Creating a Recurring Invoice Template

Recurring invoice templates are reusable configurations that automatically generate invoices on a defined schedule. Instead of manually creating the same invoice every week or month for a regular customer, you create a template once and AccuArk generates the invoices for you. This guide explains every field on the template form and how to create templates from scratch or from an existing invoice.

Permission Required

Creating and editing recurring invoice templates requires the RECURRING_MANAGE permission. Users with only RECURRING_VIEW can see existing templates but cannot create or modify them. Super Admins and Location Admins have this permission by default.

How to Create a Template

There are two ways to create a recurring invoice template:

Method 1: From the Invoice Form

While viewing a saved invoice in the invoice form, click the menu and select Create Recurring Template. This copies the invoice's customer, line items, shipping, discount, notes, and terms into a new template. You then configure the frequency and schedule. This is the fastest method when you already have a representative invoice.

Method 2: From the Recurring Invoices Screen

Navigate to Customers & Invoicing > Recurring Invoices to open the the Recurring Invoices screen management screen. Click the New button to open a blank template form where you configure all fields manually.

Template Form Fields

The the Template Details form form contains the following fields and controls:

Template Name (Required)

Enter a descriptive name that identifies the purpose and customer. Good examples include "Monthly Maintenance - ABC Corp" or "Weekly Supply Delivery - Smith Restaurant." The template name appears in the management grid and in generation logs, so a clear name makes it easy to locate and identify templates later.

Customer

Enter the customer ID in the text field and click the Lookup button to validate the ID and populate the customer name. The lookup queries the clients table and displays the customer's name next to the ID field. If the customer ID is not found, the label shows "(not found)." Every generated invoice will be assigned to this customer.

Frequency

Select how often invoices should be generated from the frequency dropdown. The available options are:

• Weekly — generates every 7 days
• Bi-Weekly — generates every 14 days
• Monthly — generates once per calendar month (default)
• Quarterly — generates every 3 months
• Semi-Annual — generates every 6 months
• Annual — generates once per year
• Custom — generates at a user-defined interval in days

The frequency defaults to Monthly when creating a new template.

Custom Interval

When Custom is selected as the frequency, a numeric input field is enabled where you enter the number of days between each invoice generation. For example, entering 10 means a new invoice is generated every 10 days. The minimum value is 1 day. This field is disabled for all other frequency options.

Start Date

The start date determines when the first invoice should be generated. It defaults to today's date. For a new template, the Next Generation Date is set equal to the start date, which means the first invoice will be generated on or after this date when the auto-generation process runs.

End Date

Check the Has End Date checkbox to enable the end date picker. When an end date is set, the template will automatically stop generating invoices once the next generation date exceeds the end date. If the checkbox is unchecked, the template generates invoices indefinitely until it is manually deactivated.

For seasonal services, set the end date to the last day of the season. For open-ended contracts, leave the end date unchecked and deactivate the template manually when the contract ends.

Shipping and Discount Amounts

Enter fixed shipping and discount amounts that will be applied to every generated invoice. These values are stored as decimals on the template and copied directly to each new invoice. If shipping or discount amounts vary between invoices, set these to zero on the template and adjust individual invoices after they are generated.

Notes and Terms

Free-text fields for invoice notes and payment terms. The content entered here is carried to every generated invoice. Use notes for standard messages like "Thank you for your continued business" and terms for payment conditions like "Net 30" or "Due on receipt."

Auto-Email

Check the Auto-Email checkbox to automatically email each generated invoice to the customer. When enabled, two additional fields become active:

• Auto-Email Subject — the email subject line. Supports the placeholders {InvoiceId}, {CustomerName}, and {Total}.
• Auto-Email Body — the email body text. Supports the same placeholders: {InvoiceId}, {CustomerName}, and {Total}.

Placeholders are replaced with actual values when the email is sent. For example, a subject of "Invoice #{InvoiceId} for {CustomerName}" becomes "Invoice #5042 for ABC Corp" when invoice 5042 is generated for that customer.

Auto-emailing requires that the customer has a valid email address on file and that the location's email settings are configured and enabled. If either condition is not met, the invoice is still generated but the email is skipped, and the email status is logged as "no_email_on_file" or "email_not_configured."

Items

Line items are stored as a JSON array in the template. When creating a template from an existing invoice, the items are automatically populated from the invoice's line items. Each item entry includes the inventory item ID, item name, quantity, and unit price. The items JSON is parsed during generation to create the corresponding invoice line items.

Saving the Template

Click Save to create the template. The form validates that a template name is provided and that the customer ID is a valid positive number. If the frequency is set to Custom, the custom interval must be at least 1 day. Once saved, the template record is created in the recurring_invoice_templates table and appears in the management grid on the Recurring Invoices screen.

For new templates, the Next Generation Date is set to the start date, and the CreatedByUserId is recorded from the current session. The template is created in an active state by default.

What to Read Next

• Managing Recurring Invoice Templates — View, edit, deactivate, and manually generate invoices from your templates.
• How Automatic Invoice Generation Works — Understand the startup process that checks for due templates and creates invoices.
• Viewing Recurring Invoice History — Track every invoice generated from your templates.