How Does Recurly Subscriptions Generate Invoices and Can I Create Future-Dated Memo Invoices?

Recurly Subscriptions Invoice Generation

Recurly Subscriptions generates invoices based on two primary methods, adhering strictly to the current status and billing cycle of a subscription.

• Immediate Generation: An invoice is created instantly following a direct subscription action, such as an initial checkout or an immediate change to a subscription.

• Automatic Generation: An invoice is automatically generated at the start of a subscription's renewal period, which is determined by the customer's established billing cycle.

Future-Dated Memo Invoices

Recurly Subscriptions does not support the creation of a finalized "memo" invoice with a future date that is stored on the customer's account for manual Accounts Receivable (AR) planning.

Workarounds for Projecting Future Revenue

To project future revenue for accounting, cash flow analysis, or other planning purposes, you can utilize data extraction from Recurly Subscriptions.

Utilize the Subscriptions Export for Forecasting

The Subscriptions Export report allows you to manually forecast upcoming revenue based on active subscription data.

1. Generate the Report: Create a Subscriptions Export report from your Recurly Subscriptions instance.

2. Filter for Renewals: Filter the data using the current_period_ends_at field to pinpoint future renewal dates for all active subscriptions.

3. Project Revenue: Use the associated price data within the export to project the expected revenue for those upcoming renewals.

Use the Recurly API's Invoice Preview Endpoint

The Recurly API provides a tool that allows for programmatic generation of a draft invoice purely for projection purposes.

1. Access the Endpoint: Use the Invoice Preview Endpoint of the Recurly API.

2. Generate Draft: This endpoint allows you to programmatically generate a draft invoice that can reflect a future date. The draft will display the expected line items and the total amount due.

Important Note: This draft invoice is not saved to the customer's account or ledger within Recurly Subscriptions. It functions exclusively as a projection for planning purposes and is not a permanent record.