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Recurring Bills ​

Automate your invoicing workflow by defining a recurring bill setup and letting Hidma generate bills on a schedule.

🎥 Video Tutorial ​

A detailed walkthrough of the Recurring Bills feature - setting up the recurring bill, using placeholders, configuring Xero submission, and automatic time allocation.

Overview ​

Recurring Bills let you define a recurring bill setup once and have Hidma generate the bills automatically on a schedule you control. This is designed for the regular invoices every practice issues - quarterly retainers, monthly advisory fees, annual licence fees, ongoing management accounts work, and any other billing that follows a predictable pattern.

Unlike Recurring Charges - which create individual charges that you then add to bills manually - a Recurring Bill generates a complete, ready-to-send bill each period, including all rows, tax rates, document theme, organisation, and (optionally) allocated hours from the project. You can also push the generated bill directly to Xero at the status you want (Draft, Submitted, or Approved), so the whole cycle is hands-off if you configure it that way.

The feature lives alongside regular bills in the Billing page. A new Recurring Bills filter chip sits next to the All and Bills chips so you can quickly see your recurring setups separately from the bills they produce.

Key Concepts ​

Recurring Bill Setup (the blueprint) ​

The Recurring Bill Setup is the blueprint. It defines the project, document theme, organisation, currency, due date, schedule, bill period, target status, time allocation, and the bill rows (with optional placeholders). The setup itself is not an invoice - it is the instruction set that tells Hidma how to build the real bills.

You can recognise a Recurring Bill Setup in the Bills list by its title (for example, "Quarterly Retainer") and the Recurring Bill Setup label under the title.

Generated Instances ​

Each time the schedule fires, Hidma creates a real, billable instance of the recurring bill. In the Bills list these appear as Instance of [recurring bill title] and carry a generated reference code (for example, RFP-000132) linking them back to the parent Setup. Generated instances behave exactly like any other bill - you can open, edit, download, push to Xero, allocate hours on them, and ultimately settle them through payments.

Setting Up a Recurring Bill ​

Step 1: Start a New Recurring Bill ​

  1. Navigate to Billing in the left sidebar
  2. Click the + Add New button in the top right
  3. Select Recurring Bill from the dropdown

You land on the Recurring Bill Setup page with a live bill preview on the right-hand side, exactly like when creating a regular bill.

Step 2: Configure the Basics ​

Fill in the core details that will apply to every generated instance:

  • Project - The project the recurring bill is tied to (e.g. "Bartoletti LLC - FY24 Management Accounts"). You can select multiple projects for the same client here - see Multiple Projects on a Recurring Bill below
  • Recurring Bill Title - An internal name so you can recognise the recurring bill later (e.g. "Quarterly Retainer")
  • Bill Theme Template - The document theme that controls the invoice layout for every instance (see Document Templates)
  • Organisation Name - The organisation that will issue the bills (relevant if your tenant has multiple organisations)
  • Currency - The currency of the generated bills

Step 3: Set the Schedule ​

  • Start Date - The first date the recurring bill should fire. If you pick a date in the past, Hidma will warn you and can back-date instances (see Back-Dated Bills below)
  • Due Date - How long after the invoice date the bill is due. Enter a number and choose days, weeks, or months
  • Recurrence - Choose a Simple frequency (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly) or switch to Custom

Custom Recurrence ​

Selecting Custom opens a dialog where you can fine-tune the schedule:

  • Starts - The first run date
  • Repeat Every - Interval and frequency (e.g. "every 2 months", "every 1 year")
  • Ends - Choose Never, On a specific date, or After a set number of occurrences

This is useful for quarterly fees (every 3 months), bi-annual reviews (every 6 months), or fixed-duration engagements (e.g. 4 occurrences over 12 months).

Step 4: Define the Bill Period ​

The Bill Period tells Hidma which window of work the generated instance covers. The window anchors placeholders (see Smart Placeholders) and, if you enable time allocation, determines which project hours get pulled onto the generated bill.

  • Bill Period Start - How far before the invoice date the period begins (e.g. 3 months before the invoice date)
  • Bill Period End - How far after the invoice date the period ends (e.g. 0 days or 25 days after the invoice date)

For a quarterly retainer issued on 1 April covering Q1, you might set Bill Period Start = 3 months before and Bill Period End = 0 days after so the period aligns with January-March.

Step 5: Target Status ​

Under When due, automatically set created bills as, pick the status each generated instance should land in:

  • Draft - Created in Hidma as a draft that someone reviews and finalises manually
  • Outstanding - Finalised in Hidma, no Xero action
  • Submit To Xero - Pushed to Xero as an unauthorised (draft) invoice, pending approval in Xero
  • Approve In Xero - Pushed to Xero as an authorised invoice, ready to send to the client

The last two options only work if the Xero integration is connected and the client, tax rate, revenue account, and document theme are mapped.

Step 6: Automatic Time Allocation ​

Hidma can automatically allocate project hours to each generated instance - handy for retainer-style billing where you want the bill to absorb project hours worked during the bill period. Under Automatically allocate, choose:

  • Do not Allocate Hours - Generate the bill with just the configured rows; no time is closed off
  • All hours from project - Pull every approved, unbilled hour on the project that falls inside the bill period
  • X hours from project - Pull a fixed number of hours each period (e.g. 20 hours from the project)

When a generated instance is created, hours matching the rule are closed off against it just as if you had allocated them by hand on a normal bill.

Step 7: Add Bill Rows with Placeholders ​

On the right-hand preview panel, click Add Row to add the line items that should appear on every generated instance. Each row accepts:

  • Title - The description (supports Smart Placeholders)
  • Tax Rate - The rate to apply (defaults to the document theme's default)
  • Amount - The value of the row
  • Revenue Account - The revenue account (e.g. 200 - Sales) used when mapping to Xero
  • Description / Notes - Optional long-form description

You can add as many rows as you need. The preview on the right shows exactly how the generated bill will look.

Besides ordinary line items, Add Row also offers a Charge option - see Charge Rows on Recurring Bills below.

Step 8: Save the Recurring Bill ​

Click Save Changes in the top right. The recurring bill now appears in the Bills list under the Recurring Bills filter chip, and the first instance will be generated on the next run date.

Start from a Recurring Bill Template

If you issue the same recurring bill for many clients, save it once as a Recurring Bill Template and apply it here with the Templates button - the theme, rows, schedule, bill period, and placeholders all arrive pre-configured.

Multiple Projects on a Recurring Bill ​

A recurring bill can cover multiple projects for the same client, not just one. In the Projects field on the setup, select every project the recurring bill should include - each appears as a chip.

You can then:

  • Tag each bill row to one or more of those projects, so revenue is attributed to the right project (or split across several)
  • Apply different time allocation behaviour per project

Every generated instance carries these project tags, keeping your project recoverability and profitability figures correct on each run. This works exactly like allocating projects on a standard bill - see that guide for the full detail on adding projects and tagging rows.

Charge Rows on Recurring Bills ​

Recurring bills support custom charge rows, so a recurring charge or discount can live inside the bill schedule itself rather than being created separately and remembered each period.

🎥 Video Tutorial ​

A walkthrough of adding both fixed-amount and percentage-based charges to a recurring bill, and applying them to the whole bill or to selected rows.

Adding a Charge Row ​

  1. On the recurring bill setup, click Add Row
  2. Choose Charge from the menu

This opens the same charge interface used everywhere else in Hidma. Fill in:

  • Title - supports placeholder and template text via the icons at the end of the field. This matters more here than on a one-off charge: a recurring charge titled Licence fee for [Year] stays correct on every generated instance
  • Amount - a currency value, or a percentage (see below)
  • Type - Charge, Discount, Disbursement, and so on
  • Account - the revenue account used when mapping to Xero

Xero account exceptions are applied for you

If you've configured a charge-type account exception in the Xero integration, the correct account is preselected automatically when you pick the charge type. There's nothing to look up.

Percentage-Based Charges and Discounts ​

Instead of a fixed amount, choose the percentage amount type. A charge of 5% marks up whatever it's applied to; a discount of 5% reduces it. Percentage-based rows don't need an account specified.

After clicking Next, choose the scope:

  • Apply across the entire bill - the percentage is calculated on the whole bill
  • Apply to selected items - pick the specific rows the percentage should be calculated on

This is how you set up things like a recurring 5% project management fee on professional fees only, or a standing welcome discount on the whole invoice.

What Gets Generated ​

When an instance fires, the charge rows are created on the bill with their placeholders resolved. Hidma also creates the corresponding charges on the project and assigns them to the matching bill items, so project cost, recoverability, and charge reporting all stay correct - exactly as if you had raised the charge by hand.

Also Available on Templates ​

The same charge-row support exists on Bill Templates and Recurring Bill Templates. Add the charge once on the template and every bill created from it carries the charge structure.

Smart Placeholders ​

Bill row titles and descriptions support placeholders that Hidma resolves at the moment the instance is generated. This keeps the wording on every invoice relevant without manual edits each period.

Supported placeholders include:

PlaceholderResolves to
[Quarter]The quarter covered by the bill period (e.g. Q2)
[Quarter + 1]The following quarter (useful for "delivered between [Quarter] and [Quarter + 1]" wording)
[ProjectName]The associated project's name

TIP

While editing a row, Hidma shows the note "The selected time frame will automatically be replaced by the correct time of when the bill is published" - a reminder that the placeholder is not literal text, it is resolved at generation time.

Example row titles:

  • Professional fees delivered between [Quarter] and [Quarter + 1]
  • Advisory services as agreed under [ProjectName]
  • Retainer fees for the month of [Quarter] for project [ProjectName]

When the instance is generated on, say, 19 April 2026 for a period covering January-March, the first title becomes "Professional fees delivered between Q1 and Q2".

Viewing Recurring Bills in the Billing Page ​

  1. Go to Billing
  2. Click the Recurring Bills chip at the top of the list

You'll see every Recurring Bill Setup you have configured. Opening one lets you:

  • Review the setup, schedule, and rows
  • Edit any aspect of the setup (changes apply to future generated instances only)
  • View the instances that have already been generated (they appear as Instance of [title] rows in the main Bills view)

The main Bills tab continues to show every generated instance alongside your regular bills, with the parent recurring bill referenced in the row.

Notifications for Generated Bills ​

Whenever a new recurring bill fires, Hidma can notify the team so nobody misses a new instance that needs attention.

  1. Go to Settings → Communication Settings → Notifications
  2. Open Bills Notifications
  3. Under the Recurring Bills section, enable the toggle and choose who should be notified:
    • All users
    • Only the user who created it
    • A selected group of users - pick individual users or entire teams
  4. Click Save Changes

The dashboard will surface a notification (e.g. "A recurring Bill was created with code RFP-000134 bill of Bartoletti LLC on 21-Apr-2026") for the chosen recipients.

Editing a Recurring Bill ​

You can edit any recurring bill at any time:

  1. Open the Billing page and click the Recurring Bills chip
  2. Open the recurring bill you want to change
  3. Update the project, document theme, schedule, rows, placeholders, Xero target, or time allocation rule
  4. Click Save Changes

Important: Changes apply to future generated instances only. Instances that were already produced remain unchanged.

Duplicating a Recurring Bill ​

Recurring bills can be copied, just like ordinary bills - which is the quickest way to stand up a new recurring workflow that closely resembles one you've already configured.

  1. Open the Billing page and click the Recurring Bills chip
  2. Open the Recurring Bill Setup you want to duplicate
  3. Click the copy button in the top right corner

This works exactly like copying a standard bill: you get a new setup pre-populated from the source, which you can then re-point at a different client or project and adjust before saving. The source recurring bill is untouched, and the copy is independent of it - editing one has no effect on the other.

Template or copy?

Copy a recurring bill for a one-off duplicate of a specific setup. If you'll be creating the same recurring bill repeatedly across many clients, save it as a Recurring Bill Template instead - that stays available from the Templates button rather than requiring you to find the original each time.

Back-Dated Bills ​

If you set a Start Date that is in the past, Hidma warns you:

"You have chosen a start date which is in the past. This might trigger the creation of charges which are back-dated."

Confirming the dialog will back-fill every instance that should have existed between the start date and today. Use this to migrate an existing quarterly retainer into Hidma without losing the historical billing cadence.

Common Workflows ​

Workflow 1: Quarterly Advisory Retainer ​

Scenario: Fixed €2,500 retainer every quarter, 25-day terms, pushed to Xero as authorised.

  1. + Add New → Recurring Bill on the Billing page
  2. Project: "FY24 Management Accounts"
  3. Title: "Quarterly Retainer"
  4. Bill Theme Template: the firm's standard document theme
  5. Due Date: 25 days
  6. Recurrence: Custom → every 3 months, ends Never
  7. Bill Period Start: 3 months before, Bill Period End: 0 days after
  8. Target status: Approve In Xero
  9. Automatically allocate: Do not Allocate Hours
  10. Add row: Advisory services as agreed under [ProjectName], 18% tax, €2,500
  11. Save

Every quarter, a new instance is generated, automatically approved in Xero, and the description reads "Advisory services as agreed under FY24 Management Accounts".

Workflow 2: Monthly Management Accounts Bill with Time Allocation ​

Scenario: Monthly bill absorbing up to 20 hours of project work each month.

  1. Create a recurring bill with Monthly recurrence starting on the 1st of next month
  2. Bill Period Start: 1 month before, Bill Period End: 0 days after
  3. Target status: Outstanding
  4. Automatically allocate: 20 hours from project
  5. Add a row with fixed fee description and amount
  6. Save

Each month Hidma generates the instance, pulls 20 hours of approved time from the project into it, and leaves it Outstanding in Hidma for your billing team to review.

Workflow 3: Migrating an Existing Retainer into Hidma ​

Scenario: The client has been paying quarterly since July 2025 and you want Hidma to own the back-history too.

  1. Create the recurring bill as usual
  2. Set Start Date to July 2025
  3. Confirm the back-date warning
  4. Hidma generates all past instances (Q3 2025, Q4 2025, Q1 2026, Q2 2026) at once
  5. Review and, if needed, adjust individual instances - they behave like normal bills

Troubleshooting ​

Problem: Instances are not being generated ​

  • Check the Start Date is not in the future
  • Check the Ends condition - the recurrence may have completed
  • Check the recurring bill is not deactivated
  • Confirm the project is still active

Problem: Xero push failed for the generated instance ​

If you chose Submit To Xero or Approve In Xero and the generated instance has no Xero link:

  • Confirm the Xero integration is connected
  • Check that the client, tax rate, revenue account, and document theme are all mapped to Xero (see Smarter Xero Validation)
  • Open the instance and retry the Xero push manually

Problem: Allocated hours do not appear on the instance ​

  • Confirm that the hours fall inside the Bill Period window
  • Confirm the hours are approved - unapproved timesheets are never pulled
  • Check that the project has unbilled hours matching the rule at the moment the instance is generated

Problem: Placeholder did not resolve ​

Placeholders must be written with the exact token, including the square brackets: [Quarter], [Quarter + 1], [ProjectName]. Anything else is treated as literal text.

Need Help?

Recurring Bills require billing permissions. If you don't see the Recurring Bill option on the + Add New menu, ask your administrator to review your role.

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