Wiederkehrende Rechnungen — Recurring Invoices Guide

What it does

Recurring Invoices automates subscription-style billing. You create a template with line items, a billing frequency, and sending preferences. Each day, the system checks whether any templates are due and generates a fresh invoice automatically. Generated invoices go through the same lifecycle as manually created ones, so they appear and behave exactly like any other invoice.

The module also supports advance reminders — you can notify yourself before an invoice is generated, and notify your client before a service period renews.

How to set up

1. Make sure the client exists — go to Clients and confirm the client is in the system. A client is required for every recurring template.
2. Confirm your VAT registration status — go to Organization > Settings. If your organisation is not VAT registered, generated invoices will use 0% VAT. This is checked at the time each invoice is generated, not fixed at template creation.
3. Add a payment method to the client (optional) — enables automatic Stripe charges after invoice generation.
4. Create the template — go to Recurring Invoices > New. Fill in:
   • Frequency — monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual.
   • Start date and optional end date.
   • Days until due — how many days the client has to pay.
   • Auto-send — if on, the invoice is emailed automatically when generated; if off, it is created as a draft for you to review first.
   • Owner reminder — how many days before generation you want to be notified.
   • Renewal notice — how many days before the next cycle your client receives a heads-up.
   • Line items — flat subscription charges. There is no "import unbilled hours" option here; recurring templates are for fixed periodic charges.
   • Template text — greeting, introduction, notes, and terms, the same as a one-off invoice.
5. Save. The template is active immediately and the first invoice date is calculated from the start date and frequency.

Daily use

Automatic loop

The system runs every morning and generates invoices for any active templates that are due. For each one:

• A new invoice is created with the template's line items.
• If auto-send is on, the invoice is emailed immediately.
• If auto-charge is configured, Stripe is charged.
• The template's next invoice date advances by one cycle.
• The run is logged for audit purposes.
• Owner reminders and client renewal notices fire on their configured schedule and reset automatically for each new cycle.

Manual controls

• Pause — stop generating invoices temporarily. Resume when ready.
• Skip Next — advance the next invoice date by one cycle without generating an invoice.
• Generate Now — immediately create and optionally send an invoice outside the regular schedule.
• Duplicate — copy the template for a new client.
• Set End Date — schedule the template to stop after a specific date.

Lifecycle states

Works together with

• Clients — required for every recurring template.
• Projects — optional; link a project for cost reporting purposes.
• Invoicing — every generated invoice appears and behaves like a manually created invoice.
• Stripe — optional auto-charge after generation if the client has a card on file.

Tips

• Line items are copied at generation time. Editing a template does not change invoices that have already been generated. Past invoices keep exactly the items and prices they had when created.
• VAT is re-evaluated at generation time. If your VAT registration status changes, future invoices reflect the change automatically. Past invoices are not affected.
• If the system was offline for several days, the next run will process all overdue templates in one batch. This may generate multiple invoices for a single template. Check the run log after any outage.
• Reminders reset every cycle. The owner reminder and the client renewal notice re-send before each new cycle — not just the first one.
• Frequency cannot be changed after creation. To switch a template to a different billing interval, end the existing template and create a new one.
• Auto-charge failures do not stop invoice generation. If a Stripe charge fails, the invoice is still created and marked as sent. You will need to follow up on payment manually. Watch the run log for failed charge entries.
• Use the :period placeholder in the invoice title to include the service period automatically (for example, "Hosting – April 2026"). This placeholder works in the title only, not in line-item descriptions.