Autopay on recurring invoices

Clients can set it and forget it so you get paid on time.

Sam Gioia avatar
Written by Sam Gioia
Updated over a week ago

Updated Aug 7, 2023

You have the ability to require your clients to enroll in automatic payments for recurring invoices. Once enrolled in autopay, your client is automatically charged on the date of each invoice!

For information on payment plans, please see autopay on payment plans.


Autopay eligibility requirements and limits

For autopay to work on a recurring invoice, you must have your payment processor (Stripe or Square) set up to Accept Credit Card Payments in Settings >> Payments and invoices.

If you don't see Settings >> Payments and invoices, click Settings >> Receive Money instead.

If you want to require your clients to enroll in autopay, we recommend turning off PayPal and ACH (bank transfer) as payment options — clients can bypass a required autopay using these. To prevent clients from bypassing autopay, only allow Accept Credit Card Payments.

Payment plans on a recurring invoice

If you have a payment plan within your recurring invoice, make sure you don't create more than one payment plan installment! If you have two or more, then autopay can’t be set up on the recurring invoice.

To create multiple payment installments, use a payment plan on an invoice instead. Please go to autopay on payment plans for more information.


Edit autopay settings

Change your autopay setting in Settings >> Payments and invoices. Any changes will take effect on the next invoice.

For detailed information, see autopay enrollment settings.

If you don't see Settings >> Payments and invoices, click Settings >> Receive Money instead.

arrow pointing to settings icon

What stops autopay on a recurring invoice

If autopay is stopped, both you and your client will get an email. The email is auto-generated by Dubsado and can’t be edited.

The following actions will turn off autopay. Your client must manually re-enroll to go back on autopay:

arrow pointing to end recurrence button that will stop autopay
  • Your client’s credit card fails for two consecutive overdue invoices. See failed payments.

  • Your client manually stops autopay.

how to stop autopay on an invoice on a client's view

Client view of a recurring invoice

If autopay is set to Required, the following changes occur on the client’s recurring invoice:

  • The client can’t type in a custom amount to pay.

  • The Pay Now button next to an installment is removed.

  • Tipping is disabled.

  • Clients must accept the autopay enrollment terms before they can pay.

autopay enrollment terms on an invoice

If you set autopay to Optional, the autopay enrollment terms will appear, but the client is not required to accept the terms to pay.


Client changing their payment method

Your client can go to an invoice at any time and click Change payment method to update the credit card on file. Payment changes won’t disrupt or cancel autopay.

arrow pointing to where to change payment method on an invoice

Failed payments

Please see what happens with failed payments while on autopay.


Autopay emails

To customize your emails, go to Templates >> Canned Emails >> Edit Templates.

  • Send Invoice: Emails client of each new recurring invoice.

  • Autopay Failed: Emails client if an automatic payment fails.

  • Autopay Enrollment Confirmed: Emails client after enrolling in autopay.

Both you and your client will get an email if autopay is stopped on a recurring invoice. The email is auto-generated by Dubsado and can’t be edited.

example of canceled recurring invoice email

Notification settings

Change your system notifications under Settings >> Notifications.

arrow pointing to notification settings

View the client’s autopay status

Client autopay status appears inside the client’s project under Invoices >> Recurring Invoices.

location that shows clients on autopay

Override brand autopay settings

You have the option to override the autopay preference you chose in Settings. Override is useful if you want specific recurring invoices to have different autopay settings.

To override a recurring invoice within a project:

  1. go to Projects.

  2. choose your specific client.

  3. click on Invoices.

  4. click on the Recurring Invoices tab.

  5. click Override.

where to override autopay in individual invoices

Reset autopay back to brand settings

If you no longer need an overridden invoice, you can revert it back to what you have set in Brand Settings.

  1. Go to the section containing the overridden autopay.

  2. Click Edit.

  3. Check Reset to brand setting.

  4. Click Update autopay.

box indicating the checkbox to reset to brand setting
Did this answer your question?