invoiceninja/docs/recurring_invoices.rst

Recurring Invoices
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As a busy freelancer, you work for a variety of clients. Some jobs are one-off, but others are ongoing, whether on a weekly, monthly or other basis. Invoice Ninja’s Recurring Invoice feature automatically creates invoices for ongoing jobs, and sends the current invoice to the client on a regular, pre-defined basis. For each recurring job, you only need to set up the procedure once. Here’s how it works.

List Recurring Invoices
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To view the Recurring Invoices list page, go to the Invoices tab on the main taskbar and click to open the drop-down menu. Select Recurring Invoices to open the Recurring Invoices list page.

Overview
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The recurring invoices list provides a display of the information and settings for all recurring invoices. It is not a list of the actual invoices as they are sent. Invoices sent by the recurring invoices feature are recorded as regular numbered invoices in the Invoices list page.

Here is a description of the columns in the recurring invoices list, as displayed in the main header bar of the recurring invoices table, from left to right:

- **Frequency**: How often the client is billed with this invoice, ie. Weekly, monthly, etc.
- **Client**: The client name
- **Start Date**: The date the recurring invoice first began
- **End Date**: The date the recurring invoice is due to stop
- **Invoice Total**: The amount due
- **Action**: Hover your mouse over the Action area of the relevant recurring invoice entry and a gray Select button will appear. Click on the arrow at the right side of the button to open a drop-down list. The drop-down list presents a range of possible actions for you to choose from:

 - **Edit Invoice**: Edit the recurring invoice information on the Edit Invoice page.
 - **Archive Recurring**: Invoice Click here to archive the recurring invoice. It will be archived and removed from the Recurring Invoices list page.
 - **Delete Recurring**: Invoice Click here to delete the recurring invoice. It will be deleted and removed from the Recurring Invoices list page.

You can create a new recurring invoice directly from the Recurring Invoices list page by clicking on the blue New Recurring Invoice + button located at the top right side of the page. The Recurring Invoices / Create page will open.

Filter
^^^^^^

To filter the Recurring Invoices list, enter the filter data in the Filter field, situated at the top right of the page, to the left of the blue New Recurring Invoice + button. Recurring invoices can be filtered according to Frequency or Client name.  Enter the data or parts of the data, and the filter function will automatically locate and present the relevant entries.

Archiving/Deleting
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

To archive or delete a recurring invoice, hover over the Action area of the recurring invoice entry row, and open the Action drop-down list. Select Archive recurring invoice or Delete recurring invoice from the list. The Recurring Invoices table will automatically refresh, and archived or deleted recurring invoices will no longer appear in the list.
You can also archive or delete one or more recurring invoice via the gray Archive button that appears at the top left side of the Recurring Invoices list page. To archive or delete recurring invoices, check the relevant recurring invoices in the check boxes that appear in the far left column next to the Frequency field. The number of recurring invoices selected for archiving/deleting will automatically update and show on the Archive button. Then click on the Archive button, open the drop-down list and select the desired action.

Want to view archived or deleted recurring invoices? Check the box marked Show archived/deleted invoices, situated to the right of the Archive button. The table will automatically refresh, and will now feature the full list of recurring invoices, including current, archived and deleted recurring invoices, with the status of archived or deleted recurring invoices displayed in the Action column.

- **Deleted recurring invoices** are displayed with a red Deleted button. To restore deleted recurring invoices, hover on the red Deleted button. A gray Select button will appear. Click on the Select arrow, and select Restore recurring invoice in the drop-down list.
- **Archived recurring invoices** are displayed with an orange Archived button. To restore or delete the archived recurring invoice, hover on the orange Archived button. A gray Select button will appear. Click on the Select arrow, and choose Restore recurring invoice from the drop-down list. To delete an archived recurring invoice, select Delete recurring invoice from the drop-down list of the Select button.

.. TIP:: The Recurring Invoices page is rich in clickable links, providing you with a shortcut to relevant pages you may wish to view. For example, all client names are clickable, taking you directly to the specific client summary page. In addition, the Frequency data is clickable, and will take you to the specific Recurring invoice page where you can edit the frequency value or any other information for this recurring invoice.

Create Recurring Invoice
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When you create a recurring invoice, you are creating a pre-defined frequency for invoicing a particular job and client. The recurring invoice entry as featured in the Recurring Invoices list is not the actual invoice sent. Once an invoice of a recurring invoice is created, it will appear as a regular numbered invoice in the Invoices list page.

Now, we’ll explore how to set up a recurring invoice.

**Let’s Begin**

To create a recurring invoice, you'll first need to complete the data fields in the top section of the Recurring Invoice / Create page. Let's go over the fields to get a better understanding:

- **Client**: Click on the arrow at the right end of the Client field. Select the relevant client from the client list. TIP: You can create a new client while creating a new recurring invoice. Simply click on the Create new client link, situated below the Client field on the Recurring Invoices / Create page. A pop-up window will open, enabling you to complete the new client’s details. Then continue creating the recurring invoice for this new client.
- **How Often**: Select the frequency the invoice will be sent to the client. Click on the arrow at the right end of the How Often field to open the drop-down list of frequency options.
- **Start Date**: The date the recurring invoice begins
- **End Date**: The date the recurring invoice is due to stop
- **Auto-Bill**: Check the Enable box if you want the system to send the invoice automatically at the selected frequency. TIP: The Auto-Bill feature is currently only available if you use Stripe.com as your payment gateway.
- **PO #**: The purchase order number. Enter the purchase order number for easy reference.
- **Discount**: If you wish to apply a discount to the invoice, you can choose one of two methods: a monetary amount, or a percentage of the total amount due. To find out more about applying discounts to recurring invoices, refer to section