---
title: Recurring & Subscription invoices (Pro)
description: Automatic recurring invoices and subscription billing in Easy Invoice Pro — set the frequency, let WordPress cron generate new invoices, optionally auto-send, with pause / resume / cancel.
---
# Recurring & Subscription invoices
Use **recurring invoices** when you bill the same client on a schedule — monthly retainer, yearly hosting, quarterly maintenance, etc. Easy Invoice Pro generates each new invoice **automatically** via WordPress cron and (optionally) emails it to the client.
## Recurring vs Subscription — what's the difference?
| Feature | **Recurring** | **Subscription** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Triggers | New invoice on a schedule | New invoice on a schedule, with trial and cycle cap |
| Best for | "Send me the bill, I'll pay it" | "Bill me and just charge my card" |
| Charges the card on file | Yes, when enabled (see [Card on file](#card-on-file-automatic-charging)) | Yes, when enabled — the same mechanism |
| Requires gateway support | No — works with all gateways | Card on file needs Stripe; otherwise works with all gateways |
| Trial period | No | Yes |
| Maximum cycles | Yes (optional cap) | Yes (optional cap) |
| Client-side review | No — auto-generated | Optional — client can edit amount each cycle |
Enable each module independently:
- **Recurring** → **Easy Invoice → Settings → Invoice → Enable Recurring Invoices**
- **Subscription** → set in the per-invoice subscription section (requires Pro license tier that includes it)
---
## 1. Enable the engine
Open **Easy Invoice → Settings → Invoice** and tick **Enable Recurring Invoices**. Save.
This unlocks the **Recurring** section inside each invoice's builder.
---
## 2. Make any invoice recurring
1. Build a normal invoice (see [Invoices walkthrough](./invoices)).
2. Inside the builder, find the **Recurring** section.
3. Tick **Enable Recurring**.
4. Configure:
| Field | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Frequency** | `day` / `month` / `year` |
| **Interval** | Number of frequency units — e.g. Frequency=month, Interval=3 ⇒ every 3 months (quarterly). |
| **Start Date** | First generation date. Defaults to today. |
| **End Date / Max Cycles** | (Optional) Stop after N invoices or a specific date. |
| **Auto-send to client** | Email each new generated invoice automatically. |
| **Status** | `active` / `paused` / `cancelled` (set later from the Recurring list). |
5. Publish the invoice. From now on, the cron generates new child invoices on the schedule.
---
## 3. The Recurring dashboard
Open **Easy Invoice → All Invoices** and filter by **Recurring** (a star icon in the title indicates parent invoices). You can:
- **Pause** — stop generation until you resume
- **Resume** — restart
- **Cancel** — stop permanently
- **Manual trigger** — generate the next child invoice now (useful for testing)
Each parent invoice keeps a **history** of every child invoice it has created.
---
## 4. Subscription invoices
Same idea as Recurring but with **auto-charging** the client's card. Setup:
1. Open **Easy Invoice → Settings → Invoice → Subscription Invoices** (visible only with a compatible Pro license tier and after enabling subscriptions globally).
2. On the invoice builder, find the **Subscription** section. Configure:
- **Frequency** + **Interval**
- **Trial enabled** + **Trial days** + **Trial amount** (e.g. $0 for 14 days)
- **Variable amount** — let the client review and edit each cycle's amount before charge
- **Maximum cycles** — stop after N successful charges
3. Each cycle generates a full invoice from the parent — same lines, client, tax and currency — with a fresh number. A trial cycle bills the trial amount as a single line. Turn on **Card on file** (below) to have each cycle charged automatically.
> **Why two engines instead of one?** Recurring is the plain schedule. Subscription adds a trial period, a client-review step and a cycle cap on top of it. Both hand each generated invoice to the same card-on-file charge, so the choice is about the billing shape, not about how the money is collected.
---
## Card on file — automatic charging PRO 2.3+ {#card-on-file-automatic-charging}
Recurring and Subscription invoices *generate* on schedule; on their own they still wait for the client to click Pay. With a card on file, the cycle is charged the moment it is generated.
**How a card gets on file.** On the Stripe payment form the client sees an unticked box — *keep this card for future invoices* — that says exactly what will happen. Only if they tick it, and the payment succeeds, is the card kept — at Stripe, not on your site. Easy Invoice stores Stripe's customer and payment-method identifiers plus the brand, last four digits and expiry for display; never the card number.
**Turn it on.** **Settings → Invoice → Charge recurring invoices to the card on file automatically.** Off by default: nothing is ever charged without a click until you switch this on.
**What happens on each cycle**
| Outcome | What the client sees | What you see |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Charged | Invoice arrives already **Paid** | Payment record with the Stripe id |
| Bank requires the cardholder (3-D Secure) | Email asking them to pay in person | Invoice stays open; card flagged *needs attention* |
| Card declined | Same email | Same; the card is not retried |
| No card on file | Normal invoice email | Logged as skipped |
A flagged card is cleared automatically the next time the client pays successfully. The client's record (**All Clients → View**) shows the card on file with a **Remove** control, and Stripe's own dashboard can revoke it at any time.
Stripe is the only gateway that supports card on file. Sites without a Stripe webhook configured still work: the card is saved from the payment confirmation itself.
---
## 5. Cron — make sure it runs
Recurring + Subscription rely on **WordPress cron** firing at least once per day. WordPress runs cron on each page hit by default, which is unreliable on low-traffic sites.
**For reliability:**
1. In `wp-config.php` add: `define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);`
2. Add a real server cron job hitting `https://yoursite.com/wp-cron.php` every 15 minutes:
```
*/15 * * * * curl -s https://yoursite.com/wp-cron.php > /dev/null
```
Otherwise, recurring invoices may generate hours or days late.
---
## 6. Tips for new users
- **Test with a +1 day Interval first.** Make a fake recurring invoice with Frequency=day, Interval=1, then check tomorrow that a new child invoice was created.
- **Auto-send is powerful — and risky.** Don't enable auto-send until you've manually triggered at least one child invoice and confirmed it looks right.
- **Pause before cancelling.** Cancelling is permanent. Pausing keeps history and lets you resume next month.
---
## Combining with other Pro features
| Combined with | Effect |
| --- | --- |
| **Partial payments** | Each generated invoice supports installments. |
| **Deposit invoices** | Each cycle creates a deposit + balance pair. |
| **Payment reminders** | Reminders apply to every generated child. |
| **Client portal** | Clients see all generated invoices in one place. |
---
## Next
- [Payment gateways (needed for Subscriptions)](./payment-settings)
- [Client portal](./clients)
- [Settings reference (recurring fields)](./settings-reference#pro-only-invoice-settings)