One of the best ways to handle charging for subscriptions or repeatedly bought products is by sending a Recurring Invoice. They allow you to keep track of client payments and even automate the process.
Usually on the first purchase of this kind of product you may want to charge a bit extra whether it be as insurance, to cover extra costs, or to open an account for the client. This is known as a set-up fee, you can quickly add them to your Invoices to keep track of the entire transaction in one place.
To start, head over to the Products tab inside of your Payments section and click on Create Product.
Add the details as normal, continue to the Pricing section, and select the price type as recurring.
In the amount field, enter the price that will be charged to your customers regularly—whether it’s weekly, monthly, or annually, depending on your business model. Additionally, enter a compare-at price, then configure the billing period, and trial period, and set the total number of payments that should be collected.
Next, add the amount for the Setup Fee. When added to an invoice this will be charged to your customers on the first invoice and disappear in the latter ones.
After saving the product with both the recurring price and the setup fee, go to the Recurring Invoices tab, by clicking the option in the Invoices & Estimates dropdown.
To initiate the process of sending recurring invoices to your client, select “+New”, then "New Recurring Invoice."
As you create the invoice, include the product you just set up, which contains both the recurring charge and the setup fee. The system will automatically apply both charges to the first invoice.
Once added, you will see two charges on your invoice: one for the product and one for the setup fee. Complete the invoice as usual. For subsequent invoices, the setup fee will not be included.
Scroll down to manage your recurring invoice settings. Here, you can customize the invoice frequency to suit your needs, such as monthly or weekly, and select the specific day (e.g., the first or last Friday). You can also define the interval between invoices, set the start and end dates, and specify how many days in advance the invoice should be sent.
There you have it! You can now easily add setup fees to your recurring invoices, eliminating the need to charge them separately or search through the system for the payment, as everything will be included under the same invoice.
