How Recurring Invoices Work in OpslyFlow

A recurring schedule is a rule attached to an invoice that tells OpslyFlow to generate the same invoice again on a repeating cycle. You set it up once — how often, start date, how it ends — and the app produces a fresh invoice each period from the original as a template. On the Invoices list, anything driven by a schedule wears a small Recurring chip so you can tell it apart at a glance.

• Reach for it when the work bills on a rhythm: quarterly HVAC maintenance, a monthly service retainer, a standing weekly clean.
• Skip it for one-off jobs or anything where the scope and price change every time — those are faster to bill straight from the work order.

A schedule is always built on top of a real invoice. Build the invoice you'd send once — the right client, line items, PO, and tax — then choose Make recurring. A Recurring schedule panel opens with the three things that define the cycle: how often it repeats, the start date, and when it ends.

Whatever is on that invoice becomes the template every cycle copies. That's the whole trick: get one invoice exactly right, turn it recurring, and you've described months of billing in a single setup.

Two fields set the rhythm:

Frequency.

How often it repeats — Weekly, Bi-weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, and so on. Match it to the contract: a quarterly maintenance agreement is Quarterly, a monthly retainer is Monthly.

Repeat on.

The day the cycle lands — a weekday for weekly schedules, a day of the month for monthly ones. "Bi-weekly on Wednesday" reads exactly how it behaves.

Start date.

When the first cycle generates. Every future occurrence counts forward from here, so this is the anchor for the whole series.

Every schedule needs an end condition. There are three, and the right one depends on the contract:

On a date.

The series stops generating after a specific calendar date. Use it for fixed-term agreements with a known end.

After a number of occurrences.

Generate exactly N invoices, then stop. Perfect for "12 monthly payments" or a four-visit service plan.

Never.

Run indefinitely until you end it by hand. Right for open-ended contracts that just keep going — but it's on you to stop it.

This is the part people most often get wrong in their heads: a recurring schedule generates a draft invoice each cycle — it does not send anything to the client on its own. The draft shows up a set number of days before its date (the schedule's lead time), giving you time to review.

Each generated invoice carries a blue "Generated from a recurring schedule" banner naming how often it runs and the occurrence number, plus a View schedule link back to the series. You open it, give it a look, and Send it like any other invoice. Nothing leaves the building without you.

From any recurring invoice, click View schedule to open the series view. It shows how often it runs, the next occurrence, the upcoming dates, and the drafts already generated, with a running count of how many are still pending. Four controls run the series:

Pause.

Stop generating new cycles without losing the schedule. Resume later and it picks back up — for a contract that's temporarily on hold.

Skip next.

Drop just the next single occurrence. Use it when a client's away for a cycle but the agreement continues.

Edit schedule.

Change how often it runs, the line items, or when it ends. Edits apply to future occurrences — not to drafts already generated.

End schedule.

Stop the series permanently. The invoices already made stay; no new ones generate. There's no undo.

Recurring billing is set-and-forget right up until one of these catches you. Know them before you lean on a schedule:

• Mid-contract price changes: editing the schedule's line items only changes future cycles. Drafts already generated keep the old price — open and update them by hand, or delete them and let the next cycle regenerate at the new rate.
• Ending vs. pausing: End schedule is permanent; Pause is reversible. Don't end a series you'll want back next quarter — pause it instead.
• Open drafts pile up: generated invoices sit in your Drafts group until you send them. Ignore them and you're not actually billing. Watch the "drafts pending" count on the series and clear it each cycle.
• PO and tax carry forward: the source invoice's PO number and tax settings copy into every cycle. If a commercial client issues a new PO each period, you'll need to update each draft's PO before sending — the schedule can't know the new number.