Setting Up Recurring Invoices for Service Contracts
If you bill customers on a regular cycle — monthly boiler service contracts, quarterly maintenance agreements, or annual safety checks — Trade2Base can generate and send invoices automatically so you never miss a billing date.
Creating a recurring invoice schedule
You can create a recurring schedule in two ways:
- From a contract or service agreement — open the job or service record, go to the Invoicing tab, and click Set up recurring billing
- Standalone — go to Invoices → Recurring and click New recurring invoice, then link it to a customer
In both cases you'll fill in the same schedule form.
Setting the billing frequency
Choose how often the invoice should be raised:
- Weekly — useful for ongoing maintenance crews billed per week
- Monthly — the most common option for service plans
- Quarterly — ideal for commercial maintenance contracts
- Annually — suitable for annual service agreements and safety certificate renewals
You can also set a custom interval in days if your contract doesn't fit a standard cycle.
Invoice date and payment terms
Set the first invoice date — this is when the first invoice will be generated. Subsequent invoices follow the frequency you've selected from that date.
Choose the payment terms that apply to each invoice in the cycle. Options include:
- Due on receipt
- Net 7, Net 14, Net 30
- Custom number of days
You can also set an end date for fixed-term contracts, or leave it open-ended for rolling agreements.
How recurring invoices are auto-generated and sent
On each billing date, Trade2Base automatically:
- Creates a new invoice using the line items from your recurring template
- Applies the correct invoice date and due date
- Sends the invoice to the customer by email with a payment link (if Stripe is connected)
- Logs the invoice in the customer's account history
You'll receive a notification each time an invoice is generated. If you prefer to review invoices before they are sent, toggle Hold for approval — invoices will be drafted and you can approve or edit them before they go out.
Pausing or cancelling a recurring invoice
Go to Invoices → Recurring, find the schedule, and open it. You have three options:
- Pause — stops new invoices being generated until you resume. Existing invoices and their payment status are unaffected
- Cancel — permanently stops the schedule. The history of past invoices is retained
- Edit — change the frequency, amount, or line items for future invoices without affecting past ones
Viewing all active recurring invoices
Go to Invoices → Recurring for a full list of all your active schedules. Each row shows the customer name, billing amount, frequency, last invoice date, and next invoice date.
Use the filters to view only paused schedules, schedules ending soon, or those for a specific customer. This is your central dashboard for managing all your service contract billing in one place.
Payment reconciliation
When a customer pays a recurring invoice — whether via Stripe online payment, bank transfer, or cash — mark it as paid in the usual way on the invoice record. Trade2Base tracks the payment status of every invoice in the recurring series separately.
In Reports → Revenue you can filter by invoice type to see the total value collected from recurring contracts in any period, making it easy to report on your contracted revenue versus one-off job income.
Still need help?
Contact our UK support team via live chat or email support@trade2base.com.