Recurring invoices: Overview
TaxDome allows you to have invoices automatically generated, request payment authorization from your clients, and get paid automatically at routine intervals. This way, it's easy to provide regular services to repeat clients. Learn all the basics of setting up recurring invoices on TaxDome.
Tip: Download the Setting up Automatic Regular Payments on TaxDome checklist to track your progress
Recurring invoices, explained
When you provide the same services to the same clients at specified intervals (e.g., payroll or bookkeeping), it can be useful to schedule their payments. With TaxDome, you can use recurring invoices. You can send them on their own or along with proposals. You can also use them to split a payment into multiple installments.
Recurring invoices issue one-time invoices for the same amount on a given schedule.
So, when you create a recurring invoice:
1. The recurring invoice is displayed on the Billing > Recurring invoices page, where you can see the schedule.
2. When you create a recurring invoice series, TaxDome reserves invoice numbers starting from the latest available. For example, if you create a series with 9 invoices and the latest issued invoice number is 10, the system will reserve numbers from 11 to 19. The next available number will then be 20.
3. Each time it issues a one-time invoice on a given date, it appears on the Billing > Invoices page in the one-time invoice list.
Your clients can pay each invoice automatically or manually, depending on how you set it up:
- Automatic payments (available only if Stripe is your default payment service provider):
- After a client signs the invoice, the client's card is charged automatically on a schedule.
- One-time invoices are issued along with successful payments.
- Clients can review the schedule in the client portal.
- Manual payments:
- Clients don't need to sign the invoice.
- One-time invoices are issued on a schedule that doesn't depend on payments.
- Clients can't review the schedule in the portal. For them, these look like standard one-time invoices.
Before you start
Keep in mind some essential things before creating your first recurring invoice:
1. For automatic payments, make sure Stripe is your default payment provider. Currently, we only support Stripe for automatic payments.
2. For cheaper transactions, allow your clients to pay via bank debit. To do so, turn on your preferred payment method in Stripe, then allow bank debits on TaxDome.
3. Before sending the recurring invoice with payment authorization, check the signatory authority in account settings. To make the recurring invoice active, only one contact needs to add payment details and accept it. So, make sure that signatory authority is disabled for the contacts that are not allowed to sign (e,g, children).
4. Optionally, customize your invoices' look by defining the color scheme of your invoices, selecting the layout and more.
Three questions to ask yourself when preparing a recurring invoice
Here are some important questions that you should ask yourself when preparing your recurring invoice to make the process go smoother:
1. How often do I want to receive payments and how many invoices should be sent within the recurring process? Then select the appropriate answer in recurrence settings.
2. Do I want my invoices to be paid automatically or do I just need them to be sent according to the schedule? Then select the appropriate payment authorization type.
3. How do I want to allow my clients to pay the invoices issued within the recurring process? Then select the appropriate payment method for them.
Where to find the recurring invoice once it's sent
Once the recurring invoice is created, you can access it from Billing > Recurring invoices from the left sidebar. From here, you can:
- View the status of the recurring invoice (whether it was accepted, paid on time, etc.)
- Find out the balance of an active invoice
- Make changes to the recurring process, e.g., change the number of recurrences, the date, the total and the number of the planned invoice
