Recurring invoice Q&As

The purpose of this article is to help you understand: 

• The limitations and criteria involved in creating recurring invoices
• How SMS and email reminders interact with invoice updates

Recurring Invoice Limitations and Criteria

Is there a limit on how many recurring booking invoices you can create for a customer?

You can create only one recurring booking invoice schedule per customer.

What are the criteria for which bookings are selected in recurring invoice bookings?

It depends on which frequency of recurring booking invoices are created.  

Daily recurring booking invoices

Let's say a customer has active bookings with a daily schedule. We create a booking-based recurring invoice with a daily frequency with a booking date range of February 8 to the end date of February 14.  Invoices will be sent as follows:

• Invoice 1 -> Feb 10 (with bookings for range Feb 8 - Feb 10)
• Invoice 2 -> Feb 11 (with bookings for range  Feb 8 - Feb 11) 
• Invoice 3 -> Feb 12 (with bookings for range  Feb 8 - Feb 12)
• Invoice 4 -> Feb 13 (with bookings for range  Feb 8 - Feb 13)
• Invoice 5 -> Feb 14 (with bookings for range  Feb -8  Feb 14)

No further invoices will be generated after February 14 (the end date).  

Weekly recurring booking invoices

Let's suppose the customer has active bookings with a weekly schedule and we are creating a bookings recurring invoice with a weekly frequency with a booking date range of February 10 (sent every Saturday) and an end date of March 11. Invoices will be sent as follows:

• Invoice 1 -> Feb 10 (with bookings from Feb 10 to Feb 16)
• Invoice 2 -> Feb 17 (with bookings for range Feb 10 - Feb 23)
• Invoice 3 -> Feb 24 (with bookings for range Feb 10 - March 1)
• Invoice 4 -> March 2 (with bookings for range Feb 10 - March 8)
• Invoice 5 -> March 9 (with bookings for range Feb 10 - March 11)

No further invoices will be generated after 11 March.

Monthly recurring booking invoices

Let's suppose the customer has active bookings with an every 4 weeks schedule and some one-time bookings and we are creating a booking recurring invoice with a monthly frequency starting on February 10 (sent on every 10th of the month) and an end date of April 11. Invoices will be sent as follows:

• Invoice 1 -> Feb 10 (with bookings from Feb 10 to March 9)
• Invoice 2 -> March 10 (with bookings for the range Feb 10 - April 9)
• Invoice 3 -> April 10 (with bookings for the range Feb 10 - April 11)

No further invoices will be generated after April 11, as the frequency end date is reached.

Yearly recurring booking invoices

Let's suppose the customer has active bookings with a monthly schedule and some other bookings with different frequencies. We are creating recurring invoices with a yearly frequency starting on February 10 (sent on the 10th of every February (2024) and ending on February 10, 2026. Invoices will be sent as follows:

• Invoice 1 -> Feb 10, 2024 (with bookings from Feb 10 2024 to Feb 9, 2025)
• Invoice 2 -> Feb 10, 2025 (with bookings for the range Feb 10, 2024 - Feb 9, 2026)
• Invoice 3 -> Feb 10, 2026 (with bookings for the range Feb 10, 2024 - Feb 10, 2026 )

No further invoices will be generated after February 10, 2026, as the frequency end date is reached.     

What are the criteria by which the repeat type of invoice is selected?

The recurring type of invoice is selected based on the customer's active recurring bookings frequencies. Let's suppose a customer has daily and weekly frequency bookings, the frequency will be shown in the invoice as weekly, monthly, or yearly. Based on the higher booking frequency of the customer, Bookingkoala gives options for choosing recurring invoice frequency.

Please refer to the following table to help you understand this:

Is it possible for recurring booking invoices to be canceled automatically?

Generally, there is one primary reason for canceling recurring invoices. If there are no bookings available to generate an invoice, there is a possibility that the booking recurring invoice has been canceled.  

Invoice Reminders and Notifications

Can we send the customer reminders about their invoices?

Yes, you can send invoice reminders to the customer via email and SMS. For this, you must include reminders in the invoice.

• How many types of reminders can we send to the customer for payment?

There are three types of invoice reminders:

• "Before due-date" reminders
• "On due-date" reminders
• "After due-date" reminders

Is it possible to set email reminders at a different time?

For email reminders, set up the following settings:

Settings > Notifications > Emails > Customer >  Invoice

There are three email templates for reminders:

• "Invoice Due Today" Reminder 
• "Invoice Overdue" Reminder
• "Upcoming Payment" For Invoice Reminder

You can select any hour range to send the email reminder to the customer.

Is it possible to set SMS reminders at a different time?

For SMS reminders, set up the following settings:

Settings > Notifications > SMS > Customer >  Invoice

There are three SMS templates for reminders:

• "Invoice Due Today" Reminder    
• "Invoice Overdue" Reminder  
• "Upcoming Payment For Invoice" Reminder  

You can select any hour range to send the SMS reminder to the customer.

What is the maximum number of invoice reminders we can send?

 The system can send up to 5 invoice reminders per customer.