Once set up, the invoice is generated automatically at the chosen frequency.

1. Create a recurring template

  1. Open the Recurring invoices menu.
  2. Click New recurring invoice.
  3. If needed, give it a Name (optional), select the Client and fill in the Line items as for a regular invoice. The VAT rate of each line starts at 0%: choose the right one.

2. Pick the cadence

Available frequencies:

  • Weekly: services delivered every week.
  • Monthly: the most common (subscriptions, rents, maintenance).
  • Quarterly: fees, memberships.
  • Every 6 months: recurring expert mandates.
  • Yearly: licenses, contracts and renewals.

Also fill in the Day of month of the following invoices (if the month has fewer days, it is the last day) and Due in (days), 30 by default: the number of days between the issue date and the due date of each invoice.

3. Start and end dates

  • First issue date: the date on which the first invoice is issued. If the date is today or in the past, the first invoice is generated as soon as you save. If it is in the future, the invoice is generated on the morning of that date. The invoice always carries the date of the day it is generated.
  • End rule: No end (the recurrence continues until you pause or delete it), Until date or After N invoices. Once the rule is reached, the recurrence moves to Ended status.

Click Save at the bottom of the form: the recurrence appears in the list in Active status.

4. Manage recurrences

From the recurrences list, each row shows the next issue date. Three actions are available:

  • Pause: temporarily suspends issuing, without deleting the template.
  • Resume: restarts issuing on the next scheduled date. Invoices missed during the pause are not caught up.
  • Delete: permanently deletes the recurrence, after confirmation. Invoices already generated stay in Bills.

These actions are icons at the end of the row: hover over them to see their name. The list also shows the Next run, the number of Runs, the Auto-send setting and the Status.

To edit a recurrence, click its row. Your changes apply to the following invoices, not to those already generated. The next date that is already scheduled does not move: a new frequency applies from the date after, and changing the First issue date has no effect after creation. To move the next date, delete the recurrence and recreate it.

Generated invoices are then tracked like any other: see the guide Track payments and reminders.