Recurring invoices and subscription billing
For hosting, maintenance, subscriptions or flat fees you set up a plan in Rhinvoice. It writes the same invoice Monthly, Quarterly, Half-yearly or Yearly by itself: as a draft, issued, or issued and sent to the customer by e-mail.
Setting up a plan
Section titled “Setting up a plan”- Open Invoices → Recurring and click New plan. Or, on an existing invoice, choose More actions → Make recurring.
- Give the plan a Name. It is only for you, for example «Hosting Holzwerk».
- Choose the Customer, the Interval and the day under First invoice on (today or later). Under Last invoice by you can set an end.
- Under On the date, choose what should happen.
- Below, enter the invoice as in the normal editor. The preview shows the next invoice.
- Click Create plan.
Each invoice sets its date, due date and tax treatment itself when it is written; Rhinvoice determines the tax treatment automatically. Prices and texts come from the plan: if you change an article later, the plan does not change.
What happens on the date
Section titled “What happens on the date”| On the date | Result |
|---|---|
| Create a draft | The draft waits under Invoices until you check and issue it |
| Issue | The invoice is issued with a number; you send it yourself |
| Issue and send by e-mail | The invoice is issued and sent to the customer’s e-mail address |
Sending by e-mail needs a mail server under Settings → E-mail. The mail carries the invoice’s PDF. A separate XRechnung for German authorities is sent by hand from the invoice (e-invoices).
Dates and service period
Section titled “Dates and service period”All dates are counted from the first day. A monthly plan that starts on the 31st invoices on the last day of shorter months and then on the 31st again.
With Fill in the service period, every invoice states the period it covers: from its own day to the day before the next one. The periods follow each other without gap or overlap; the last one ends with the plan.
If you change the first day or the interval when editing, counting starts anew, and the new first day must be today or later.
Pausing, resuming, deleting
Section titled “Pausing, resuming, deleting”- Pause stops the plan. Dates during the pause are skipped.
- Resume continues with the next date. Rhinvoice does not write the dates missed during the pause afterwards.
- Delete plan ends the plan. Invoices already written stay as they are.
A plan with an end date is Finished after its last invoice. If the customer is archived, the plan still invoices them; Rhinvoice points this out, and you pause the plan if that is no longer right.
Who writes the invoices
Section titled “Who writes the invoices”The app itself writes due invoices in the background; no extra container is needed. It looks for due plans a minute after it starts and then every ten minutes.
- Every period is written once, also with several app containers, after a restart or after a crash.
- Missed dates are caught up when the app was off for a while. Every period gets its invoice, dated the day it is written, with its own service period; at most 24 per plan and run.
- Problems are shown. An invoice that cannot be issued (for example without a bank account) stays a draft; one that cannot be sent (no e-mail address for the customer, the mail server refuses) stays issued. Under Invoices written, the plan shows every run with its reason and invoice, and the list marks the plan as Problem.
In the .env file, RHINVOICE_RECURRING_INTERVAL sets how often the app looks, in seconds (at least 60, preset 600), and RHINVOICE_RECURRING=false switches writing in the background off.
When it is off, write due invoices yourself, for example from cron. The command exits with code 1 when an invoice needs attention:
docker compose exec app rhinvoice recurringQuestions
Section titled “Questions”Can Rhinvoice write invoices automatically every month?
Yes. A plan under "Recurring invoices" writes the same invoice every month, quarter, half-year or year. You choose whether it creates a draft, issues the invoice, or issues it and sends it by e-mail.
What happens if the server was off for a while?
Rhinvoice catches up missed dates. Every period gets its invoice with its own service period, dated the day it is written, at most 24 per plan and run.
What happens to dates while a plan is paused?
They are skipped. When you resume the plan, Rhinvoice continues with the next date and does not write the invoices of the pause afterwards.
Can an invoice be written twice?
No. Every period is written exactly once, also with several app containers, after a restart or after a crash.