Recurring Bills
Automate predictable vendor costs. Set the schedule once — bills generate on their own.
Recurring bills automate the creation of regular vendor invoices — monthly rent, quarterly insurance premiums, annual software subscriptions, weekly cleaning services. Instead of manually creating the same bill every period, you configure a recurring schedule once. The system generates the bill on each scheduled date, either as a draft for your review or as a saved, posted bill.
Setting Up Recurring on a Bill
Recurring is available when recurring documents are enabled for your business; the Recurring pill then appears in the bill form's Fields menu.
On a new bill: click the Recurring pill to open Make Bill Recurring.
On an existing bill: open the bill → Update → click the Recurring pill.
Recurring Configuration Fields
| Field | Required? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency | Yes | Daily, Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly (default), Quarterly, Semi-Annually, Annually. |
| Repeat every | Yes | How many frequency units between occurrences — 1 to 99. Repeat every 1 month = monthly; every 3 months = quarterly. |
| On Day / On Day of Month | No | Weekly frequencies pick a weekday; monthly and longer pick a day of the month or Last day of month. |
| Start Date | Yes | The date the first bill should be created. Cannot be in the past. |
| Ends | Yes | Never (default), On Date, or After Occurrences. On Date asks for an End Date; After Occurrences asks for the Number of Occurrences (default 12). |
| Generation Options | Yes | Create as Draft — each bill lands as a draft for review. Create as Final — each bill is saved and posted immediately. Auto-Send — generated and emailed automatically. |
| Generate How Many Days Before Due Date? | No | 0 to 90 days ahead of the scheduled date. |
Final mode saves and posts bills without human review. Before choosing it, verify: the vendor is correct, the line items are correct, the rates are final, and the tax configuration is correct. A wrong rate on an auto-posted recurring bill can cause months of mispostings before anyone notices.
Common Recurring Bill Use Cases
| Use Case | Frequency | Repeat every | Generation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly office rent | Monthly | 1 | Draft or Final | Fixed rate, trusted vendor — Final acceptable if the lease rate is stable |
| Quarterly insurance premium | Quarterly | 1 | Draft | Amount may vary — review before posting |
| Annual software subscription | Annually | 1 | Draft | Review each year — price may change on renewal |
| Weekly cleaning services | Weekly | 1 | Draft | Hours may vary week to week |
| Monthly maintenance retainer | Monthly | 1 | Final | Fixed retainer, same amount every month |
| Bi-annual equipment service | Semi-Annually | 1 | Draft | Every 6 months — review before posting |
How Generated Bills Behave
Each generated bill is a fully independent bill document — it has its own bill number, its own journal (if created as Final), and its own payment history. Modifying the schedule does not retroactively change bills that have already been generated.
When a bill is generated in Draft mode:
- It appears in the Bills list with status Draft
- You review the amounts, adjust if needed, and Save
When a bill is generated in Final mode:
- It is created and posted immediately
- AP is created, cost is recognized
Managing the Schedule
Open the bill that carries it. Bills with a schedule show a Recurring badge, and the detail page shows a Recurring Schedule card with the status (Active, Paused, Completed, Cancelled or Expired) and the next date.
On the Recurring Schedule card, click Pause. No further bills are generated until you Resume. Previously generated bills are unaffected.
Update the bill and change the rate, then reopen the Recurring pill and click Update Schedule. Future bills use the new rate. Previously generated bills are not changed.
Click Cancel on the Recurring Schedule card, or set Ends to On Date with the last billing date. All historical bills remain in the audit trail.
Viewing the Generation History
The Recurring Schedule card on the source bill includes a Generation History section listing every bill generated from the schedule: generated date, scheduled date, document number and status. This gives you a complete view of how much has been billed across the entire series.
For rent and lease agreements, use the Subject field to record the period covered (e.g. "Office Rent — April 2026"). This makes it clear which period each bill covers when reviewing the bill list or vendor statement, and helps with period-end matching.
Related
- The bill the schedule is built from: Creating a bill.
- Correcting a generated bill: Editing and voiding a bill.
- The same mechanism in the ledger: Recurring journals.
- Paying what the schedule produces: Manual payment.