# Recurring invoices

> Set up a template that creates invoices weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly, with optional automatic validation, FTA submission and email.

Source: /help/en/invoices/recurring-invoices

A recurring invoice is a template with a schedule. On each due date Alya Books creates a normal tax invoice from it, numbers it from your series, and can validate, submit to the ASP and email it without anyone opening the editor. Use it for retainers, subscriptions, rent and service contracts.

## Create a recurring invoice

1. Go to **Documents → Recurring Invoices** and click **New recurring invoice**, or open the row menu of an existing invoice under **Invoices** and choose **Make recurring** to start from its content.
2. **Template**: give it a name, pick the **Customer**, and fill currency, payment terms, language, project, references, subject, texts and notes as on an invoice. If the contact has contact persons or delivery addresses you can pick them here.
3. **Lines**: add items with the product picker or type descriptions, quantities, unit prices and VAT. Price lists of the customer are applied when you pick an item.
4. **Schedule** (right column):
- **Frequency** weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, yearly or custom dates, and **Every** N periods.
- **Day of month** (or **Last day**) for monthly and longer; **Weekday** for weekly.
- **Start date**, optional **End date** and **Max invoices**.
- **Billed period**: previous period (in arrears), current or next period (in advance). With **Write the period into the invoice** on, the invoicing period (BT-73/74) is filled.
- **Period text** is appended to the subject, for example `for {{periodMonth}} {{periodYear}}`.
- **Issue date offset** moves the invoice date a few days before or after the run date.
The card lists the next six dates and their periods as you type.
5. **Automation**: **Validate on creation** (off keeps drafts for review), **Submit to the ASP**, **Email the invoice** with recipients (or the contact person / customer email), and **Test template**.
6. Click **Save draft**, then **Activate**.

## Running

- Alya Books checks twice a day (02:00 and 18:45 UAE time) for active templates whose next run date has come and creates the invoices. If the app was paused for a while, up to twelve missed dates are caught up, one invoice per date.
- **Generate now** on the template (or **Run N due now** on the list) creates the invoice for today immediately.
- The **Runs** card on the template shows each date with the result and a link to the invoice; failures show the error and are retried at the next run. A date that falls in a locked period (filed VAT return or lock date) is skipped with the reason, and you get a notification.
- **Pause** stops the schedule; **Resume** continues from the next date. **Cancel** ends it for good. When the end date or the maximum number of invoices is reached the status becomes **Completed**.

## Good to know

- When the invoicing period is filled in, weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and yearly schedules also state the **Frequency of billing** on the e-invoice. Custom dates and other intervals state none.

- Generated invoices are ordinary invoices: they appear under **Invoices**, follow the usual statuses, and can be edited while they are drafts. The invoice list can be filtered to one template through the **Generated invoices** entry of the row menu.
- Only one invoice is created per template and date, even if the runner is triggered twice.
- Submission needs a working ASP connection; with **Test template** on, invoices are marked TEST and never reach the live ASP.
- Owners, admins and accountants can create and run recurring invoices.
- Integrations can manage templates through the API and the MCP server (see docs.alyabooks.ai).

## Related

- [Create a tax invoice](/help/en/invoices/create-a-tax-invoice)
- [Projects](/help/en/documents/projects)
- [Invoice statuses](/help/en/invoices/invoice-statuses)