A recurring expense profile creates the same expense for you on a schedule, such as a monthly software subscription or office rent. Each expense it creates is an ordinary expense, which you can approve, reimburse and bill like any other.

To create recurring expenses, you need the Timesheet/Expense User role or the Administrator role. If Recurring Expenses is missing under Expenses, an Administrator or Finance Manager can switch it on in Settings › General, under Enabled/Disabled Modules.

Before you start

Profiles use the same categories, payment methods and taxes as the expenses you enter yourself. Set these up in Settings › Expense Settings and Settings › Tax first. See expense categories and setting up tax.

On the same Expense Settings page, under Recurring Expenses, the Recurring expense generation time sets when profiles create their expenses, in your account's time zone. It applies to every profile. Only Administrators and Finance Managers can change it, and the next expense of every profile then moves to the new time. Avaza checks for due expenses twice an hour, so an expense appears within about half an hour after that time.

Create a profile

  1. Go to Expenses › Recurring Expenses and click Create.

  2. Enter a Profile Name that says what the expense is, such as "Design software – monthly seat".

  3. Set the schedule.
    Repeat every takes a number of Days or Months: 7 days for weekly, 3 months for quarterly. The Start Date is the date of the first expense, today or later. Number of Expenses is how many to create in total, for example 12 for a one-year contract. Tick Never expires if there's no end date.

  4. Choose the Expense Category, the Currency and the Amount. Tick Reimbursable if the person pays it with their own money.
    The currency starts as your account currency. For another currency, click Edit Rate and choose Market Rate, which uses the rate on the day each expense is created, or enter a fixed rate. See foreign currencies.

  5. Choose the Tax. For a rate above zero, choose under Amount is whether the amount is Tax Inclusive or Tax Exclusive.

  6. Add the details that apply: Merchant Name, Payment Method, Merchant Tax Number, Group/Trip Name and Notes.
    To bill the expense, choose the Customer, tick Billable and pick the Project. Notes can appear on the invoice line.

    The Create recurring expense form for a monthly co-working desk membership of 350 USD, repeating every 1 month and set to never expire

  7. Click Save Recurring Expense. The profile opens.

The customer and project lists work as on a normal expense. You see the customers and projects you're a member of, unless you're an Administrator or Finance Manager, and archived projects aren't listed. See I can't see a project.

A profile has no Task, Quantity or receipt. Its expenses aren't linked to a task, and a category's unit price isn't used, so enter the full amount. You can add a receipt to each expense afterwards.

What each expense gets

Each expense belongs to the person the profile is for, and is dated on its scheduled day. It copies the category, amount, currency, tax, payment method, merchant, merchant tax number, customer, project, Group/Trip Name and notes, and whether it's reimbursable and billable.

  • Approvals. With Expense Approval Required on, each new expense is Verified, so submit it for approval as usual. With approvals off, it's Automatically Approved. See expense approvals.
  • Billing. A billable expense waits to be added to an invoice, with any markup from its category. Once it's approved, a recurring invoice that includes unbilled expenses can pick it up.
  • No smart tags. Unlike recurring invoices and recurring tasks, a profile doesn't replace tags such as ::MonthName(IssueDate)::. The notes are copied exactly as you typed them.
  • Short months. A monthly profile that starts on the 29th, 30th or 31st uses the last day of shorter months.
  • Exchange rates. With Market Rate, if Avaza can't get the day's rate, it doesn't create the expense. Administrators and Finance Managers get an email, and Avaza tries again at the next check.

Manage your profiles

Expenses › Recurring Expenses lists your profiles with their category, last and next expense, frequency, currency and amount. Filter the list by status, or search by profile name or category. The generation time shows at the bottom.

Administrators, and Finance Managers who also have the Timesheet/Expense User role, can pick a person under Expenses for to see that person's profiles or create one for them.

The Recurring Expenses list for one person chosen under Expenses for, with two active monthly profiles and their next expense dates

Status

Meaning

Active

Will create more expenses.

Stopped

Paused. Creates nothing until you resume it.

Expired

Has created all its expenses.

Click a profile to open it. It shows the frequency, the expenses remaining, Associated Expenses (click the number to list them), Start on, Last created and Next expense.

A recurring expense profile marked Active, showing Every 1 Month, the next expense date and the Edit, Delete and Stop Recurring Expense buttons
  • Edit changes the profile from the next expense on. Expenses already created don't change. When you edit, Number of Expenses is called Remaining Cycles: the number still to come. The Start Date must stay the same, or be today or later.
  • Stop Recurring Expense pauses the profile, and Resume Recurring Expense restarts it. Dates missed while it was stopped are skipped: the next expense is the next date in the schedule from today. At the moment, only the person the profile belongs to can stop or resume it. If you've picked them under Expenses for, you can still edit or delete the profile, or ask them to stop it. If you no longer have access to its project, edit the profile and choose another project before you resume it.
  • Delete removes the profile. The expenses it created stay.

To list every expense a profile has created, filter the Expense Details report by Recurring Expense Name.

What stops a profile, and what doesn't

  • Archiving a person stops all their profiles.
  • Archiving a project doesn't. Stop, edit or delete its recurring expenses first. See archiving a project.
  • Switching off the module in Settings › General hides the menu, but active profiles keep creating expenses. Stop them first.
  • Disabled Project Access can't be turned on for someone while they have a recurring expense on that project that isn't stopped. Ask the person to stop it, or delete it. See project membership.
  • Deleting a project, customer, category or tax that a profile uses isn't possible. Edit or delete the profile first.