Recurring invoices in Dolibarr: how to bill every month without creating them one by one

Do you invoice the same service every month — maintenance, rent, a membership fee, a subscription? Dolibarr can generate those invoices for you from a recurring template. Here's how it actually works, what it really automates and what remains your job.

Direct answers to what you're looking for

Can I bill automatically every month with Dolibarr?

Yes. Dolibarr has recurring invoices: you create a regular invoice, mark it as recurring and choose the frequency (monthly, quarterly, yearly...). That invoice becomes the template for everything that follows.

Does it generate itself, or do I have to do something?

That depends on the cron. With the "Scheduled jobs" module set up on your server, Dolibarr creates the invoice on its own. Without a cron, you have to press the generation button manually each period.

Is the invoice sent and collected automatically?

No. Dolibarr creates a draft and stops there. Validating, sending and collecting remain human steps.

What a recurring invoice is in Dolibarr

A recurring invoice is not some special object: it's a normal invoice marked as recurring with a frequency assigned to it. From that moment it works as a template. Dolibarr copies the customer, the service lines, the payment terms and the dates, and uses them to build the next period's invoice.

To create one, go to Invoices, open or create an invoice, mark it as recurring, fill in the service lines (description, quantity, price, VAT) and set the frequency: monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, yearly or whatever you need. You can also set the exact day of generation and an end date. The invoice is saved unvalidated, as an active template.

How the next invoice is generated

On the card of the active recurring invoice you'll see the recurrence options: the button that generates the next invoice —"Generate recurring invoice" or similar in most versions— and the option to choose the generation date. If the cron is running, that happens automatically at the scheduled time; if not, you trigger it when the period comes.

The invoice that comes out is always a draft: nobody validates, sends or books it until you do.

The real automation: the "Scheduled jobs" module (cron)

Recurrence alone triggers nothing: something has to check periodically whether it's time to generate an invoice. That's what Dolibarr's "Scheduled jobs" module does, running tasks at regular intervals through a cron or webcron. In plain terms, a cron is a server service that executes commands automatically at specific times.

To generate invoices automatically you need:

• The "Scheduled jobs" module enabled in Dolibarr.
• A cron URL (or the corresponding command) configured on the server and reachable from it.
• The cron running daily —or at whatever frequency you choose— with enough permissions to read and create invoices.

Without a cron, the recurrence still exists but the invoice is only created when you press the button manually. That's the difference between "it invoices itself" and "it invoices when you remember".

Contracts and subscriptions: the modules for ongoing services

For services that run over time, Dolibarr offers two complementary modules:

Contracts. They record that a customer has an active service: start and end dates, terms and expiry alerts. You can link recurring invoices to a contract, so each generated invoice stays associated with that service.

Subscriptions. These are designed for periodic payments such as fees or subscriptions: you define the frequency and the recurring invoices come out of it, with due-date and renewal alerts.

Which one should you use? If you want to control when a service starts and ends and get alerts before it expires, the contract brings that context. If you just need a repeated billing cycle, the subscription or the plain recurring invoice is enough.

Typical mistakes and how to fix them

"I set up the recurrence but nothing generates on its own." This is the most common question. Check that the "Scheduled jobs" module is enabled, that the cron URL is correct and reachable from the server, that the cron has enough permissions and that the recurring invoice is still active and within its end date.

"The invoice appears but stays as a draft." That's normal, not a bug: validating, sending and collecting remain human steps, and reviewing the draft before validating is the right habit.

"My billing isn't regular." If your invoices don't follow a fixed rhythm (one month yes, two no; holidays; months without service), recurrence is not the ideal tool: generate the draft when it's due and edit it, or trigger the template manually whenever you need it.

"The amount changes every month." In this case the recurring invoice still helps: the draft is created with the template amounts and you adjust the lines with the real consumption (quantities, prices) before validating. You still save the work of building the invoice from scratch.

When recurring invoices are worth it

With any periodic service: maintenance, rent, telecoms, association or community fees, hosting, subscription software.

The time saved is approximate and depends on each business, but if you bill several fixed services every month, not creating them one by one usually means getting a noticeable chunk of time back: what used to be minutes of copying lines, prices and dates becomes a quick review of drafts. We won't give you a precise figure because every case is different, and we would rather not invent promises.

Best practices

• Review every draft before validating: customer, lines, amounts and payment terms.
• Keep Dolibarr's service catalogue up to date: drafts are built from the template.
• Link recurring invoices to orders or contracts when applicable, to keep traceability.
• Once a month, review your active recurring invoices: deactivate the ones that no longer apply and update the ones that changed.
• Pair recurrence with solid collections management, so due dates and unpaid invoices don't slip away.

Remember that every validated invoice must comply with the tax rules that apply to you: in Spain, if you issue electronic invoices, keep the VeriFactu or e-invoicing requirements in mind where they apply.

Going further

If your billing ends at the bank, our collections management solution for Dolibarr is built to track due dates, reminders and unpaid invoices. Wondering whether Dolibarr is the right fit for your company? You can check it in a minute with our short checklist. And if you collect payments by direct debit, our blog explains how to prepare SEPA direct debit notices from Dolibarr.