Create recurring invoices and other transactions in QuickBooks Online

Learn how to create templates for recurring transactions in QuickBooks Online Essentials, Plus, and Advanced.

In QuickBooks Online, you can create templates for recurring invoices, estimates, and other ‌transactions like recurring expenses. You can’t create recurring bill payments or time activities.

Note: You can automate credit card payments with a recurring sales receipt.

Prerequisites

These instructions apply to the new QuickBooks Online experience.

Create a new recurring transaction from scratch

Here's how you can create a new recurring transaction from scratch.

Follow this link to complete the steps in product

1. Select New.
2. Select the type of transaction to create, and then select OK.
3. Enter a Template name.
4. Select a Type: Scheduled, Reminder, or Unscheduled.
   1. Use Scheduled transactions when you want to send the transactions out automatically. Use for when schedule and payment amounts don’t change, such as rent payments, loan payments, and depreciation.
   2. Use Reminder when you want to schedule transactions, but send them manually. Use for transactions with a fixed schedule that need to be edited before they're created, such as utility bills.
   3. Use Unscheduled when you want to create transactions but not schedule them for any specific point. Use this when you’ve created a complicated transaction you don’t want to retype, but only don’t issue on any particular schedule. 
5. If you create a scheduled or reminder type of recurring template and you use Merchant Services, decide if your customer can pay you online. To do this, select or uncheck the checkboxes for Cards and Bank transfer in the Online Payment section.
6. If creating a Scheduled or Reminder invoice recurring transaction, verify if these invoices should include unbilled charges and automatically send emails.
7. Complete the fields and select Save template.

Note: We save each recurring transaction invoice as a draft. You need to review and finalize them yourself.

Use an unscheduled recurring transaction

You need to manually create each instance of an unscheduled recurring transaction, such as if you want to use it as a template.

Follow this link to complete the steps in product

1. For the template you want to use, in the Action column, select Use.
2. Fill out the rest of the transaction normally.
3. Select Save or Save and close.

Make an existing transaction recur

When you create or edit an invoice, receipt, bank deposit, credit memo, or credit statement, you can make it recurring.

• To make an invoice recur, select Manage ⚙, then select Scheduling. Turn on Make invoice recurring and fill out the details, then select Save template.
• To make a receipt, bank deposit, credit memo, or credit statement recur, select Make recurring.

Note: You can’t turn an existing estimate into a recurring estimate. Create a new recurring estimate from scratch, as described above.

Make an existing non invoice and estimate transaction to recurring

1. Open an existing transaction.
2. In the footer of the form, select Make recurring to create a template.
3. Complete the fields and select Save template.

Note: You can’t convert an existing estimate into a recurring estimate, but you can schedule a new recurring estimate transaction.

Make an existing invoice a recurring transaction

1. Create or open an existing invoice.
2. Select Manage ⚙, select Scheduling ▼ dropdown.
3. Turn on Make invoice recurring.
4. Fill out the details of the recurring invoice. 
5. Select Save template.

Copy a recurring transaction

Copy recurring transactions to quickly make new ones. This copies all settings other than the title.

1. Go to Settings .
2. In the Lists column, select Recurring transactions.
3. In the Action column, select Duplicate from the Edit ▼ dropdown.

Edit a recurring template

You can edit recurring templates for any changes in invoices, expenses, and other tasks you do regularly.

Related links

• Edit a recurring template in QuickBooks Online
• Set up a recurring sales receipt in QuickBooks Online