How to set up a recurring job

Window cleaning, gutter clears, boiler servicing, anything you do on a cycle. Set the billing schedule once and Trame issues each invoice for you, so you are not rebuilding the same job every month.

Before you start

You need the customer saved as a client. If they are new, you can add them while you create the job, there is no need to set them up first.

Create the recurring job

Setting one up takes two steps. The first is the job itself, the second is the billing schedule.

1. Go to Jobs and select New job.
2. Under Job type, switch from One-off to Recurring.
3. Pick the client under Client (required), either Existing or New.
4. Give the job a Title the customer would recognise, for example Window cleaning.
5. Add a Description if it helps you, this is optional.
6. Select Next.

Set the billing schedule

The second step is headed Recurring billing. This is where the money and the timing are set.

1. Under Each invoice (required), describe what the customer is being billed for.
2. Enter the amount for one invoice, then pick the VAT rate beside it.
3. Choose the Frequency: Weekly, Fortnightly, Every 4 weeks, Every 6 weeks, Monthly, or Custom for anything else.
4. Set the First invoice date. This can be today or any future date.
5. Turn on Set an end date if the work stops on a known date. Leave it off and the schedule runs open-ended.
6. Turn on Schedule appointments if you also want the visits in your Trame calendar.
7. Select Create recurring job.

Schedule appointments is worth understanding before you turn it on. Left off, Trame bills on your schedule but puts nothing in your diary. Turned on, it also adds the visits to your calendar, which is what you want when the job is a physical visit rather than a standing charge.

Check or change the schedule

Open the recurring job and you will find a Billing schedule section. It shows the amount including VAT, how often it repeats, and the date it runs from, or the end date if you set one. Select Edit on that section to change any of it.

Changing the amount affects invoices that have not been issued yet. Anything already issued keeps the figure it was issued at, so your old invoices never change after the fact.

Frequently asked

Is this the same as scheduling repeat visits?

Not quite. The billing schedule is what gets invoiced and when. Turning on Schedule appointments adds the visits to your calendar as well. You can have the billing without the diary entries if the work does not need a visit.

What if the customer cancels partway through?

Edit the billing schedule and set an end date. Work already invoiced stays on the customer's record, so stopping a schedule never removes history.

Can I change the price later?

Yes. Edit the Billing schedule on the job. The new amount applies to invoices still to be issued.