Using repeating invoices in Xero to get PO numbers before the invoice due date

Summary

• A repeating invoice in Xero is a template that automatically creates an invoice on a schedule you set, weekly, monthly or annually.
• Because the schedule is fixed, you always know when the next invoice is coming, which is a rare piece of certainty when chasing a PO.
• That certainty lets you ask for the next PO ahead of the run, so the invoice goes out already referencing a valid number instead of being parked on arrival.
• The catch: a repeating template carries one fixed Reference. If your corporate customer issues a new PO each period, the old number goes stale and every invoice generates with the wrong one.
• Trove attaches a pre-due reminder to each recurring invoice, routed to the contact who holds the PO, so the request goes out automatically every cycle in good time.

What repeating invoices are in Xero

A repeating invoice is a template that generates invoices for you on a set schedule, so you don’t have to raise the same invoice every month. It’s Xero’s tool for retainers, subscriptions, recurring service fees and any other billing that comes round on a cycle.

When you set one up (New > Repeating invoice) you choose:

• How often it repeats, for example every 1 month, or every 12 months for an annual renewal.
• The start date, the due date terms, and an optional end date.
• What Xero does when each one generates, save it as a draft for you to review, approve it automatically, or approve and email it to the customer.
• The Reference field, which is where a PO number goes, and which supports placeholders so you can slot in the period being billed.

Once it’s running, Xero creates each invoice on schedule using whatever is on the template.

Why repeating invoices help you get POs in place

Chasing a PO is often a scramble because each time you raise an invoice, you have to remember to ask for a PO (and busy directors have been known to forget things). However, if an invoice is repeating on a fixed schedule, you know exactly when you need to ask for a new PO.

For example, if you know the March retainer invoice generates on 1 March with 30-day terms, you can ask the customer to confirm the PO for it in mid-February before the invoice even exists. Before sending the invoice, you can ensure it carries a valid PO so it goes straight on the customer’s pay run.

The limitations of Xero’s repeating invoices

There’s one catch - the Reference field on the template is fixed. Xero copies it onto every invoice the template generates.

If your customer’s procurement team issues one standing PO that covers the whole contract, that’s fine. Put it in the Reference field once and every invoice carries it. But many corporates issue a fresh PO each invoice, or a new one each financial year, or cap a PO at a set value so it runs out partway through the contract. When that happens:

• The template keeps stamping the old PO number onto new invoices.
• Those invoices fail the match, because the PO they name is closed, exhausted or superseded.
• Every single recurring invoice gets parked, on autopilot, until someone notices.

How to automate repeating invoices and PO numbers with Trove

Trove uses the known schedule of the repeating invoice to get a PO number in place automatically, every month. Here’s the process:

• Trove checks when the next repeating invoice will be generated and sends a request for a PO number 14 days in advance
• That request is sent to the right team: procurement, not to accounts payable
• Once the PO number is received, Trove transfers it to the invoice in question and sends it to accounts payable

This takes all the work off your plate. Instead of remembering to edit a template and chase a buyer before each run, the request goes out on its own, to the right person, ahead of the due date, and the recurring invoice stops being a recurring problem.

The hub for this cluster shows how this sits alongside the other two levers.