Recurring invoices explained

Table of Contents

Recurring invoices at a glance
How recurring invoices work
Automatic vs manual payments
Where to find the recurring invoice once it’s sent
Client view

A recurring invoice automatically generates and sends one-time invoices to a client on a set schedule, with the option to request payment authorization up front. Use it to bill repeat clients—such as for payroll or bookkeeping—without manual work each cycle.

Recurring invoices at a glance

A recurring invoice issues a one-time invoice for the same amount at specified intervals—useful when you provide the same service to the same client on a regular basis, such as payroll or bookkeeping. You can send a recurring invoice on its own or alongside a proposal , and you can also use it to split a payment into multiple installments.

For exact field defaults and schedule rules, see the recurring invoice field reference .

How recurring invoices work

In general, the recurring invoice workflow is:

The recurring invoice is created with a schedule and appears in your recurring invoice list , where you can see the schedule.
TaxDome reserves invoice numbers for the whole series starting from the latest available number. For example, if you create a series of 9 invoices and the latest issued invoice number is 10, TaxDome reserves numbers 11 through 19, and the next available number becomes 20.
Each time a one-time invoice is issued on schedule, it appears in your regular invoice list alongside your other one-time invoices.

Note

Recurring invoices are generated at 10:00 AM in your company’s timezone. If automatic payment is enabled, the charge is attempted at 10:05 AM.

Automatic vs manual payments

Your clients can pay each invoice in the series automatically or manually, depending on how you set up the recurring invoice:

Automatic payments — after a contact with signing authority signs the invoice, the client’s card is charged automatically on the schedule, a one-time invoice is issued along with each successful payment, and clients can review the schedule in the client portal.
Manual payments — clients don’t need to sign the invoice; one-time invoices are issued on a schedule that doesn’t depend on payment, and clients can’t review the schedule in the portal, so these look like standard one-time invoices to them.

Note

One-time invoices cannot be converted into recurring invoices. To set up recurring billing, create a new recurring invoice .
A recurring invoice cannot be added to a proposal that has already been sent. To use both together, include the recurring invoice when creating the proposal .

If your clients pay a fixed retainer upfront instead, consider Prepayment & deposit —clients fund their account in advance, and the resulting credit is applied to invoices as they’re issued.

Once a recurring invoice is sent, you can track its status and balance, or make changes to the schedule, from the recurring invoice list .

Where to find the recurring invoice once it’s sent

Once the recurring invoice is created, you can access it from Billing > Recurring invoices from the left menu bar. From here, you can:

View the status of the recurring invoice (whether it was accepted, paid on time, etc.)
Find out the balance of an active invoice
Make changes to the recurring process, e.g., change the number of recurrences, the date, the total and the number of the planned invoice

Client view

When you send a recurring invoice, the client receives a notification via email, mobile app, and client portal . They review the conditions and pay the invoice. If you select the automatic payment option when creating the invoice, the client only needs to specify their payment method once, for all future payments.

Depending on your payment methods selected, clients can pay using:

Credit card

Clients enter card number, expiration date, security code, and billing address
May require 3D Secure verification depending on the bank
Payment processes immediately
Payment details are saved automatically when clients are logged into the client portal
Clients can use Link to save payment details for one-click payments across multiple sites

Bank debit (ACH)

Clients select their bank and authorize the connection via online banking, bank account verification is completed immediately
Payment takes some time to be completed—from a couple of hours up to a few days (status for such payments shows as In progress)
Payment details are saved automatically when clients are logged into the client portal
Clients can use Link to save payment details for one-click payments across multiple sites

Apple Pay

Available in Safari on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and in Chrome on Mac
Clients tap the Apple Pay button and confirm with Face ID, Touch ID, or device password
Only available with TaxDome Payments

Google Pay