Recurring Transactions and Auto-Post Through an AI Assistant
Rent, the internet bill, a monthly support payment to a missionary, a standing rental income -- some income and expenses repeat on a schedule. A recurring transaction stores one of them as a template: the account, the amount, how often, and the next date. With Auto-Post on, TimelyChurch records the transaction for you on each due date. With Auto-Post off, the template waits until someone posts it.
You can manage recurring transactions on the Recurring Transactions page in Accounting (open the Setup ▾ menu -- More ▾ in Simple Checkbook -- and click Recurring; see Recurring Transactions), or by asking your connected AI assistant (see Connect an AI Assistant (MCP Connector)). This article covers the assistant and how Auto-Post works. As with every change an assistant makes, you see a preview first and nothing happens until it is approved.
What a Recurring Transaction Holds
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Type | Income or expense. |
| Amount | The same amount every time. |
| Bank account | One of your church's bank accounts. |
| Frequency | Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly. |
| Day of month | For a monthly template. In a shorter month the last day is used. |
| Next date | The first (or next) date to post -- today or later. |
| End date | Optional. Once the schedule passes it, the template pauses itself. |
| Category, payee, fund | Optional. The category must match the type (an income category for income, an expense category for an expense). |
| Description | Copied into every transaction the template posts -- write it as you want it to read in your books. |
| Auto-Post | On or off. |
What You Can Ask the Assistant
| Ask for | What happens | Permission on Accounting |
|---|---|---|
| "Show our recurring transactions" | A list, soonest first: description, amount, frequency, next date, active or paused, Auto-Post on or off, and which ones are due now or within the next 7 days. | View |
| "Set up a recurring expense…" | A new template. Nothing is posted by setting it up. | Create |
| "Change the amount of…" | The template is edited. Only future postings are affected; transactions already posted stay as they are. | Edit |
| "Post the rent now" | One transaction is recorded, dated today, and the next date moves forward by one period. | Create |
| "Skip this month's…" | Nothing is recorded, and the next date moves forward by one period. | Edit |
| "Pause…" / "Resume…" | A paused template never posts and cannot be posted or skipped until it is resumed. Its schedule is kept. | Edit |
The assistant cannot delete a template. Pause it, or delete it on the Recurring Transactions page.
Approval. Each of these is approved in the chat, according to your church's Approval in the chat setting. Because a template with Auto-Post on goes on to record transactions with no further step, setting one up, editing one, or resuming one counts as a change that posts to your books: with Only changes that post to the ledger selected, it still waits for your "Approve". See Approving Changes an AI Assistant Proposes.
How Auto-Post Works
Once a day TimelyChurch looks at 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. The check runs at 06:10 UTC and uses your church's time zone to decide what "today" is. A transaction due on the 1st is recorded on the 1st by your calendar -- early in the morning or late in the evening, depending on where you are -- and never before the 1st.
- The transaction is dated the scheduled date, not the moment it was recorded.
- One transaction per template per day. After posting, the next date moves forward by one period.
- It never posts twice. If someone posts the same occurrence by hand at the same moment, only one transaction is recorded.
Missed dates are not filled in afterwards
If a template falls behind -- for example it was paused for six months and then resumed -- Auto-Post records only the most recent due date and skips the older ones. A monthly template resumed after six months posts this month's transaction, not seven. When you resume such a template, the preview tells you how many dates will be skipped.
If you do want the missed ones in your books, record them yourself as ordinary transactions.
When a date cannot be posted
Auto-Post leaves a date out, moves the schedule on to the next date, and records a notice when:
- the date falls in a closed fiscal year;
- the date falls inside a completed bank reconciliation of the template's account;
- the template's bank account has been archived;
- its category, payee or fund is no longer active.
Nothing is posted into a period or an account you have closed. Fix the template (ask the assistant to change the account or category, or click Edit on the Recurring Transactions page) so the following dates post again.
Seeing what was posted
- The transactions appear in your books like any other, on the Transactions tab, and in the Audit Log as an automatic change.
- Every automatic posting, every skipped date 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. Open the Recurring Transactions page, ask the assistant to list your recurring transactions, or look at the Activity tab to check on them.
Posting by Hand
For a template with Auto-Post off -- or to record one early -- ask the assistant to post it now, or click Post Now on the Recurring Transactions page. The transaction is dated today on your church's calendar. It is refused, with the reason, when today falls in a closed fiscal year or inside a completed reconciliation of that account, and when the template is paused.
Good Practice
- Use Auto-Post for amounts that never vary -- rent, a fixed subscription. For amounts that change each time, such as utilities, leave Auto-Post off and record the real amount when the bill arrives.
- Set an end date when you know one, such as the last payment of a lease.
- Do not record the same payment twice. If the payment also arrives through your bank import, exclude that bank row or leave Auto-Post off for it.
- Review before you reconcile. Look over the Recurring Transactions page (or ask the assistant for the list) each month and compare it with your bank statement.