Creating a Scheduled Transaction
How to create a recurring ledger pattern and what the schedule, linked-record, and amount fields control.
For a cost that repeats, such as van insurance, you don't need this popup: choose how often it Repeats in Add expense on Accounts > Expenses, and stop it there with Stop on the Repeating Costs tab.
For other kinds of transaction, such as a regular payment coming in, the quickest way is to switch on Repeats on the Schedule tab of New Transaction. You can also click New Scheduled Transaction on the Scheduled Transactions page, under Accounts > Scheduled Transactions in the menu. In multi-business setups, the popup can start on a Business tab first. After that, the recurring setup is split across Transaction, Schedule, Linked Records, and Details tabs so you can build the pattern in a logical order. Customer-linked schedules are now job-led in the same way as one-off transactions.
Transaction Tab
- Transaction Type: Choose what the schedule adds each time: a Charge, Payment, Expense or Tip. Refunds and write-offs don't repeat: each has its own popup, from the payment or the debt, which keeps it to what's left to give back or what's owed. A schedule set up before as a refund, write-off or adjustment keeps its type when it's edited. Transfer isn't offered either.
- Status: Set this to Active if the schedule should run. Use Inactive only when you want to save the setup without a live next due date.
- Starts On: This is the anchor date for the recurring pattern. Work Planner uses it as the first due date when nothing has been processed yet.
Schedule Section
The schedule controls the repeat pattern itself. Choose the frequency, interval, and any week or day rules until the summary reads the way you expect. This is the part that decides how the next due date is calculated after each processed occurrence.
Linked Records
- Job: Link one job when the recurring ledger row belongs to customer work. Charge, payment, refund, tip, write-off, and adjustment schedules should all have a job.
- Customer: This is now derived from the selected job for customer-linked schedules. Expense schedules can still stay without a customer or job when they are pure business costs.
- Service: Useful when the recurring amount belongs to one service line.
- Payment Method: Important for recurring payments, especially where fee handling depends on the method.
- Expense Category: Use this for recurring expenses or write-offs so future rows land in the right reporting bucket.
- Vehicle: The van or car a repeating cost or payment is for, such as its finance or insurance. As the hint says, Each one it makes counts against this vehicle in its reports. Those include the Vehicles Report. It shows for expenses, charges, payments and tips once your business has a vehicle, if your role can see vehicles.
Transaction Details
- Amount: The recurring gross amount.
- VAT Rate, VAT, and Net Amount: Set the VAT rate and Work Planner takes the VAT out of the amount, which includes it: £120 at 20% is £20 VAT and £100 net.
- Payment Reference: Use this if the recurring pattern should carry a recognisable reference into each created row.
- Description: Keep this clear because it will repeat into generated transactions and help people identify them later.
What Save Can Do Immediately
- Creates the recurring setup: The scheduled transaction appears on the list straight away.
- Can catch up from the past: If the schedule is active and the next due date is today or earlier, Work Planner can create the missing historical occurrences up to today.
- Can create payment fee expenses: For recurring payments with a fee-bearing payment method, each generated payment can create its related fee expense as well.
Related articles
- Scheduled Transactions List: Shows where the new recurring setup appears after saving.
- Editing a Scheduled Transaction: Useful when a live recurring pattern needs correcting.
- Linked Entity Selection Flows: Covers the linked-record selector behaviour in more detail.