Recurring Invoices in QuickBooks Online – Instructions

Video Lesson on How to Create Recurring Invoices in QuickBooks Online

            This video lesson, titled “How to Create a Recurring Invoice in QuickBooks Online,” shows you how to create recurring invoices in QuickBooks Online. This video lesson is from our complete QuickBooks Online tutorial, titled “Mastering QuickBooks Online Made Easy.”

Overview and Instructions:

            To create a recurring invoice in QuickBooks Online, open the “Invoice” window by hovering over the “+ Create” button in the Navigation Bar and then clicking the “Invoice” link. Click the “Manage” button in the toolbar at the top of the invoice window, if needed, to show the pane at the right side of the window. Then click the “Scheduling” section in the pane to expand it. Finally, click the “Make invoice recurring” toggle switch to set it to the “On” position and open a new “Recurring Invoice” template window.

Name the Recurring Invoice and Enter the Invoice Details:

            In the “Recurring Invoice” window, fill out the desired invoice fields to enter the recurring invoice’s customer and line item details, as shown in the previous lesson titled “Creating an Invoice.” Then type a name for the recurring invoice template into the “Template name” field in the pane at the right side of the window.

Select the Type of Recurring Invoice to Create:

            Then use the “Type” drop-down in the pane to select the type of recurring invoice to create. To make a scheduled, recurring invoice automatically created later, select the “Scheduled” choice. To create the invoice in advance of the date you then enter in the “Interval” section below, enter the number of days in advance of that date into the “Create number of days in advance” field.

            Alternatively, to only let QuickBooks Online remind you to create the recurring invoice but not automatically create it, select the “Reminder” choice from the “Type” drop-down, instead. If selected, then enter the number of days in advance of the “Interval” date to be reminded into the “Remind number of days in advance” field.

            Alternatively, to only create the template but not set reminders or automatic creation in QuickBooks Online, select the “Unscheduled” choice from the “Type” drop-down. This choice adds the recurring invoice template to the “Recurring Transactions” list but does not schedule the recurring invoice. You must choose to use it.

Optionally, Set the Recurring Invoice’s Options:

            Next, click to toggle “On” any toggle switches in the “Template options” section to apply. The options include “Automatically send emails,” “Include unbilled charges” and “Mark as print later.”

If Needed, Set the Recurring Invoice’s Recurrence Interval and Frequency:

            If you selected either the “Scheduled” or “Reminder” choices from the “Type” drop-down, then the “Interval” section appears in the pane, where you set the invoice’s recurrence interval. Set the start date for the recurrence from the “Start date” drop-down.

            Then use the “End” drop-down to set when to end the recurrence. You can choose to end it “After” or “By” a certain date by selecting either choice and then entering a date or number of occurrences in the adjacent field that appears. You can also select the “Never” choice to leave the recurrence pattern open-ended.

            To select the recurrence pattern frequency, select either “Daily,” “Weekly,” “Monthly” or “Yearly” from the “Repeat” drop-down. Depending on the recurrence pattern selection, then set either the number of days, the day of the week and number of weeks, the day of the month and number of months, or the annual month and day for the recurring invoice pattern from the adjacent field and/or drop-downs that appear. When finished, click the “Save template” button at the bottom of the pane to save the recurring invoice template.