Recurring Transactions in QuickBooks Online: Complete, Practical Guide

Overview: What Recurring Transactions Can Automate

QBO lets you create reusable templates for most everyday forms. Each template has three behaviors—pick the one that fits:

• Scheduled QBO creates the transaction automatically on your timetable. Use this for fixed-amount charges like rent, retainers, software subscriptions, depreciation journals, or monthly bank fees.
• Reminder QBO creates a draft or reminder that you review and send/post manually. Use this when amounts or details change month-to-month (e.g., utilities that vary, project invoices that need final quantities).
• Unscheduled QBO stores a template with all the lines and settings; it does nothing until you click Use. Perfect for complex, occasional transactions that you don’t want to rebuild.

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Before You Start (plans, limits, and internal controls)

• Where it lives: Settings (⚙) → Recurring transactions.
• Who can use it: Recurring invoices, bills, expenses, and journals are available across core U.S. QBO plans; some advanced options (like batch actions) may surface only in higher tiers.
• Online payments: To automatically charge customers, enable QuickBooks Payments. For invoices, you can offer Autopay (customer-consented). For merchant-initiated charges, use recurring sales receipts.
• “Days in advance to create”: Have QBO create transactions early. The transaction date remains the scheduled date, but the form is created ahead for review and cash-flow visibility.
• Bill payments: You can make recurring bills, but bill payments themselves aren’t created by templates. Use your bill-pay process after review/approval.
• Internal controls: For variable amounts, prefer Reminder so a human reviews totals, tax, and coding before posting or sending.

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Create a Recurring Template From Scratch

1. Open Settings (⚙) → Recurring transactions and click New.
2. Choose a Transaction type (Invoice, Sales Receipt, Bill, Expense, Journal Entry, etc.).
3. Enter a clear Template name (e.g., “Rent – Main Office – $3,000”). This makes audits and maintenance trivial.
4. Select a Type:
   • Scheduled for truly fixed, hands-off items.
   • Reminder when something needs review or edits first.
   • Unscheduled for templates you’ll trigger manually.
5. Set the Interval (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) and the start date. Add an end date or number of occurrences if applicable.
6. (Optional) Use Days in advance to create to pre-create transactions ahead of the scheduled date—for example, 7–10 days before month-end so AR/AP teams can plan.
7. For sales forms, decide whether to include unbilled charges, automatically send emails, print later, and which online payment methods to offer.
8. Fill out line items, accounts, classes/locations, memo, and any custom fields. Then Save template.

Tip: Build one test run. For Scheduled templates, temporarily set an interval that will run today and verify the posted result. Then switch to the real cadence.

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Make an Existing Transaction Recurring

You don’t have to start in the Recurring list. You can convert many forms directly while you’re on them:

• Invoices: Open the invoice → Manage (⚙) → Scheduling → toggle Make invoice recurring, set the schedule, save.
• Receipts, bank deposits, credit memos/statements: Open the transaction → choose Make recurring near the footer or in the more/gear menu.
• Estimates: In newer interfaces, you may need to create recurring estimates from the Recurring list rather than converting an existing estimate.

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Autopay vs Recurring Sales Receipts

Option A — Recurring invoices with Autopay (customer-consented)

When QuickBooks Payments is enabled, you can put recurring invoices on Autopay. Your customer opts in once via the invoice link and future invoices are charged automatically according to the schedule. This keeps invoices in Accounts Receivable with a standard invoice lifecycle (estimate → invoice → payment). Autopay is best when you want the classic invoice experience and aging visibility.

Option B — Recurring sales receipt (merchant-initiated charge)

A recurring sales receipt charges the saved card/ACH automatically on your schedule and records the sale as paid immediately—no open invoice in A/R. This is perfect for subscriptions, memberships, retainers, or any “pay-now” arrangement where an invoice is not required.

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Recurring Bills & Journal Entries

Recurring bills

Create a bill, click Make recurring, choose the type, and schedule it. This ensures the expense is recognized on time and coded consistently by vendor, account, class, project, or location. After the bill is created, pay it through your normal bill-pay workflow.

Recurring journal entries

Use recurring journals for depreciation, accruals, allocations, and month-end adjustments. Create them from Settings (⚙) → Recurring transactions → New → Journal Entry. Include descriptive memos, attach support if needed, and consider setting them as Reminder if periodic review is required.

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Manage, Edit, Duplicate, Pause, or Delete Templates

• Edit: Go to Settings → Recurring transactions. Use the Action column to Edit. You can change the template name, type, customer/payee, schedule, days-in-advance, and form settings.
• Duplicate: Use Duplicate from the actions menu to copy a template, then tweak the few fields that differ.
• Pause/Delete: From the actions menu, you can pause a scheduled template temporarily or delete it when it’s no longer needed.
• Bulk price updates: When you update an item’s price in Sales → Products and services, QBO can push the new price into associated recurring templates. Look for the checkbox “Update price in recurring template, too.”

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See What Ran (Reporting & Audit)

• Recent Automatic Transactions: Run this report to list transactions created by templates during a period. Drill into any entry to review or adjust details.
• Transaction Detail by Account / Journal: For recurring journal entries, these reports confirm posting, amounts, and coding by account, class, or project.
• Failed to run? Verify the template is Scheduled, the end date/occurrence limit hasn’t been reached, and that items/tax codes are still valid. For recurring sales receipts, expired cards are a common cause—update the payment method and re-try.

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Real-World Scenarios

1) U.S. small business owner reconciling monthly bank transactions

Set up recurring journals for bank service charges and interest expense so they post every month on statement date. Use Days in advance to create (e.g., 5–7 days) to pre-create the entries you expect; this makes the reconciliation smoother since you’ll see the entry in your register and in reports before the statement arrives. If your bank fees vary, switch the journal to Reminder and edit the amount each month after you receive the e-statement.

2) Travel agency creating recurring invoices for tour packages

For monthly concierge or retainer services, create a Scheduled recurring invoice with Autopay enabled so clients opt in once and future invoices are paid automatically. If packages vary by headcount, keep a separate Reminder invoice template that prompts your team to adjust quantities before sending. For subscription-style add-ons (e.g., monthly luggage storage), use a recurring sales receipt for immediate charge and no open A/R.

3) Wellness clinic tracking expenses across service categories

Create recurring Bills for fixed monthly costs like rent, EHR software, and utilities. Code each to the correct expense account, class, location, or project. Use Reminder for variable utilities so front office can edit amounts before approval. For monthly allocations (e.g., allocating medical supplies by department), use a recurring journal entry that splits costs to each class with clear memos.

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Common Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

• Using Scheduled for variable amounts: If an amount changes frequently, make the template a Reminder so a human reviews it first.
• Assuming bills auto-pay: Recurring bills create the bill; they don’t send funds. Pay through your normal approval and bill-pay workflow.
• Forgetting to update items used in templates: If your price list changes, update the product/service and apply the new price across templates using the built-in checkbox.
• Wrong dates from “Days in advance”: Remember that QBO can create a transaction before the scheduled date but keeps the transaction date on the scheduled day. Plan communications (and Autopay expectations) accordingly.
• Over-automating without controls: For sensitive entries (payroll journals, intercompany allocations), require a monthly review step or keep them as Reminder.
• Silent changes that break Autopay: Editing the customer, email, payment options, or total can disrupt Autopay enrollment. Communicate changes to customers and confirm status after edits.

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Pro Tips & Best Practices

• Template naming convention: Include payee/payer, location, and amount (e.g., “Verizon – Retail – $120”). This makes list searches and audits instant.
• Use classes/locations/projects consistently: Add them to the template so every created transaction is coded correctly from day one.
• Documents & attachments: Attach contracts, schedules, or approval PDFs to templates (especially journals and bills) to preserve context.
• “Library” of Unscheduled templates: Save time on ad-hoc but repetitive work (complex invoices, special deposits, year-end accruals) by keeping ready-to-use Unscheduled templates.
• Seasonality: Instead of deleting a template off-season, Pause it. Resume when the season returns so you don’t lose history and setup.
• Price increases: Update products/services first and push to recurring templates in one go. For contract renewals, consider duplicating the old template and dating a new one for clean audit trails.
• Service date hygiene: Recurring templates don’t always fill a service date. Train staff to add the correct service period before sending/posting.

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Troubleshooting

1. Template didn’t run: In Settings → Recurring transactions, ensure the type is Scheduled (not Reminder/Unscheduled), the end date or occurrence limit hasn’t been reached, and the template is not paused.
2. It ran but amounts/tax are wrong: Open the template and re-save after any changes to items, tax codes, or company tax settings. For Reminder templates, review the draft before posting.
3. Recurring sales receipt failed: Payment methods expire. Ask the customer to update their card/ACH details; then re-run the charge or let the next cycle proceed.
4. Need one right now: From the Recurring list, use the template’s Use action to create a transaction immediately—handy when a Scheduled one failed or a special run is needed.
5. Cloning vs editing: When a client’s terms or product set changes materially, Duplicate the template, adjust, and retire the old one. This preserves history and reduces risk.

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Short FAQ

Can I auto-pay vendor bills with a recurring template?

No. Templates can create bills on schedule, but payment still happens through your approval and bill-pay process (bank transfer, card, check, or an integrated bill-pay app).

What’s the difference between Autopay and a recurring sales receipt?

Autopay lets customers opt in to automatically pay recurring invoices—you keep invoices in A/R. A recurring sales receipt automatically charges the stored payment method on your schedule and records the sale as paid immediately without an open invoice.

Where do I change the day a transaction is created vs dated?

Edit the template and adjust Days in advance to create. QBO can create the transaction earlier for review; the transaction date stays on the scheduled date.

Can I update prices across many recurring invoices at once?

Yes. Update the item price in Products and services and apply the update to recurring templates when prompted. This avoids editing templates one by one.

How do I pause recurring activity during the off-season?

Open the template from the Recurring list and choose Pause. Resume later to pick up where you left off.

Do recurring transactions run at a specific time of day?

They typically process early in the day in your QBO environment. If timing is mission-critical for billing or cash receipts, don’t rely solely on the automation—review the Recurring list or the Recent Automatic Transactions report the morning of run day.

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