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How to raise a recurring bill that is due in Billing

See which recurring bills are due and raise each one as a real invoice when you are ready.

Level: beginner · Updated 1 Nov 2026

Before you start

What a recurring bill is

Some bills repeat: monthly rent, a yearly service fee, a subscription. In Billing you keep these as recurring bills. A recurring bill is a rule, not an invoice. It remembers the customer, how often the bill repeats and the date it is next due.

Billing never raises one of these bills by itself. When the date comes round, the rule is listed as due on the Recurring bills page, and it is counted on the bell and on the overview. Nothing is posted until a person presses the button to raise it. Only then does the real invoice appear in Smart Books.

Before you start

  • A recurring bill rule must already exist for this company.
  • You need permission to manage recurring bills to open the page.
  • You need permission to create sales to see the Raise it button.

Open the Recurring bills page

  1. Open Settings in Billing.
  2. Select Automation & Workflows. This is where recurring bills, payment reminders and automatic numbering live.
  3. Select Recurring bills.

The page shows a table with these columns: What (the name of the rule), Customer, How often, Next (the next date it is due) and Status. A link at the top, Automation & workflows, takes you back.

Find the bills that are due

Look at the Next column. When a rule is Active and its date is today or earlier, the date is shown in an orange warning colour. Those are the bills waiting for you. A rule that is paused or closed is not offered for raising, and a rule whose date is still in the future is simply listed.

Raise the bill

  1. Read the row to be sure of the name, customer and frequency.
  2. Select Raise it at the end of the row.
  3. Wait for the page to refresh. The rule moves on to its next date.

Raising posts a real invoice in Smart Books for that customer. Check it there as you would any other invoice.

If something goes wrong

  • A red box titled That did not work shows the reason. Fix what it says and try again.
  • If the page says the recurring bills could not be read, what is due is not known. Use the retry button if one is shown, or refresh the page.
  • If you see No recurring bills set up, no rule exists yet for this company.

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Steps

  1. Go to Settings, then Automation & Workflows, and open Recurring bills.
  2. Look at the Next column. A date in orange means the bill is due today or earlier.
  3. Check What, Customer and How often to be sure it is the right bill.
  4. Select Raise it on that row.
  5. If a red message says That did not work, read the reason and try again.

Troubleshooting

Still stuck? Contact support or ask in the community.