Create and manage recurring bills in Reckon One

Learn how to set up a recurring bill, so the bills you get on a regular schedule (for example, rent, utilities, subscriptions, or insurance) are created for you automatically instead of being entered by hand each time.

Before you start

To create or change a recurring bill template, you need the Create and edit permission for recurring transactions. Administrator and Superuser roles have this by default.

With View permission only, you can open the recurring transactions list and look at a template, but you can't create or change one. Ask your book administrator to update your role if you need more access.

Set up a recurring bill

A recurring bill is made up of two parts – the schedule that decides when each bill is created, and the bill details that get used every time.

1. In the Day to day menu, select Business, then select Recurring transactions.
2. Click Add bill.
3. In Recurring transaction name, enter a name you'll recognise later, such as "Monthly rent – North Sydney". You'll see this name in the recurring transactions list.
4. Scheduling is set to Scheduled, which means Reckon One creates each bill for you automatically.
5. In Frequency, enter a number and select how often you want the bill created – days, weeks, months, or the last day of the month. For example, enter 2 and select weeks to have the bill created fortnightly.
6. In Start date, select the date you want the first bill created. The start date can't be earlier than today, as Reckon One doesn't create bills with a date in the past.
7. In Ends, choose when the template stops creating bills.
   • After – set the number of bills to create. The template is set to inactive once it reaches that number.
   • At date – set the date of the last bill. No bills are created after this date and the template is set to inactive.
   • Never – bills keep being created at your chosen frequency, with no end date.
8. (Optional) Turn on Email bill automatically
9. Select the Supplier you get this bill from.
10. (Optional) Enter a Reference.
11. In Amounts, select whether the amounts you enter on each line include tax.
12. (Optional) Enter a Bill discount as either a percentage or a dollar amount, for example 12.50% or $12.50.
13. (Optional) Select a Classification for the whole bill.
14. Fill in the line details – choose an Item or an Account, then add a Description, Qty, Item price, Discount and Tax code as needed. You can also set a Project and a Classification on each line.
15. (Optional) Click Add new row and repeat step 13 for each extra line.
16. (Optional) Add a Note to supplier.
17. Click on Save & new, or click on the arrow next to it and select any of the options.

Next bill shows the date your next bill will be created on. Reckon One works this out from the frequency, start date and end conditions you've set, and updates it each time a bill is created.

Set an existing bill as recurring

If you've already entered a bill that you know will come around again, you can turn it into a template rather than starting from scratch. The supplier, reference, classification, discount and line details are copied across to a new recurring bill template.

1. In the Day to day menu, select Money out, then select Bills.
2. Click the bill you want to reuse.
3. Click Set as recurring.
4. Fill in the recurring details, the same as if you created a recurring bill from scratch.
5. Click on Save & new, or click on the arrow next to it and select any of the options.

Create a bill from a template straight away

You don't have to wait for the schedule to come around. If you need the bill now (for example, if a supplier has billed you early, or you're catching up) you can create one from the template on the spot.

1. In the Day to day menu, select Business, then select Recurring transactions.
2. Click the recurring bill.
3. Click Create Bill.

The bill opens with the template details already filled in and today's date, ready for you to check and save. Creating a bill this way doesn't change the schedule, so your next scheduled bill still arrives as planned.

Skip the next bill

Sometimes a regular bill doesn't turn up (for example, a supplier skips a month), or you've already entered the bill by hand and want to skip the next scheduled bill. You can skip a single bill without changing the schedule.

1. In the Day to day menu, select Business, then select Recurring transactions.
2. Click the recurring bill.
3. Next to Next bill, click Skip next bill.
4. Check the new next bill date in the message that appears, then confirm.

Skipping reduces only the next bill. It won't affect subsequent bills set to recur.

Stop a recurring bill

To keep the recurring bill but stop having it create bills, set its Status to inactive. You can set it back to active whenever you need it again. Reckon One also automatically sets the recurring bill to inactive once it reaches the end date or the last of its occurrences.

1. In the Day to day menu, select Business, then select Recurring transactions.
2. Click the recurring bill.
3. Click the more options icon next to Save & close, then select Mark as inactive.

To remove a recurring bill for good, delete it from the recurring transactions list. You need the Delete permission for recurring transactions to do this. Bills already created aren't affected. To delete a recurring bill:

1. In the Day to day menu, select Business, then select Recurring transactions.
2. Click on the checkbox next to the recurring bill.
3. Click Delete at the bottom of the screen.

View recurring bill history

To see who changed a recurring bill and when, view the history:

1. In the Day to day menu, select Business, then select Recurring transactions.
2. Click the recurring bill.
3. Click View history.

Find bills created from a recurring bill template

The Recurring template column on the bill list shows which recurring transaction each bill came from. Bills with an empty Recurring template column were entered by hand.

1. In the Day to day menu, select Money out, then select Bills.
2. If the Recurring template column isn't already there, click on the spanner icon and select it to have it show.

With Create and edit permission for recurring transactions, you can click the template name to open the recurring transaction straight from the bills list.

Read more

• Learn about bills in Reckon One
• Learn about recurring invoices
• Learn about recurring receipts
• Learn about recurring payments