How to create a recurring invoice from a previous invoice
System
Posts: 412 admin
How to create a recurring invoice from a previous invoice
If you already created a single invoice and want to make it recurring, you don't need to create a whole new invoice! Here is how you can create a recurring schedule for an invoice that you have a...
0
Comments
Is there a way to set custom invoice codes/numbers on recurring invoices?
I'd want recurring invoice numbers to be sent as XYZ-2019-## but not sure how to get this done. Please help as I have a client will not pay an invoice marked as #1.
This is helpful. However, I forgot to select "End." Now that the recurring invoice has been created, "End" s grayed out on the menu and I cannot set an end date. It's very confusing to have the invoice keep coming up for a client that I don't work with.
Hi @jo2345 . Is the recurring invoice still sending? Is it possible that when you created it you set it up to send out once and then stop sending, so it the End button doesn't show up because it has already ended?
In the Recurring Invoices tab, which sub-tab does it appear under, Active or All recurring invoices?
Hi Alex and thanks for the response. I see that they're all under Drafts, including the one that is sent. So maybe I didn't set them up right at all!
Hey there @jo2345
Just curious if you got to the 4th and final step on the invoice verification page where you send the invoice to your client?
A lot of our users thing that attaching a customer to the invoice is enough to send the actual invoice since the customer has an email attached to it. However you need to actually set up a send method whether it be auto sending or manual. Let us know if this might be the case!
Hi @BarsinA Thanks for checking back. It's too bad there wasn't a tracking window that told me I had one more step to go. To be honest, I'm not sure if I did what you outlined (very clearly, btw--thank you!). I'm finding the whole setup confusing, There are now 5 drafts in my Recurring Drafts folder, and the system won't let me delete any of them! They all have the same name, so I can't tell which one was the one I wanted to use without going through every. single. one. Please please please ask Tech to let us delete unwanted Drafts!
Hey @jo2345! Ah, you aren't the first to request this. I don't have any detail on if this will be a feature in the future, but your feedback on this is appreciated!
Obviously, the team on these pages is thoughtful and customer-focused, but I’m gathering that something basic is missing among Wave UX. The ability to delete unwanted attempts isn’t usually considered a “feature,” but rather a fundamental of good UX design; one of the first things that gets included before launch.
(I hope there is a UX team! I don’t see UX job postings. It says on your site, “Our engineering team is fuelled by technical curiosity and empathy.” Empathy means UX excellence, and at the very least UX basics. But it’s not my experience so far, which is more one of should-I-quit-this-app-or-give-it-one-more-chance. The scanning quality alone is keeping me here for now.)
I don't see the "save" button... I created and manually paid the invoice yesterday 1/27/20. I completed the process as instructed above. I selected to have the invoice sent on the 1/27/21 ( the program I worked through the "get paid" section and clicked next... I then get prompted to "approve and start recurring invoice" there is no "save" button as indicated in your instructions.. it then proceeds to the invoice page where is then states " You have activated a recurring invoice - The first invoice will be generated on January 27th, 2021. The first invoice was already created and sent. that's why I'm setting it up for recurring... unlike my other invoices that I have set up for "recurring invoice" in my list of "all invoices" it does not have the notation under the invoice # it stating "recurring" Why ? i dont remember having this issue when I set up the other invoices to automatically recur. Whats the deal with this ??
Hi @Eldoradocasthi! If you are following the process then you will not see a 'Save' button, it will instead say 'approve and start recurring invoice' as you viewed. We can get this updated! If you sent the invoice before the recurring schedule was set up then it will not have a 'recurring' note on the invoices page. Any invoices that are sent going forward from the recurring schedule you set up will have the 'recurring' note.
Hi, I just created a recurring invoice from a previous invoice but the previous invoice number is not showing under recurring invoices even though the heading is there.
Hey @ralphgerbs It sounds like you have converted an invoice into a recurring invoice, however it has not yet generated a new recurring invoice. From what I gathered from your initial post, my hunch here is that the date that you have set as the recurring date, has not yet passed and so there is no invoice created. Can you take a look at the date and confirm if that could be the case?
@G_Boss316 Recurring invoices were designed for cases where the amount is always the same each time. If you need to create invoices with different amounts, then I would encourage you to create them as individual invoices for situations where the invoice would be slightly different. Alternatively, if you are using the recurring invoice feature because it is quicker than creating them manually, you might find the "Duplicate" option handy for when you are creating an invoice that is similar to one in the past.
@JordanD your hunch is right. I converted an invoice into a recurring one and the next date to issue is 20th March. I'm worried it will send with a new Invoice Number 1 rather than continue from the number of the invoice I converted.
@ralphgerbs After you create the recurring invoice (and the first invoice actually gets sent out) it will follow the number sequence that came from the original invoice you converted to recurring. In other words... no need to worry about it create a new number sequence for that particular invoice.
Thank you! It worked exactly as you explained.
Wavy
HI, Thanks for the great feature. Is there an option whereby I can import a batch of customers? I have the same amount of fees going to 50+ customers every month and I am hoping there is a way that I can import the existing customer list instead of manually creating 50+ recurring invoices? Thanks Jeff.
Hey there @JeffBen
We do have a couple options for importing your customers into Wave:
You can upload customers using our CSV customer uploader. Check out that link and see if this might benefit you! Another option which is my personal favourite is WAVE CONNECT.
Wave Connect allows you to upload or download transactional data, invoices, customer lists, etc, into a Google spreadsheet. Your excel files can be easily transferred into a Google Spreadsheet as well. See this image below of what Wave Connect looks like:
All you need to do is input the transactional information into a template that is generated through the add-on feature in Google sheets and it auto-populates right into your Wave account once you've validated the data.
Once you've imported your 50 customers you should be able to create a recurring invoice and duplicate it then just change your customer!
Give this a try and let us know if this works for you!
A great solution, thank you! I managed to get to this point on my own.
I was hoping that I would not have to manually change the customer field, But this is a lot better than manually doing the entire process.
Thanks! Jeff.
did not work for me
existing invoice converting in recurring invoice does not take in account the payments made on the original invoice
Hey @landinamerica! Thanks for reaching out here. Can you give us a little more context around what challenge you're seeing, and what your ideal workflow would be? Would love to discuss this a little further to see how I can help!
Hi Connor.
Its very simple.
example: I have an existing invoice in the amount of 1,000.00
customer made 2 payments of 100.00
so balance is 800.00
your platform is offering me to make this invoice recurring.
so I think that's nice it saves me some work.
so I click to make this invoice recurring,
The invoice has been sent to the customer showing the amount of 1,000.00 to pay.
his payments of 200.00 disappeared on this recurring invoice.
That's all. Very simple and would be great, but it does not function with an existing invoice.
best regards
Martin
Hey @landinamerica
Wave doesn't allow for your balance to roll over to your invoice. I understand that this is what you're reaching out about however what you should be able to do is change the amount on that newly created recurring invoice subtracting the amount that was paid on the previous invoice.
Hi,
I have an existing client that I have dozens of invoices sent in the past. Now, I'm planning to move to Wave to auto-send invoices every month. Naturally, the invoice number shouldn't be 001 because I've sent them invoices before. How do I create a recurring invoice where I can set the starting number of the invoice number?
Hi @Angel_PH , thanks for reaching out! When you create your first recurring invoice, the recurring invoice source will auto-generate from the last highest number of invoice created (so, if you have 0 invoices, it will go to 1; if you had 15 invoices, it would go to 16). If you want to make the first invoice a higher number, you can complete the recurring invoice creation all the way. Then, head to Sales > Invoices > click the individual invoice that the recurring invoice generated, and in the editing screen, you can edit the number to be higher there!