Recurring transactions are always an afterthought for me. I know how helpful recurring transactions are once they are setup, but the setup has been the intimidating part. I used some time playing around with the options, and now I feel much more confident.
Here are the types of recurring transactions and how they are used. The video shows you how to set them up:
- Scheduled: Automatically creates a transaction on the schedule you set. This is only for transactions that are the same every time because the transaction is actually created and posted. This works well for rents, contracts, debt payments, certain utilities.
- Reminder: Creates a notification for a transaction on the schedule you set. The transaction isn’t created until you click on the notification. This works well for utilities where the amount changes each month, regular contracted services, regular deposits (e.g. the Sunday offering), and journal entries for monthly investment activity.
- Unscheduled: This is really just a template you can use to create transactions on demand. I would use these for complicated transactions. The example I give is stock gifts.
Useful Links
- QuickBooks’ written instructions: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/configure-products/create-recurring-transactions-in-quickbooks-online/00/186472