Recurring Invoices

Automate your billing process and ensure timely payments with LeapCount's Recurring Invoices feature. This allows you to set up invoice templates that automatically generate and send invoices to your customers on a predefined schedule.

Creating a Recurring Invoice Profile

To use recurring invoices, you first create a "Recurring Invoice Profile" or template. This profile stores all the necessary details for the invoices that will be auto-generated:

Customer: Select the customer who will be billed. Their details (name, address, email) will be automatically used. You can find more information on setting up customers in the Customers / Suppliers guide.
Items and Pricing: Add the specific products or services to be invoiced, along with their quantities and prices. These will be consistent for each generated invoice unless the profile is updated. Refer to Managing Items for details on item setup.
Taxes: Applicable taxes are set within the profile.
Payment Terms: Define the payment terms that will appear on each invoice.

Once the profile is set up with these core details, you define the schedule for its recurrence.

Recurring Settings Explained

Here's a breakdown of the settings you can configure for your recurring invoice schedule, using an example for clarity:

Frequency

This determines the base period for invoice generation.

Example: Monthly (Other options might include Daily, Weekly, Yearly, etc.)

Interval

This specifies how often the invoice should be generated based on the chosen frequency.

Setting: Interval
Example Value: 1
Explanation: If Frequency is "Monthly" and Interval is "1", an invoice is generated every month. If Interval is "2", it's every two months. The label might be "Number of [frequency] units between invoices" (e.g., "Number of monthly units between invoices").

Start Date

This is the date on which the very first invoice of the recurring series will be generated.

Setting: Start Date
Example Value: May 24th, 2025
Explanation: The first invoice will be created and (typically) sent on this date. Subsequent invoices will follow based on the frequency and interval.

Ending the Recurrence

You have two main options to define when the recurring invoice series should stop:

Set End Date: This allows you to specify a calendar date after which no more invoices will be generated from this profile.
- Setting: End Date (often enabled by a checkbox like "Set End Date")
- Example Value: May 24th, 2026
- Explanation: Invoices will continue to generate according to the schedule up to, but not after, this date.
Limit Number of Invoices: This option stops the recurrence after a specific number of invoices have been generated.
- Setting: Maximum Invoices (often enabled by a checkbox like "Limit Number of Invoices")
- Example Value: 12
- Explanation: The recurring profile will become inactive after generating the 12th invoice.

You would typically choose either an End Date or a Maximum Number of Invoices for a recurring profile, not both. The system will prioritize one based on its configuration (e.g., whichever condition is met first).

Auto-Generation and Management

Once a recurring invoice profile is active and its start date is reached, LeapCount will automatically:

Generate a new invoice based on the profile details (customer, items, prices, taxes, payment terms) on each scheduled date.
The generated invoice typically follows the standard approval workflow or may be auto-approved based on company settings.
Once approved (either manually or automatically), the corresponding journal entries are created, impacting your General Ledger.
Depending on your settings, the finalized invoice may also be automatically emailed to the customer.

You can manage your recurring invoice profiles by:

Viewing a list of all active and inactive profiles.
Editing a profile to change future scheduled invoices (e.g., update pricing, items, or the schedule itself).
Deactivating or pausing a profile if you no longer wish for it to generate invoices.
Viewing a history of invoices generated by a specific profile.

Benefits of Recurring Invoices

Saves Time & Reduces Manual Work: Eliminates the repetitive task of creating and sending regular invoices.
Improves Cash Flow Consistency: Ensures timely and predictable billing, leading to more stable cash inflows.
Minimizes Errors: Reduces the chance of human error associated with manual data entry.
Enhances Professionalism & Customer Relations: Provides your clients with consistent, predictable, and professional billing.

Important Considerations

Data Snapshot: Similar to manually created invoices, the details on an auto-generated recurring invoice (like item prices or customer address) are based on the information in the recurring profile at the time of its setup or last update. If you update an item's price in your main item list, you'll need to also update it in any relevant recurring invoice profiles for future invoices to reflect that new price.
Inventory for Physical Products: If your recurring invoice includes physical products, the system will check for sufficient inventory at the time of each invoice generation, as per your company's inventory settings. The cost of goods sold will also be calculated based on your FIFO or Weighted Average Cost setting.