Add or edit a repeating invoice template

  1. Overview
  2. Invoices & Quotes
  3. Send invoices
  4. Add or edit a repeating invoice template

ⓘ This article is for small businesses who use Xero  

Overview
  • Add a repeating invoice template for invoices you create and send regularly.
  • Read through our table of repeating transaction fields to understand what each field means.
How repeating invoices work
  • Xero automatically creates and saves recurring transactions, and emails recurring invoices for you based on your custom template.
  • You can create a repeating invoice from an accepted quote.
  • You can attach files to the template. They're not attached to each transaction. If you want to attach a file to a repeating transaction, you'll have to do that each time it's created. If you create a repeating invoice from one with an attachment, the attachment isn't copied to the other transactions.
  • Drag and drop the item lines to reorder them. Unused lines are removed when you save the transaction.
  • All fields are mandatory except End Date and Reference.
  • Repeating templates are shown on the Repeating tab with the date of the next transaction.
  • Set up online payments for credit card, debit card, PayPal and other payment services from the New Repeating Invoice screen.
 

ⓘ Tip

Your pricing plan determines the number of transactions you can approve each month. If you reach the limit, repeating transactions that were set to approve are saved as draft.
Add or edit a repeating invoice template

Add a repeating invoice template

  1. In the Business menu, select Invoices.
  2. Select the Repeating tab, then click New Repeating Invoice.
  3. Enter your information in the repeating transaction fields.
  4. (Optional) To accept payments from credit card, debit card, PayPal or other payment services, click Manage under Online payments and follow the steps.
  5. (Optional) To set up an annual repeating template, under the Repeat this transaction every option:
    • Enter 52 and select Week(s) – to repeat on a particular day of the week
    • Enter 12 and select Month(s) – to repeat on a particular calendar date
  6. Click Save.

Edit a repeating invoice template

  1. In the Business menu, select Invoices.
  2. Select the Repeating tab.
  3. Click the existing template from the list.
  4. Edit your information in the repeating transaction fields.
  5. Click Save.

If you're editing an existing template, your changes are applied to all subsequent transactions. You can view your changes in the History & Notes.

Add a repeating invoice from an existing invoice

If you've invoiced a customer who regularly purchases the same items, create a repeating invoice from their last invoice. This will copy across all existing details which you can edit before saving the repeating template.

  1. In the Business menu, select Invoices.

  2. Click into the Awaiting Payment or Paid tab and select an invoice.

    If you use classic invoicing, you can also select an invoice from the Draft tab.

  3. In new invoicing, click the menu icon Image showing menu icon, then select Repeat. In classic invoicing, click Invoice Options, then select Repeat.

  4. Update any details as required for the repeating invoice.

  5. Click Save.

For more tips on how to save time invoicing and get paid faster, see our guide Get your invoices paid faster.

⚠ Warning 

The reply-to email address for repeating invoices is based on your email settings. You can change this to your email address by re-saving the repeating template, if needed.
Repeating transaction fields explained

This section provides guidance and tips on some of the repeating transaction fields.

Field Description
Repeat this transaction every

When and how often the transactions will be created eg weekly or monthly.
Invoice Date

The date you want the transactions to begin. It can be in the past (going back to the start of your previous financial year in Xero), today's date, or in the future.

If you use a past or current date, a series of past-dated transactions are created. To automatically send the first invoice, ensure you select a future date.

If your accounts are locked and the start date is before the lock date, you won't be able to set up a repeating transaction that's automatically approved, or approved and sent.

Future-dated transactions are created on that date and shown on the relevant tab.
Next Invoice Date

Editing existing templates only.

The date the next transaction is due to be created.

If transactions have already been created from this template and you change the next transaction date to a past date, all transactions are created again from that date. You may want to delete or void the original transactions.
Due Date

The date that the transaction is due to be paid.

If you want the transaction to be created and due on the same date, enter 0 and select the days after the invoice date option.
End Date

(Optional) The last date that a transaction is created for this template.
Save As Draft

Select Save As Draft if:

  • The transactions will vary so you can edit each one when it's created
  • You need to approve each transaction separately
  • The template has tracked inventory items

Approve

Select Approve if each transaction can be approved immediately for payment. They'll show on the Awaiting Payment tab. You'll still need to send each invoice to your customer, and wait for the invoice payment before you can reconcile.

You can't use this option with transactions that have tracked inventory items.
Approve for Sending Select Approve for Sending if each transaction can be approved for payment and sent to the customer automatically. The invoice will be emailed on the date it's created, based on the schedule you've entered on the repeating invoice template.
Confirm Message Settings

This populates after you click Save if you select Approve for Sending. You can edit the email template for the customer, if needed.

If you want the invoice status to automatically update once it's sent, select Mark as sent.

Changes to the message settings will apply to all future invoices created using the email template.
Reference/ Description

If the transaction details should vary, enter placeholders so you can update the information before approving or sending it.

Put your cursor in the Reference or Description field, click Insert Placeholder and select the placeholder option.

Inserting Week in the Reference field shows the number of the week of the calendar year. For example, 46. Weeks begin on Monday.

Image of the Reference field's placeholder options.

You can add and subtract in a placeholder to change the value. For example, [Month-1] will display the previous month to the transaction month.
Preview placeholders

Shows how the placeholders will appear in the transaction.

Image of the Preview placeholders link.

When previewing the placeholders, Xero will use today's date as the basis date not the transaction date.
Online payments Set up online payments so you can receive payments from credit card, debit card, PayPal and other payment services.
Currency

If you have a business edition plan with multicurrency, you can select a foreign currency that you've already added or click Add currency to add a new one. You can edit the exchange rate if required.

If you set up repeating invoices to be automatically approved, there must be an exchange rate for the transaction date before it can be saved as approved. Invoices that have been automatically approved can't have the exchange rate edited.
Amounts are

Select the tax setting to apply to the amounts. If the item has sales tax, select:

  • Tax Exclusive to add the tax to each item amount.
  • Tax Inclusive to include the tax with each item amount. Each item shows as tax exclusive when approved. Xero automatically splits out the tax component for reporting.

 

 

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