Are you facing problems while paying up several vendors and suppliers on a regular basis? Or are you finding it a problem to follow up with payment due dates of customers? Most of the businesses these days face a similar situation.

You do not need to worry, since QuickBooks Recurring Invoice is the best solution for this. Setting up recurring bills can be a crucial game changer for a customer who needs to invoice every month or week.

Not to mention, it boosts business efficiency and limits manual labor. You can also set up QuickBooks Autopay for the purpose of recurring invoices and putting an end to the manual payment of vendors every time.

Let us begin by understanding how to set up this option in QuickBooks Online and allow Autopay so your clients can pay the bills automatically. But before ahead, let us comprehend why recurring invoices are so crucial.

Why Recurring Invoices in QuickBooks Online are important?

In case you are running a business, it is quite possible that you need to generate invoices daily. Not to mention, the procedure is lengthy, since it comprises:

Manually preparing the invoice.
Sending them via email.
Reminding the customers about the payment.

The entire procedure is time-consuming and handling the process properly is quite difficult. In such a scenario, recurring invoices in QuickBooks Online can help, by automating the procedure and removing the need to execute these slow tasks over and over.

As a result, a log of time is saved to focus on other crucial tasks, thanks to QuickBooks Online. Here is a list of other benefits of accessing this QuickBooks Autopay feature:

Remove the hassle of paying suppliers manually every time.
Saves a lot of time.
Tracks the payment and any related concerns.
Offers an anticipated income stream.
Automates the method of billing customers for products and services.
Depending on the given schedule, the invoice is generated automatically.
The risk of errors is reduced.
Minimizes administrative expenses.

What are the Scenarios Where Recurring QuickBooks Invoices are very helpful?

Here is a list of the scenarios where the recurring QuickBooks invoice feature has been beneficial for some organizations and business models:

Membership Fees: Recurring invoices streamline the billing process for clubs, gyms, or even association memberships.
Rental Properties: Property managers and landlords can access recurring invoices to bill tenants for rental. It can also be set up for expenditures like maintenance costs.
Subscription-based Services: Several SaaS organizations and streaming platforms access this option to bill their clients who have their subscriptions.
Monthly Retainers: Service-based businesses such as attorneys, consulting firms, and marketing firms often work with customers on successful agreements. For monthly retainers, recurring invoice automates the entire process of billing.

Why should you Activate the QuickBooks Autopay option?

One of the key reasons for using recurring invoices in QuickBooks Online is Autopay. Since it erased the requirement for manual payments, customers do not use up much time. Add to it, your company can monitor income and expenses with ease, along with any concerning issues related to the payments.

QuickBooks Autopay process also assists in handling the payment system since it takes away money from the bank account directly, based on your set instructions.

What are the Prime Features of Recurring Invoices in QuickBooks?

Here is a list of the key features that you should be aware of prior to learning about the steps to set up recurring invoices in QuickBooks:

1. Kinds of Schedules in Recurring Invoices

Recurring invoices can be set up in the following three ways stated below:

Reminder: Such invoices send notifications to clients prompting them of their future payments.
Scheduled: In this, invoices are issued automatically on a prefixed schedule, for instance monthly, weekly, or annually. These are perfect for businesses with anticipated billing cycles.
Unscheduled: Prepared manually, such invoices can be saved for future use as a recurring template.

2. QuickBooks Recurring Invoices Templates options

The different options in QuickBooks Recurring Invoices templates include:

Recurring Schedule: It is used to state the recurrence schedule for invoices where users can mention the frequency, beginning date, and end date, along with any other exceptions for the payments.
Payment Methods: QuickBooks Online supports several payment methods comprising bank transfers, credit and debit cards, and online payment platforms. It is possible to offer your clients several payment options and meet their preferences.
Autopay: As stated above, when this is enabled, it permits your customers to automatically pay the bills.

How to Set up Recurring Invoices in QuickBooks Online with Autopay?

Once you have understood the options present in QuickBooks invoicing to set up recurring payments, now you can understand the steps for it:

Navigate to New in the QuickBooks dashboard and then press Invoice
In case you are accessing the old QuickBooks Invoices layout, then press the button Make Recurring, present in the toolbar. The toolbar is present at the bottom of the screen.
After you have pressed it, the Recurring Invoice screen will appear.
As an alternative option, if you are accessing the New Layout for QuickBooks Online invoicing, press the Gear/Manage icon button present in the toolbar on top of the invoice. A screen on the right side of the screen will appear.
Now press the button that says, Automation in the pane.
Choose the Recurring Invoice tab in order to open the same screen.
Now, enter the important information like customer name, template name, interval, schedule type, product details, service date, options, etc.
To allow autopay, you will require a QuickBooks Payment Account, it can be set up with the help of the Activate Online Payments option present there.
In case you have a QuickBooks Payment Account, then you can autopay easily. For that you need to select the payment methods you wish to acknowledge on such invoices. Autopay works both for ACH and card transactions.
Once everything is set, choose Save Template.

How to Help Customers Allow QuickBooks Autopay for Recurring Invoices?

Here are the steps to help customers enable QuickBooks Autopay for recurring invoices:

When your clients get their invoices through email, autopay can be set up. For that, they need to choose the option, Review and Pay.
On the next screen, allow Turn on Monthly autopay with the date stated by the company.
Now, press the option, Autopay USD xxx every month. This can be canceled anytime by the customer.

How to Edit QuickBooks Online Recurring Invoices?

After you have prepared QuickBooks recurring invoices, it is possible to access them if some charges are required. Here are the steps to do so:

Step 1: Handling Individual QuickBooks Invoices

Here are the steps to Handle Individual QuickBooks Invoices:

Navigate to the Invoice Page by pressing the Invoicing option and then click on Invoice.
All the recurring invoices will have a separate symbol beside them.
Choose any invoice to check the information on the invoice activity or change the invoice.
You can view the Autopay schedule or status for such invoices which are fixed for automatic payment.

Step 2: Check the status of Check the Status of Autopay of your Customer

Here are the steps to check the status of Autopay of your Customer:

Navigate to the Sales option and then press on Invoices.
Find the invoice for which you want to check the status of the payment.
Press the Status of that particular invoice in order to open the activity tracker panel.
Check the status under the invoice activity session. This particular option is only present when the customer has set up autopay.

Step 3: Handle Your QuickBooks Recurring Payments Series

Here are the steps to handle your QuickBooks Recurring Payment series:

Choose Settings and then click Recurring Transactions.
Select the invoice series you wish to edit.
Then choose Edit.

How to CC QuickBooks Online Recurring Invoice to Yourself Automatically?

As a safety precaution, you can allow the settings to email you a copy of all the sent invoices into the particular QuickBooks Online automatically. This procedure can assist you to monitor all the invoices. Not to mention, it is a smooth way to authenticate that invoices are sent to your vendors/customers correctly.

In order to set up this option, follow the steps below:

Choose the Gear icon present on the QuickBooks dashboard.
Press on Account and Settings.
Choose Sales.
Press Messages on the template and allow Email me a copy.

How to Change a Present QuickBooks Invoice into a Recurring Invoice?

In case you have a QuickBooks Invoice for one of your clients, you can change it into a recurring invoice. This is helpful when they want to take your services or products for a longer time.

Here are the steps to change an existing QuickBooks invoice into a recurring invoice:

Go to the Invoice or Sales tab present on the dashboard.
Locate the present invoice that you wish to alter into a recurring invoice.
Search for an option Market Make Recurring.
Once you have clicked the Make Recurring button, you will be notified to complete all the required information for QuickBooks recurring payments. Such information includes:

Schedule
Payment frequency,
Start date
End date
You need to save the template after it is filled.

Navigate back to the list of invoices to authenticate the changes done. Now the changed invoice will include a recurring sign close to the invoice number.

How to Verify QuickBooks Recurring Invoices were prepared?

There are several ways through which you can authenticate if a QuickBooks Online recurring invoice has been generated or not.

Here is a list of some of the ways to make sure that the invoices were generated.

Check Your Inbox

The first method will work if the option to CC the invoices yourself automatically is active. You will get a copy of the invoice after it is sent to your respective customers.

Check Your Recurring Transactions list.

Go to the Reports section from the left navigation bar in your QuickBooks Online.
Press on the option, Find Report by Name dropdown menu.
Choose the option, Recurring Template List report.
This report offers an all-inclusive list of all the recurring templates, like invoices.
Check this list to verify the recurring invoices were created and scheduled in the right manner.

Check the Customer Invoice and Page.

Use the Customers section in your QuickBooks Online.
Find the customer related to the recurring invoice you wish to confirm.
In the Status column, you will see Open (Sent) for invoices that have been issued and sent to the customer.
Press on the invoice to check the details, like the timestamp or last delivery that shows when the particular invoice was sent.

What are the Common Problems Experienced during QuickBooks Recurring Invoices?

You may experience some problems when setting up a recurring payment option in QuickBooks Online invoicing. You may experience some problems when setting up a recurring payment option in QuickBooks Online invoicing.

Here is a detailed list of some of the most common problems you may experience and their effective solutions:

Problem: Accidentally Erasing vital information in the Invoice like Customer Details.

Solution: Change the QuickBooks recurring invoice template to add any missing information.

Problem: Fail to Specify the right Recurrence Start/end Dates or Frequency.

Solution: Check the recurring invoice settings and update the dates or recurrence frequency as required.

Problem: Administering Email Delivery settings that may Hamper the Procedure of Invoices being Delivered to Customers.

Solution: Check the email delivery settings in QuickBooks Online invoicing and authenticate if you have allowed the Automatically Send Emails option.

Problem: Fail to Configure QuickBooks Autopay settings Correctly.

Solution: Use the autopay settings to make sure the right payment methods.

Problem: Lacking information for Failed Autopay Transactions

Solution: Ensure you have allowed notifications for QuickBooks autopay transactions to get alerts quickly.

What are the Best Practices to Benefit from QuickBooks Recurring Invoices and Autopay?

Some of the established methods that can assist you in leveraging QuickBooks Online recurring invoices include:

Check the details in the invoice twice prior to enabling recurring invoices, comprising billing terms and customer details.
Check the templates on a daily basis to show any alterations in services, prices, or terms.
Test the autopay functionality of QuickBooks with a sample invoice to make sure it is set up in the right manner so that the payments are processed with ease.
Track autopay transactions to address any kind of failed payments.
Inform customers about the advantages of QuickBooks autopay to inspire them to register in this process.
Include strong security measures to restrict data breaches.

What are the limitations of QuickBooks Online Recurring Invoices?

Here is the list of the information of recurring invoices in QuickBooks Online:

Restricted Functionality: Even though the setup is hassle-free, they do not have enhanced editing features like adding one-time fees, proration, etc.
Mixed Transactions: Recurring invoices are added with unrelated transactions like checks, bills, and general journal entries in QuickBooks. This makes it difficult to view only recurring invoices.
Payment Processing: Recurring invoices are registered as Sales Receipts only. Consequently, this feature restricts the flexibility to process manual payments, if required.
Handling Invoices: As unpaid and paid invoices are shared between separate locations, it becomes hard to manage them.

Final Words

Recurring invoices from QuickBooks simplifies things for everyone, vendors, customers, and companies alike. Consequently, integrating this feature might streamline your company’s processes. We hope that following the instructions in this blog will enable you to successfully set up automatic payment and create a recurring invoice. Furthermore, we can guarantee that you can make this approach sustainable if you adhere to best practices.

Still, if you face any problem while creating recurring invoices in QuickBooks Online, talk to our team of Dancing Numbers. Our experts will assist you in recurring invoicing in QuickBooks Online.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Recurring Invoice?

When a client buys the same products or services on a frequent basis and the same invoice is being sent again and again, it is called Recurring Invoice. Generally, it is monthly or weekly, based on how frequently they are ordered.

What are the Additional Benefits of QuickBooks Autopay?

Here is a list of the additional benefits of QuickBooks autopay:

On-time payments
Enhanced Cash Flow Management.
Convenience
Less Administrative Burden
Less risk of defaults or payment delays.

How to Set up Recurring Invoices in QuickBooks Online?