Periodic invoicing
How do I create periodic or recurring invoices in Billit?
What are periodic or recurring invoices?
When you send a customer an invoice every month (or for another period), you can pre-set a periodic invoice. Your customer will then automatically receive a monthly invoice (or for another pre-set period, until the end date you have entered). This means that you will no longer have to create and send that invoice every month. Periodic invoicing is mainly used for long-term rentals.
How do I create periodic invoices in Billit?
1. Go to ‘Income’ in Billit and click ‘Periodic invoicing’. Click add to create a new template, which will be used to send periodic invoices.
2. Set the start and end dates of the invoicing period in the ‘Start:’ and ‘End:’ fields. Select the invoicing frequency and choose how often the invoice should be sent by completing the ‘Every’ field. If you choose ‘Monthly’ as the frequency and enter ‘2’ under ‘Every’, your invoice will be sent every two months from the date you entered in the ‘Start:’ field. If you select ‘On request’ under frequency, the invoice will not be sent. Instead, the template will be saved to be sent at a time of your choice.
3. You use dynamic parameters in the invoice line. These parameters are completed on the invoice using the key in the table below.
|
Parameter
|
Meaning
|
|---|---|
| [start] | Invoice creation date |
| [start+1m] | Invoice creation date + 1 month |
| [start-1d] | Invoice creation date -1 day |
| [start+1d] | Invoice creation date +1 day |
| [end] | Invoice creation date + once the set frequency |
| [end+1m] | Invoice creation date + once the set frequency + 1 month |
| [end+1m-1d] | Invoice creation date + once the set frequency + 1 month - 1 day |
| [previous] | Invoice creation date - once the set frequency |
| [previous+1d] | Invoice creation date - once the set frequency + 1 day |
In the example below, the start date under ‘Start:’ is 01/06/2020 and the end date under ‘End:’ is 01/08/2030. The frequency is set to every month. The parameters [START] - [END] are entered in the invoice line. This means that the invoice period starts on the date entered under ‘Start:’ and ends one month later (because the frequency is set to monthly). Monthly invoices will be sent on the same day of the month from the date entered under ‘Start:’ until the date that is entered under ‘End’. The start and end dates of the invoice period always appear in the invoice line.
4. You can also invoice for other periods by entering other dynamic parameters. Below are some examples that explain the various parameters.
- Example 1 : The date is 31/05/2020 under “Start:” and 31/07/2021 under “End:” The frequency is set to every month.
|
In the template
|
On the invoice
|
Explanation
|
|---|---|---|
| Period [previous+1d] - [start] | Period from 01/05/2020 to 31/05/2021 |
You want to invoice the past month on the last day of the month. The first invoice will be sent on 31/05/2020. The last invoice will be sent on 31/07/2021. |
- Example 2: The date is 31/05/2020 under “Start:” and 31/07/2021 under “End:” The frequency is set to every month.
|
In the template
|
On the invoice
|
Explanation
|
|---|---|---|
| Period [start] - [end] |
Period from 31/05/2020 to 30/06/2020 |
The invoices are sent every month on the last day of the month for the period starting on the last day of the month until the last day of the following month. The first invoice will be sent on 31/05/2020, the last one on 31/07/2021. |
- Example 3: The date is 01/06/2020 under “Start:” and 31/07/2021 under “End:” The frequency is set to every week.
|
In the template
|
On the invoice
|
Explanation
|
|---|---|---|
| Period [previous] - [start-1d] | Period from 25/05/2020 to 31/05/2020 |
The invoices will be sent on the Monday of every week cover the previous week. The first invoice will be sent on 01/06/2020, the last one on 26/07/2021 (this is the last Monday that falls within the period in which you want to send periodic invoices). |
5. After setting the invoicing dates and periods you can click:
- Save: The template will be saved. If you have ticked ‘Auto send to customer’, the first invoice will be sent on the start date that you have set. If not, a draft invoice will be added to the list with income until you save it by ticking the checkbox.
- Save and go back : The template will be saved. If you have ticked ‘Auto send to customer’, the first invoice will be sent on the start date that you set. If not, a draft invoice will be added to the list with income until you save it by ticking the checkbox. You then go back to the overview of your periodic invoices.
- Save and new : The template will be saved. If you have ticked ‘Auto send to customer’, the first invoice will be sent on the start date that you set. If not, a draft invoice will be added to the list with income until you save it by ticking the checkbox. You are then directed to an empty template which you can use to create a new periodic invoice.
6. You can also choose whether to attach a file to your invoice and you can check a history of all the actions in the template.