# Create a Recurring Profile

Build the invoice template, choose the rhythm, decide when it stops, and decide whether a human reviews each one before it goes out.

The last decision is the one to think hardest about.

## Set it up

- **Build the invoice template**

  Customer, lines and terms, exactly as you would a one-off invoice. Everything a normal invoice inherits from the customer is inherited here too.

  ![The Create Recurring Invoice form. A Recurring Profile section holds a required Profile Name, a Repeat Every field set to 1 Month, a Start Date, an Ends On date with a Never Expires checkbox ticked, and a ticked Automatic Generation checkbox reading that invoices are raised as drafts each time the schedule falls due.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/recurring-invoices/new-recurring-profile-form.png)
- **Choose the frequency**

  Weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly, starting from a date you pick. The start date sets the day of the cycle.
- **Set an end condition**

  An end date, a number of cycles, or neither for an open-ended arrangement.
- **Decide auto-send**

  Generate as a draft for review, or generate and email the customer without anyone touching it.
- **Activate**

  Nothing generates until the profile is active. A draft profile is a plan, not a schedule.

| Setting | Effect |
| --- | --- |
| Generate as draft | Safest. Someone reviews each invoice before it goes out. |
| Generate and send | Fully hands-off. Right for stable, unchanging retainers. |
| End date | Profile expires on that date and stops generating. |
| Number of cycles | Counts down and expires after the last one. |
| No end condition | Runs until somebody stops it. Review these annually. |

## Draft or auto-send

Auto-send is the point of the feature and also its main risk. An unattended profile with a wrong line bills the wrong amount every month until somebody notices, and the person who notices is usually the customer.

> **Warning:**
>
> **Start on draft, switch to auto-send later**
>
> Run the first two or three cycles as drafts. Once you have seen the generated invoice look right twice, switch it to auto-send with some confidence.

- Generated drafts appear in the invoice list like any other draft, filterable by their profile.
- A draft that nobody sends posts nothing, so an unattended draft-mode profile quietly bills nothing at all.
- Auto-send emails the customer's primary contact and posts immediately.

## Dates and the first cycle

The start date is both the first generation date and the day of the month the cycle lands on. A profile starting 15 March generates on the 15th of every month after. Setting a start date in the past generates once immediately and then continues from there, which is occasionally what you want and usually a surprise.

> **Note:**
>
> **Check the invoice date rule**
>
> The generated invoice is dated on its cycle date, not on the day you set the profile up. That is what keeps monthly revenue landing in the right month.