How to Set Up Recurring Invoice in QuickBooks: All You Need

If you have customers who have a service contract with your business or a standing order for the same type of materials every month or quarter, you probably want to know how to create a recurring invoice in QuickBooks.

Recurring invoices are invoices that are the same every month (or another predefined interval) that is automatically created and sent to your customers until you cancel them. That means that setting up recurring invoices in QuickBooks can save you time at the end of each billing cycle. This invoicing feature is useful for service and product-based businesses.

Let’s take a closer look at how you can create a recurring invoice in QuickBooks, how to delete a recurring invoice in QuickBooks and other useful tips.

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Can you set up a recurring invoice in QuickBooks?

That depends on what kind of QuickBooks subscription you have. If you are using Simple Start, you will not have the option to create recurring invoices and transactions. However, if you use Essentials or Plus, you do have the option. So if you are using Simple Start and you want to use recurring invoicing, you will have to upgrade your account first.

If you are debating whether upgrading is worthwhile, consider how much time you spend generating invoices that could be set as recurring every month. Now consider what your hourly wage is. In most cases, if you have more than a few recurring invoices, it makes business sense to upgrade.

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How do I set up monthly recurring invoices in QuickBooks?

If you are creating a recurring invoice based on a previous invoice you have sent, you can create a recurring invoice in QuickBooks as follows:

1. Log in to your QuickBooks account

2. Go to Sales from the dashboard, and then select Invoices

3. Find the invoice you want to make recurring, and click on View/Edit on the right-hand side of the screen

4. When the invoice opens, scroll to the bottom of the screen and check “Make Recurring”

5. Name your recurring invoice template

6. Choose the type of invoice – whether it’s a scheduled invoice, a reminder or an unscheduled invoice

7. Choose when to create the invoice

8. Choose the customer the recurring invoice will be sent to

9. Add an email address that the invoice will be sent to

10. Choose if you want to send your invoice automatically

11. Select if you want to include unbilled charges

12. Decide if you want to print the invoice later

13. Set the invoice frequency in the Interval field

14. Choose a start and end date

15. Save the template and close

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If you want to create a recurring invoice from scratch, you can click on the gear icon and then select recurring transactions.

Create a new transaction from the recurring transactions screen and select invoice from the list of transaction options. Once you have created a new invoice, you can follow the steps from the example above to create your recurring invoice.

Whether you use an existing invoice or create a new recurring invoice, the result is the same. Your customer will receive an invoice with the parameters you set on the date, and at the interval you set. So you will never forget to invoice a recurring bill again, and you can save some time on invoicing.

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How do I create a recurring invoice in QBO?

Yes. As mentioned above, provided you have the right subscription package for QuickBooks online, you can create a recurring invoice in QuickBooks by following these steps. Once you have mastered creating recurring invoices in QuickBooks online, you will find that it’s a quick and easy way to take some of the work out of your month-end tasks. Still worried about How do I make an invoice recurring? Check the video below.

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How to delete a recurring invoice in QuickBooks

Of course, knowing how to create a recurring invoice in QuickBooks is only half of the equation. You also need to know how to delete recurring invoices when your client cancels their order, or your contract comes to an end.

Sometimes, recurring invoices are created for fixed periods, and then you can use the Start and End date options from step 14 above to automatically end your recurring invoices to that client for that service or product.

However, if you have not defined an end date for your recurring invoice or your contract ends early, you need to know how to delete a recurring invoice in QuickBooks online.

To do this, you need to go to the Recurring Transactions menu. Select the recurring invoice you want to delete, and then select Actions. Click the arrow to bring up the action options, and then select Delete. Save and close.

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Keep Your Reports Current No Matter What Happens In QuickBooks

QuickBooks really is a fantastic accounting package, and being able to create recurring invoices in QuickBooks is a great time saver.

However, sometimes, QuickBooks reporting isn’t what you might hope it would be. Many of the built-in reports have to be manually created, and there aren’t many options to customize your reports to meet your needs.

That’s why we created LiveFlow. It’s a QuickBooks add-on that connects your live QuickBooks data with your custom Google Sheets reports. Once you have connected QuickBooks to your report using the LiveFlow Google Sheets Add-On, it will always push the latest data from QuickBooks to your reports. So whether you create recurring invoices, delete recurring invoices or make any other changes, your reports will always reflect up-to-the-minute information automatically.

If you’d like to find out more about how LiveFlow can help you to automate reporting and more, contact our team. We’re happy to answer questions or to book a demo so you can see LiveFlow in action.