Subscriptions (Recurring Invoices)
Last updated
Last updated
Using the 'Subscriptions' app, you can create recurring invoices to your customers at regular intervals (e.g. monthly billing, membership, etc.). Create the same invoice every week, month, quarter or year and automatically deliver it to the customer. Date and serial number are filled automatically so that you no longer have to do anything manually.
'Subscriptions' is an app that first needs to be activated in BestInvoicing:
Navigate to the top right corner of the screen (email address) and select 'Apps and Integrations' in the menu.
Check the list of 'Apps and Integrations Related to Documents'.
Click the green button 'Activate' on the line mentioning 'Subscriptions'.
The yellow button 'Configure' does not need to be used, see Subscription Templates instead.
As soon as this document type is activated, it can be used immediately. A new line 'Subscriptions' will appear in the general BestInvoicing menu to the left.
To create a Subscription, click the green button '+ Create Subscription' at the top right. The structure is similar to that of a regular invoice in BestInvoicing.
This is what separates a regular invoice from a subscription. Here you determine according to which settings the invoices will be automatically sent.
Starting date: the date on which your first subscription invoice will be created. This date may also be in the past, but then your first upcoming invoice will only be created from the next occurring invoice date. Example: if on 07/06 (June 7th) you create a subscription that starts from 01/06 (June 1st), the first subscription invoice will only be created on the 01/07 (July 1st).
If you check the box 'Has end date', you'll also be able to set an end date.
Hour of creation: indicate the time on which the invoice should be created and sent.
Frequency: choose a specific interval -> weekly/monthly/every quarter/annually/every two years
Active: if you already want to create the subscription but don't want to start the invoicing cycle yet, uncheck this box. If you're only going to activate the subscription after your first invoice date has passed, an invoice will be created on the first upcoming invoice date.
Next invoice dates: an overview of the upcoming invoice dates, based on your settings.
Example of a created sequence, starting the first day of the month:
The further composition of subscription invoices are similar to the creation of a regular invoice in BestInvoicing. Please refer to the manual on creating an invoice for detailed information.
A subscription is usually created to invoice a continuous price/item for a long(er) period of time. If you change the price of article X in BestInvoicing and article X also appears in a subscription, the price of article X will be updated in your product list but not automatically in the subscription containing this article. This decision was made to allow that e.g. existing customers might be invoiced at price A for this product, while new customers would pay price B.
If you wish to update the price of this article accordingly in all of your current subscriptions, navigate to the product file and click 'Subscriptions' to the right.
Here you'll see in how many subscriptions this item is included. In order to update all subscriptions with the modified item price, click the yellow button 'Update subscriptions to current product price'.
Tags may be used in the free text fields that are components of a subscription (e.g. optional description of a product, text above product table, bottom text, ...). These can alter specific values in your document, depending on e.g. invoice date, possible end date, ...
A subscription offers additional tags for date notations. The tag %start% is for example converted to the invoice date, the tag %end% to the day preceding the next invoice date.
The list of available tags can be found behind the 'I Tags' button, to the right above the text fields.
At the end of every subscription page, two options appear:
The subscription module will create the invoice, but BestInvoicing will not automatically send it. Once the invoice has been created on the programmed date and time, it will appear with status 'Concept' on the subscriptions page and in the overview of your regular invoices. From thereon, you can choose to send it by email.
A new email window will open if you select this option. Here you may change the text of your email message, which will be sent along with the automatically created invoice. By default it uses the text that is also set for sending regular invoices by email.
Mind that the text you set and save here, will be the same for all future invoices in this subscription.
Click 'Add' to activate the subscription. When the invoicing date arrives, the invoice will automatically be sent and the invoice will also be displayed as 'sent' in this subscription overview.
The created subscriptions appear in your subscriptions overview.
The detail view of a subscription also offers a 'pause' button (top of window). This will stop future emails to be sent or invoices created within this subscription. You can easily reactivate it by pressing the button again. A new invoice will be created, from the first upcoming invoice date onwards.
In BestInvoicing, you can also use a template for subscriptions. Such templates may be used if you have some subscriptions containing the same products and descriptions, for different customers. This way, in case of price changes, you will only need to adjust the template; all subscriptions using this template will change accordingly.
Setting such template can be done as follows:
Navigate to the top right corner in BestInvoicing. Click your email address and open the menu.
Select 'Apps and Integrations', then 'Apps and Integrations Related to Documents'.
Click the yellow button 'Configure' next to the 'Subscriptions' app.
Click the green button (top right) 'Create Subscription' to create a new template.
If now you're going to create a new subscription (from the overview of your subscriptions), you'll be able to select a template. In the example below you'll see two choices: 'Create new subscription without template' or use template 'Membership'. The latter one already contains a monthly subscription of $25.
If now you add your customer information below, all other content of your subscription will be completed automatically (price, description, frequency, email message, ...) for an invoicing cycle to this specific customer. This way you can easily create frequently used subscriptions for multiple customers.
If you wish to change the price of this subscription, it suffices to change it on the template level. As soon as the price change is saved, it will automatically be applied to invoices created from the first upcoming invoicing date for this template, and it will apply to all customers linked to this template.
