Create recurring transactions in QuickBooks Online

QuickBooksHelp · ‎March 12, 2019

Learn how to create templates for recurring transactions in QuickBooks Online.

In QuickBooks Online you can create templates for recurring transactions, like recurring expenses. You can do this for any transaction except bill payments, customer payments, and time activities. We'll show you how to set up and make the most of recurring templates.

Create a recurring template from scratch

Here's how you can create a new template from scratch:

Go to Settings ⚙.
Select Recurring transactions.
Select New.
Select the type of transaction to create, and then select OK.
Enter a Template name.
Select a Type: Scheduled, Unscheduled, or Reminder.

What type should I pick?

Type	What it does	How you control it	What you use it for
Scheduled	Creates a series of transactions according to the schedule you set. If you choose to send them by email once created, they are sent automatically.	You can choose to be notified when the transactions occur. Either way, they're recorded without any extra work from you.	Use for transactions with a fixed schedule and amounts that don't change, such as rent payments, loan payments, and depreciation. Note: Invoices you create by a scheduled template are finalised when they're created.
Reminder	Creates a schedule to remind you to create transactions. These transactions aren't sent until you decide to create and send them. Reminders can be found on the Dashboard in Tasks. Select Action and then select View Reminders.	You can select a reminder task then select Action to review, edit or create it.	Use for transactions with a fixed schedule that need to be edited before they're created, such as utility bills. Note: Invoices you create by a reminder template are first saved as draft invoices. You can finalise them once you've reviewed them.
Unscheduled	Saved with partial or complete data and without a schedule. Nothing happens to this type of template until you choose to use it.	Go to Settings ⚙. Select Recurring transactions. Choose the template, then in the Action column ▼ dropdown menu select Use to use the template as a starting point for a new transaction.	Transactions with a lot of detail that you don't want to retype but aren't needed on any set schedule. One example is complicated invoices that need to go to different customers. Note: Invoices you create by an unscheduled template will first be created as draft invoices. You can save them as drafts to finalise them once you've reviewed them.

If you create a Scheduled or Reminder type of recurring template and:

You create an Invoice template, specify it should include unbilled charges and automatically send emails.
You use Merchant Services, determine if your customer can pay you online. To do this, select/clear the checkboxes for Credit Card and Bank Transfer in the Online Payment section.

Complete the fields and select Save template.

Note:

When you're creating a Scheduled or Reminder template for an invoice, specify that it should include unbilled charges and automatically send emails.

Make any transaction a base template for a recurring transaction

To make any transaction a base template for a recurring transaction, start from an existing transaction. Select Make recurring to create a template (or Enable Recurring Payments).

Duplicate an existing template

Create templates more quickly by duplicating existing templates.

Go to Settings ⚙.
Select Recurring transactions.
Choose the template, then in the Action column ▼ dropdown menu select Duplicate. All settings except the title will be in the duplicate copy.

Edit a recurring template

For details on how to edit a recurring template, check out Edit a recurring template.

When you edit a template it impacts all the future recurring transactions using that template.

How to change the service date on transactions

Recurring transaction templates don't automatically show the service date field on transactions. You'll need to find each transaction and manually enter the correct service date. Here’s how:

Go to Business overview and select Reports (Take me there).
Search for and run the Recent Automatic Transactions report.
Set the report dates.
Select Run report.
Select the individual transaction to display it.
Manually update the Service Date field to the date the service was actually performed.
Select Save and close.

Edit a transaction coming from a template

If you edit a transaction coming from a template, you'll get a message. QuickBooks tells you if the changes affect any template that you use. You have a few options:

Select Update for all to save the changes for all relevant templates.
Select One time only to save the changes only for the transaction for which you made the change.