Recurring Transactions

Overview

Many church expenses and some income happen on a regular schedule -- rent, a monthly internet bill, quarterly insurance, a monthly support payment to a missionary, a standing rental income. Instead of entering each one by hand, you can store it once as a recurring transaction: the account, the amount, how often, and the next date.

Each recurring transaction either posts itself on its due date (Auto-Post) or waits on the list until someone clicks Post Now. Either way, the transaction it records is an ordinary transaction in your books.

Finding Recurring Transactions

1. Open Accounting from the Finances area.
2. In the tab bar, open the dropdown at the end -- Setup ▾ in Full Accounting, More ▾ in Simple Checkbook.
3. Click Recurring.

This opens the Recurring Transactions page ("Automate regular income and expenses"). The page is part of the Accounting module, in both modes.

What you can do follows the Accounting row of your role:

The Recurring Transactions Page

Two cards sit at the top:

• Active -- how many recurring transactions are running (paused ones are not counted).
• Due This Week -- how many active ones have their next date in the coming seven days. Overdue ones are not counted here; look for the red Overdue label in the list.

The list is sorted by the next date, soonest first. Each row shows:

On a phone the same information is shown as one card per recurring transaction.

Setting Up a Recurring Transaction

1. Click Add Recurring (on an empty page, Create your first recurring transaction).
2. In the Create Recurring Transaction window, fill in:

1. Click Create Recurring.

Setting one up does not post anything yet. The first transaction is recorded on the first occurrence -- automatically if Auto-Post is on, or when you click Post Now.

Note: A recurring transaction stores one Description. It has no separate notes or reference number; those belong to the individual posted transactions. Put any context you want on every occurrence into the description.

How Auto-Post Works

Once a day TimelyChurch checks every active recurring transaction that has Auto-Post on and posts the ones that are due:

• Due means today or earlier on your church's own calendar. A transaction due on the 1st is recorded on the 1st in your church's time zone, never before.
• The transaction is dated the scheduled date, not the moment it was recorded.
• At most one transaction per recurring transaction per day. After it posts, the next date moves forward by one period.
• Nothing posts twice. If someone clicks Post Now at the same moment, only one transaction is recorded.

Missed dates are not filled in afterwards

If a recurring transaction has fallen behind -- for example it was paused for six months and then resumed -- Auto-Post records only the most recent due date and moves past the older ones without posting them. A monthly rent resumed after six months posts this month's rent, not seven. If you want the missed ones in your books, record them as ordinary transactions.

To avoid this, click Edit before you resume one that was paused for a while, and set Next Occurrence to the next date you actually want posted.

When a date cannot be posted

Auto-Post leaves a date out and moves on to the next date when:

• the date falls in a closed fiscal year;
• the date falls inside a completed bank reconciliation of the recurring transaction's account;
• its bank account has been archived;
• its category, payee or fund is no longer active, or its category no longer matches its type.

Nothing is ever posted into a period or an account you have closed. Click Edit and fix the account or category so the following dates post again.

Checking what was posted

• Posted transactions appear on the Transactions tab (Money In / Out in Simple Checkbook) like any other, and in the Audit Log.
• Every automatic posting, every date that was skipped and every date that could not be posted is also recorded on the Activity tab of Church Setting (visible to church administrators).
• No e-mail is sent for automatic postings. Look over this page from time to time: an Overdue date on an Auto-Post line means something stopped it.

Posting a Recurring Transaction Manually

For a recurring transaction with Auto-Post off -- or to post one early:

1. Find it in the list.
2. Click Post Now.
3. One transaction is recorded, dated today on your church's calendar, and the page confirms "Transaction posted successfully. Next occurrence updated."
4. The next date moves forward by one period.

Post Now is refused, with a message, when today falls in a closed fiscal year ("Cannot post: fiscal year … is closed.") or inside a completed bank reconciliation of the account ("Cannot post: this date falls inside a completed bank reconciliation.").

Skipping an Occurrence

If one occurrence should not be recorded -- a vendor gave you a free month, for example:

1. Click Skip ("Skip this occurrence").
2. No transaction is created. The page confirms "Occurrence skipped. Next date updated." and the next date moves forward by one period.

Pausing and Resuming

Click Pause to stop a recurring transaction without deleting it. While it is paused it never posts, Post Now and Skip are hidden, its Next Date reads Paused, and it is left out of the Active and Due This Week counts.

Click Resume to start it again. The next date stays where it was -- if it is now in the past, see Missed dates are not filled in afterwards.

Editing a Recurring Transaction

1. Click Edit.
2. In the Edit Recurring Transaction window, change what you need: type, amount, account, frequency, day of month, Next Occurrence, end date, payee, category, fund, description, Auto-post, or Active (untick it to pause).
3. Click Update.

A new Next Occurrence must be today or later ("The next occurrence must be today or later."). If you leave an overdue date unchanged, the rest of your changes still save.

Changes apply to future occurrences only. Transactions that were already posted stay as they are; edit those on the Transactions tab if needed.

Ending or Deleting a Recurring Transaction

• End date: when the schedule moves past the End Date, the recurring transaction pauses itself. Its history stays.
• Delete: click Delete and confirm in the Delete Recurring Transaction dialog ("Are you sure you want to delete this recurring transaction? This action cannot be undone."). Only the schedule is deleted -- every transaction it already posted stays in your books.

Frequency Details

Tip: For a monthly schedule late in the month, fill in Day of Month. Without it, a schedule that once falls on February 28 continues on the 28th; with Day of Month set to 31 it goes back to the last day of each month.

Using an AI Assistant

If your church has connected an AI assistant, it can list your recurring transactions, set new ones up, edit them, post or skip the next one, and pause or resume them -- each after your approval. Deleting one is done on this page. See Recurring Transactions and Auto-Post Through an AI Assistant.

Best Practices

Use Auto-Post for fixed amounts. If the amount never changes (rent, a fixed subscription, a set missionary support), Auto-Post saves you the step.

Post variable amounts by hand. For utilities or other bills whose amount changes, leave Auto-Post off. The recurring transaction reminds you on this page, and you can record the real amount when the bill arrives.

Do not record the same payment twice. If the same payment also arrives through your bank import, exclude that bank row when you review it, or leave Auto-Post off for that recurring transaction.

Set end dates for temporary commitments. If you support a missionary for 12 months or rent a space for a season, set the End Date so the schedule stops by itself.

Review before you reconcile. Look over this page each month -- especially Overdue lines and the Due This Week count -- and compare with your bank statement.

Related Articles

• Recording Transactions
• Bank Reconciliation
• Bills and Payments
• Year-End Close
• Simple vs. Advanced Accounting Mode
• Audit Log
• Recurring Transactions and Auto-Post Through an AI Assistant