Hello there Aksinia,
Staying on top of your bookkeeping by entering your transactions early is a great idea. There are a few ways that you could do this using QuickBooks Online to make your life a little easier. Let me give you a hand.
Your first option is to simply enter the Invoices using the + New button and specify the Invoice date and Due date as the date in the future. Hit Save and close when you've finished so that the Invoice isn't sent to the customer early. When you're ready to send the Invoice to the customer all you'll need to do is locate it from the Sales menu and hit Save and send.
There's another option however, that I think might be useful for you if you're using QuickBooks Online Essentials or Plus. While you're working on an Invoice you should see the option to Make recurring from the bottom. You can also create recurring transactions by accessing the Gear icon and then choosing Recurring transactions from the Lists column. Almost any transaction can be made Recurring which essentially means that you can set things up in QuickBooks so that invoices or other transactions that you create regularly will be created automatically.
You'll have the option to choose between a Scheduled, Reminer, or Unscheduled recurring transaction. Scheduled is the right choice if you want to have your transactions created automatically on a set schedule. You can also opt to have them sent via email automatically once created. A Reminder prompts you with a series of transactions according to a schedule you set. You'll have to decide to create and send them once you've received the reminder. An Unscheduled transaction is essentially created with some or all the necessary data but without a schedule. The template will only be used if you choose to use it. It's useful if you have transactions that you enter regularly but that don't follow a set schedule or that go to different customers.
I think this feature might be a great option for your business as it'll allow you to enter the necessary Invoice details ahead of time and have them set up to automatically send or automatically create on the date they need to be sent. This way you won't have to spend the time each month going through and sending or creating transactions if you don't want to. Please check out the article below and the additional articles linked at the bottom of this one for all the information you'll need on our Recurring transactions feature:
If you're wondering whether or not this is good practice, I'd recommend reaching out to an accounting professional to learn more about that. They'll be able to give you some advice on whether or not you should create your transactions in advance of when they need to be sent. You can invite your accountant to QuickBooks or locate a new accountant through the My Accountant tab. We have a database of QuickBooks-certified ProAdvisors that can be found from the Find a pro to help button.
Let me know if you have more questions. I'm happy to give you a hand. Have a great day!
