Recurring Invoicing: Save Time and Secure Your Revenue
If you regularly invoice the same clients for identical services -- subscriptions, maintenance, monthly contracts -- automated recurring invoicing is essential. It eliminates repetitive tasks, reduces oversights and gives you clear visibility on your projected revenue.
What is Recurring Invoicing?
Recurring invoicing consists of automatically generating and sending invoices at regular intervals (monthly, quarterly, annual) for identical or similar services. Unlike a one-time invoice, it triggers automatically on the defined date, without manual intervention.
Sectors Concerned
| Sector | Example of Recurring Service | Typical Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| IT / SaaS | Software subscription, hosting | Monthly or annual |
| Consulting | Monthly consulting contract | Monthly |
| Maintenance | IT maintenance contract | Monthly or quarterly |
| Real estate | Commercial rent, charges | Monthly |
| Fitness / Coworking | Space subscription | Monthly |
| Coaching | Recurring sessions | Monthly |
| Accounting | Fiduciary contract | Monthly or quarterly |
| Marketing | Agency retainer | Monthly |
Advantages of Automatic Invoicing
Time Savings
- 0 minutes of monthly invoicing once the template is set up
- No forgotten invoices (the invoice is sent automatically)
- The process is fully automated: creation, email sending, QR-invoice attached
Predictable Cash Flow
- Recurring revenue clearly identified and projected
- MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) calculated automatically
- Facilitates financial planning and access to bank credit
- Cash flow forecasting over 12 months
Professionalism
- Invoices sent punctually, on the same date each month
- Consistency of amounts and mandatory information
- Automatic reminders in case of non-payment
Reduced Non-Payment
- Clients get used to the regular payment rhythm
- Automatic reminders increase the collection rate
- Automatic suspension in case of non-payment protects your cash flow
How to Set Up Recurring Invoicing with ToBill
Step 1: Create a Recurring Invoice Template
Set up the basic information:
- Client: select the concerned client
- Service / item: detailed description of the recurring service
- Price and VAT: amount excl. VAT, applicable VAT rate, amount incl. VAT
- Payment terms: payment deadline (typically 30 days)
- Currency: CHF, EUR or other currency
Step 2: Configure the Recurrence
- Frequency: monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual
- Start date: first invoice on the 1st of the month, the 15th, etc.
- End date: contract end date or unlimited duration
- Automatic indexation (optional): annual increase based on CPI
Step 3: Activate Automation
Once activated, ToBill handles everything automatically:
- Generation of the invoice on the defined date
- Email sending to the client with the PDF and QR-invoice
- Payment tracking: automatic detection of payment receipt
- Reminders if payment is not received within the deadline
Managing Special Cases
Price Adjustments
- One-time modification: adjust the amount for a specific month (e.g.: additional service)
- Annual indexation: automatic increase based on the consumer price index (CPI)
- Tier change: the client moves from a Basic to Premium plan --> modify the recurring template
Temporary Interruption
- Pause: suspend invoicing for a defined period (client vacation, service interruption)
- Automatic resumption: invoicing resumes on the scheduled date
- Notification: the client is informed of the pause and resumption
Cancellation
- Stop at date: invoicing stops on the contract end date
- Pro rata invoice: if cancellation occurs mid-month, ToBill automatically calculates the pro rata
- End notification: automatic email informing the client of the last invoice
Tracking and Dashboard
Key Metrics
ToBill provides a dedicated dashboard for your recurring revenue:
- MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue): total monthly recurring revenue
- ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue): annual projection
- Retention rate: percentage of clients who remain active
- Churn rate: monthly cancellation rate
- Active vs cancelled subscriptions: evolution over time
- Cash flow forecast: projection over 3, 6 and 12 months
Automatic Alerts
- Subscription approaching expiry (30 days before)
- Late payment (7, 14, 21 days)
- Cancellation requested by client
- Churn threshold reached
Automatic Reminders and Non-Payment Management
Configurable Reminder Process
| Day | Action | Tone |
|---|---|---|
| D+0 | Invoice sent | Neutral |
| D+7 | Friendly reminder | Courteous |
| D+14 | Firm reminder | Professional |
| D+21 | Formal notice | Formal |
| D+30 | Subscription suspension (optional) | -- |
Each reminder email is customizable. ToBill automatically includes the PDF invoice and the QR payment link.
Managing Payment Deadlines
In Switzerland, the standard payment deadline is 30 days. For recurring subscriptions, you can shorten this deadline to 10 or 15 days to improve your cash flow.
Recurring Invoicing and VAT
VAT Due Date
VAT is due upon invoice issuance, even if the client pays later. This means you must declare the VAT collected on your recurring invoices in the quarter of issuance.
Automatic VAT Summary
ToBill automatically consolidates the VAT from all your recurring invoices to facilitate your quarterly declaration:
- VAT collected by period
- Breakdown by rate (8.1%, 3.8%, 2.6%)
- Export in FTA-compatible format
Concrete Use Cases
Web Agency -- Maintenance Contracts
- 30 clients on monthly maintenance at CHF 250/month
- Manual invoicing before ToBill: 2h/month (creation + sending + tracking)
- With ToBill: 0 min/month (everything is automatic)
- Stable MRR: CHF 7,500/month = CHF 90,000/year
- Annual savings: 24 hours of administrative work saved
IT Consultant -- Monthly Contracts
- 5 clients with consulting contracts at CHF 2,000/month
- Recurring invoicing with adjustment for additional hours
- MRR: CHF 10,000/month
- Automatic reminders --> average payment time reduced from 35 to 18 days
Fiduciary -- Accounting Contracts
- 80 contracts with monthly/quarterly invoicing
- Automatic invoicing with differentiated amounts per contract
- Automatic export to internal accounting
Best Practices
- Clearly define the contract: specify in your general terms the frequency, amount, modification and cancellation conditions
- Communicate price changes: inform your clients at least 30 days before any price modification
- Offer tiers: provide multiple service levels (Basic, Pro, Premium) to maximize revenue per client
- Invoice annually with discount: offer a 10-20% discount for annual commitments --> improves retention and cash flow
- Monitor churn: a cancellation rate above 5%/month requires corrective action
ToBill Pricing
Recurring invoicing is included in the Pro plan (from CHF 25/month) and free for fiduciaries:
- Unlimited number of subscriptions
- All frequencies (monthly, quarterly, annual)
- Customizable automatic reminders
- MRR/ARR dashboard
- Automatic accounting export