Recurring Bills

Documentation Index

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Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

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What Recurring Bills Do

A recurring bill template tells Arcus when to create future vendor bills, who the vendor is, which GL accounts should be used, and what amount should be generated each time. Generated bills then move through the normal AP workflow.

• Templates can run weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.
• Each template needs a vendor, next bill date, frequency, and at least one positive line item.
• Generated bills can still require approval before they are posted or paid.
• Templates can be paused, resumed, edited, manually run, or deactivated.
• Existing generated bills remain in AP even if the template is later deactivated.

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When to Use a Template

• Use a template when the vendor, amount, and accounting treatment are predictable.
• Use a normal AP bill when the charge is one time, uncertain, or needs detailed invoice review first.
• Use a PO-linked bill when the charge should be matched to received purchasing activity.
• Use vendor credits when the vendor owes you money back instead of sending a new bill.

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Create or Edit a Template

1. Go to Accounting.
2. Open Recurring Bills under Payables.
3. Click New Recurring Bill, or use the row action to edit an existing template.
4. Enter a clear template name.
5. Select the vendor.
6. Add an optional description for AP review.
7. Choose the frequency and next bill date.
8. Select payment terms when the template should override the vendor default.
9. Add one or more line items with GL account, description, and amount.
10. Click Create Template or Save Changes.

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Choose the Schedule

The next bill date is the next date Arcus considers the template due. After a successful run, Arcus advances the schedule based on the frequency.

• Weekly: use for bills that repeat every week.
• Monthly: use for rent, subscriptions, retainers, and routine monthly services.
• Quarterly: use for premiums, fees, or reporting-driven vendor charges.
• Annually: use for yearly licenses, memberships, or renewals.
• End Date: stops future generation after the final allowed date.

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Pause and Allocate

Pause windows let you temporarily skip generation without deleting the template. GL allocation controls whether generated lines keep their line-level GL accounts or split each run across multiple GL accounts.

• Pause Windows: add a start date, end date, and reason when a template should not run during a known period.
• Fixed allocation: uses the GL account selected on each line item.
• Percent of total: splits generated bill lines across selected GL accounts.
• 100 percent total: percent allocations must add up to 100 before the template can be saved.

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Advanced Options

Advanced scheduling controls are useful when the bill date, effective date, or notification behavior needs to differ from the next run date.

• Bill date offset: adjusts the bill date relative to the scheduled run date.
• Effective date offset: adjusts the accounting effective date relative to the bill date.
• Day of month: keeps monthly-style schedules tied to a chosen calendar day.
• Email on generate: sends a notice when a bill is generated.
• Attachments: saves supporting files on the template for future generated bills.

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Run One Template Now

Use Run now when one template should generate a vendor bill immediately. Arcus shows the amount and the next scheduled run date before you confirm.

1. Find the active template row.
2. Click the Run now action.
3. Review the vendor, amount, and schedule message.
4. Click Run Now only when the bill should be created.
5. Review the generated bill in AP Bills before payment.

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Run All Due Templates

Run All Due starts with a preview. The preview shows how many templates are due, how many will create bills, and how many are paused or expired.

1. Click Run All Due.
2. Review the preview counts.
3. Confirm that paused and expired templates are expected to be skipped.
4. Click Run Now only when the due bills should be created.
5. Use the completion summary to open any generated bills.

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View Run History

Run History shows recent scheduled, manual, and batch runs for the selected template. Use it to confirm whether a bill was created, skipped, or blocked.

• Created: a vendor bill was generated and can be opened from the history row.
• Paused: the template was due, but a pause window skipped it.
• Expired: the template reached its end date.
• Duplicate: a run was skipped to avoid creating the same bill twice.
• Error: review the message and correct the template or related setup before running again.

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Deactivate a Template

Deactivate a template when it should stop generating future bills. Deactivation does not remove vendor bills already created from that template.

1. Find the active template row.
2. Click the Deactivate action.
3. Read the confirmation message.
4. Click Deactivate when the template should stop running.

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Common Blocks

• Create Template is disabled: add a name, vendor, frequency, next bill date, and positive line item total.
• Vendor is missing: confirm the account exists as an active vendor.
• GL account cannot be selected: choose a posting account allowed for AP expense lines.
• End date is rejected: the end date must be on or after the next bill date.
• Pause window is rejected: each pause window needs a start date and end date, and the end cannot be before the start.
• Allocation is rejected: percent allocation needs selected GL accounts and a 100 percent total.
• Email notification is rejected: add at least one valid recipient when Email on generate is enabled.
• Run All Due is disabled: no due templates are available to create after paused and expired templates are skipped.
• Generated bill cannot be paid: review AP approval, posting status, payment setup, credits, bank account, and accounting period locks.

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