Automated monthly invoices for amounts varied

Question

Our company charges a weekly fee to customers and then invoices them monthly on the 1st of the month. They are charged depending on the day of the week (some are charged Saturday, some Sunday, etc.) so the monthly amount varies based on how many Saturdays there are that month, for example. Their weekly billing rate typically remains the same for the year (but does not run the calendar year – it goes by the beginning and end date on their annual agreement.

Here is an example:

Company A has an annual contract that runs March 11, 2023 through March 10 2024. They will be billed at $400 per week (52 Saturdays in a year). Their first invoice (generated April 1, 2023) should be for 3 Saturdays at $400 each week (so $1,200).

The second invoice would be for 5 Saturdays, as there are 5 Saturdays in April. Total $2,000, and so forth.

The last invoice for that contract year would be April 2024 and have charges for $1,600 since there are only 2 Saturday in March 2024 before the end date of the contract March 10 2024. Unless they have renewed their contract – and say their new rate is $420… Two Saturdays are billed at $400 and the other 2 Saturdays are billed at $420 – total $1,640.

Each month the invoice number would increment by one (CMPA-1, CMPA-2, CMPA-3, etc.). Since our customers already have incremented invoice numbers, having a place to specify the starting invoice number so they don’t start over as invoice #1 would be great.

We currently use QuickBooks Desktop and have a third-party custom software that calculates the monthly invoices and imports them into QuickBooks. However, the third-party solution will not work with QuickBooks online and we are thinking about making the switch to QBO this year. But we need to figure out how to make generating the invoices a somewhat automated process. (Oh, and we do not use credit card processing or online payments.)

Is there a way to set up what I have described in QuickBooks Desktop and/or Online? When I read the description of recurring invoices, it did not seem like it would do this but I do not see a free trial version of QBO in order for me to play around and test it out. Our company’s accountant is extremely busy with tax season so I have not yet consulted them to see if they know how to do it, so I thought I’d ask here first in case anyone does something similar.

Thank you for any ideas or resources you can direct me to.

Kurt_M · Answer

Glad to have you here today, @lgfrog08. I'll share some insights to help you automate invoices inside your company.

In QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), know that you can memorize a transaction to help you handle repeating transactions inside your company. That said, you can use this if you want an automatic schedule for a specific transaction. However, for varying amounts, you'll have to manually edit the invoice you've memorized for them to apply.

If you wish to continue with this method, these are the steps:

Enter the transaction the way you want it to show up each month. Don’t select Save. If a field contains info that may change, leave the field blank. For example, leave the Memo field blank on a recurring check so you can enter a different memo when you need to.
From the Edit menu, select Memorize [Transaction Name]. For example, Memorize Check.
Enter a Name. Then, select how you want QuickBooks to handle it.

Add to my Reminders List.
The transaction will be added to the Memorized Transactions section of your reminders list. When you choose this option, fill in the How Often field.
Do Not Remind Me.
The transaction won’t be added to your reminders list or added automatically. You can use this as a template for transactions that repeat from time to time.
Automate Transaction Entry.
The transaction will be entered when it's due. When you choose this option, remember to fill in the How Often and Next Date fields.

For further guidelines, see this article: Create, edit, or delete memorized transactions.

On the other hand, QuickBooks Online (QBO) offers the Recurring Transaction option. But just like the memorized transaction feature in QBDT, you'll have to edit your template manually if you wish for the varying amounts to apply.

You can visit this article to learn more about creating recurring transactions inside the program: Create recurring transactions in QuickBooks Online.

In addition, you can check this page to create a free trial account for QBO. This way, you can explore more about the recurring transaction feature and experience it firsthand: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/ca/free-trial/

@lgfrog08, I've got you covered if you have any follow-up questions about this or need help performing specific tasks inside QuickBooks. Don't hesitate to leave a comment below. Take care!

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