A recurring invoice is a template. DigitalTenant uses it to create a normal invoice for your tenant on each scheduled date. Use it to bill rent, or any charge that repeats, without creating each invoice by hand.
Before you start
- Permissions: team members need the same Accounting payments permissions as for one-time invoices. The account owner can turn these on under Settings then User Roles.
- Have a tenant, property and unit ready. If the unit has a lease, the form fills in the rent, start date, frequency, end date and late fees for you.
- To collect online, the property needs a connected payout bank account. Otherwise choose Offline.
- Check that rent is not already being billed. If you created the lease with Yes, bill automatically, a rent template already exists on the Recurring Invoice tab. Creating a second one bills your tenant twice.
Templates a lease creates for you
On the Billing Info step of a new lease, you are asked whether to generate invoices from the lease:
- Yes, bill automatically creates the deposit and first rent invoices now, plus a recurring template for the rest of the rent. You also choose Online or Offline collection.
- No, I will bill manually creates nothing. You add invoices from Receivables when you need them.
A template made by a lease appears on the Recurring Invoice tab and works exactly like one you create yourself.
1. Open the form
Go to Accounting, then the Receivables card, open the Recurring Invoice tab and click Create New Invoice. You can also open any Create New Invoice button and choose Recurring Invoice in the schedule section.
2. Choose the recipient and payment collection
Pick the tenant under Select Tenant, then the Property and Unit. Choose Offline or Online payment.
3. Set the schedule
In the Invoice Type & Schedule section, click Recurring Invoice and fill in:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Start Date | The first billing date. It cannot be before today, unless the lease's first rent date is earlier. |
| End Date | Must be after the start date. Not needed if Repeat Forever is on. |
| Frequency | Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly. |
| Repeat Forever | Turn on to bill with no end date. Month-to-month leases turn this on for you. |
4. Add charges, late fees and a message
Add your charge lines, an optional late fee rule, a message, and any other amount or discount, the same way as on a one-time invoice. These are copied onto every invoice the template creates.
5. Click Send Invoice
If the lease already has recurring billing, a window lists what is Already scheduled and what You're adding.
- Click Go Back if this is the same charge. Nothing is created.
- Click Create Anyway only if it is a different charge, for example parking.
When it works, you see Recurring Invoice Created. Click View Recurring Invoices to see it in the list. Invoices are then created automatically on the schedule you set.
The Recurring Invoice tab
Cards at the top show Active Templates, Invoices Generated, Monthly Recurring and Due in Next 30 Days. Each template has a status: Not Started, Active, Cancelled or Completed.
The ⋯ menu on each row gives you:
- View: open the template's details.
- Edit: for templates that are not Cancelled or Completed.
- Archive / Unarchive.
- Cancel: stops all future invoices. Invoices already created are not affected.
- Delete: only for templates that are not Active. This is permanent.
On a computer, you can tick several rows to Archive, Unarchive or Delete them together.
The template details page
Click View on a template. It has three tabs:
- Overview: the next invoice date, the amount per invoice, how many invoices have been created, and how much you have collected. The Schedule section explains in plain words how the late fee works. You can also see the charges, the tenants, and the property's bank account and payment collection.
- Upcoming Invoices: what will be billed and when.
- Generated Invoices: invoices already created from this template.
If Payment Collection shows Online payment · blocked, the property's payout bank account is missing or not finished. Fix it under Accounting, then the Bank Accounts card.
Edit all invoices or just the next one
Click Edit and choose:
- All invoices in this series: changes the template. Every invoice created from the date shown onward uses the new details. Invoices already sent do not change.
- Next invoice only: a one-off change for that date. The template and later invoices stay the same.
Click Continue to Edit.
Editing all invoices
- The recipient and frequency cannot be changed.
- Under Schedule, choose Repeat forever or End on a date. The end date must be on or after the next invoice.
- You can change the charges, late fee, message, other amount and discount.
- Click Save to All Invoices.
Editing the next invoice only
- You can change the Due Date of this one invoice.
- You can change the charges, late fee, message, other amount and discount for this one invoice.
- Click Save Next Invoice Only.
To change an invoice that was already created, open it from the Generated Invoices tab and edit it like a one-time invoice.
Good to know
- The date your changes start from is shown in the banner at the top of the edit page.
- To change between online and offline payment for a series, cancel the template and create a new one.
- Check the rent label. A rent line filled in from a lease may show Other. Pick Monthly Rent if you prefer that label.
- Check percentage late fees. A percentage late fee from the lease may be filled in as dollars (5% shows as $5.00). Check the $ / % switch before you send.
- If your tenant was billed twice, cancel the extra template, then cancel or delete any duplicate invoices it created.
- No Edit button on the details page? The template is not Active. For a Not Started template, use Edit in the list's row menu. Cancelled and Completed templates cannot be edited, so create a new one.
- No Delete option? Active templates cannot be deleted. Cancel it first, then delete it.
- To edit or record a payment on a generated invoice, click View on its row first, then use the buttons on the invoice page.
- Looking for a quarterly template? The Frequency filter has no Quarterly option. Clear the filter and sort by Frequency, or use the search box.
- If Send Invoice does nothing, you may have reached your plan's limit. Check Settings then Subscription.
- Check the Upcoming Invoices tab after setting up a template to make sure the dates look right.
Need help?
Email us at support@digitaltenant.com, or use the Help button in the bottom-right corner of your dashboard.