How to Create an Auto-Draft Payment for an Invoice

Overview

Setting up auto-draft (recurring) payments in QuickBooks allows you to automatically charge a customer's credit card or bank account on a set schedule. This is useful for subscription billing, retainer payments, or any recurring invoicing arrangement.

How to Set Up a Recurring Payment

1. Access Processing Tools -- After logging in, navigate to Processing Tools > Create a Recurring Payment.

2. Enter customer information -- Select or enter the customer who will be charged automatically.

3. Name the recurring payment -- Give the payment a descriptive name that identifies what it is for. This name will be visible to both you and the customer.

4. Set the payment schedule -- Define how often the payment should recur (weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.), the start date, and optionally an end date.

5. Choose an invoicing method -- Select whether to generate an invoice with each payment or simply process the charge.

6. Enter payment details -- Input the customer's credit card or bank account information.

7. Enable notifications -- Check the notification option to alert the customer when the recurring charge is set up. This is recommended for transparency.

8. Review the setup -- Before submitting, carefully review all the details to make sure the schedule, amount, and customer information match the authorization agreement you have with the customer.

9. Submit -- Click Submit to activate the recurring payment. Use the Edit function if you need to make corrections before finalizing.

Tips

• Always obtain written authorization from the customer before setting up automatic charges to their payment method.
• Keep records of the authorization agreement in case of disputes.
• Monitor recurring payments regularly to ensure they are processing successfully and that payment methods have not expired.