Monthly retainers: bill every installment on time

To bill a monthly retainer without missing an installment, turn it into a recurring invoice: you set the client, the lines, how often it repeats and the day of the month, and each installment is generated on its date. In AgentticCRM, recurring invoices can be generated and sent on their own, or wait for someone to generate them if you prefer to review them first. Hours that go beyond the retainer are billed separately, from the project, with the time your team logged.

Picture a marketing agency with eleven retainer clients. Most pay on the 1st, two asked for the 15th and one pays every three months. The person who issues invoices tracks it all in a spreadsheet and calendar reminders. One month she goes on vacation, another month a client moves up a plan and the old fee keeps going out. At the end of the quarter someone checks the bank and finds that one client was never invoiced for March. Asking for an installment three months late is awkward for both sides and usually ends in a negotiation.

Why an installment that never changes slips through

A fixed fee looks like the easiest thing to bill, so nobody watches it. It depends on one person's memory and on a list updated by hand. Each client has its own day, its own frequency and sometimes its own billing contact. When the agreement changes, next month's invoice tends to go out with the old amount because the change stayed in an email.

There is a second problem: an installment that went out can still sit unpaid for months. If nobody checks the balance, the retainer keeps running in practice while the client's debt grows. We cover that case in more detail in the article on unpaid invoices outside the CRM.

How to set up the retainer as a recurring invoice

You start from an invoice with the retainer's lines, or from the accepted proposal that started it, and mark it as recurring. In Invoices you choose whether it repeats every month or every few months and the day it is generated, from the 1st to the 28th, a day that exists in every month. The schedule stays visible with its next date, so it no longer depends on someone remembering.

If the retainer changes, you stop the old schedule and set up a new one with the updated amount. Installments already issued are never rewritten: if part of a month has to be refunded or discounted, you do it with a credit note linked to the original invoice, with its reason and the resulting balance.

Automatic or reviewed before it goes out

With automation turned on, each installment is generated on its date, in your organization's time zone, and sent by email from your organization's address. That suits fixed-amount retainers with a client who asks for nothing special on each invoice.

Leave it off when you need to check something every month before sending, for example a client who requires their purchase order number on every invoice, or an agreement with a variable part. In that case installments are not sent on their own: you generate them when they are due, review them and send them. You can mix both modes by client, as long as the team knows which ones go out alone and which ones wait for a person.

The hours that go past the retainer

Many retainers include a number of hours per month, and anything beyond that is billed separately. For that, time has to be logged where the work happens. In Tasks and time each person logs hours with the timer or by hand, and a task marked as billable carries its hourly rate.

At the end of the month you create the invoice from the project: AgentticCRM prepares a draft with the hours not yet invoiced, at their rate. Hours already invoiced are not billed again, and if you discard the draft they go back to pending. The fixed fee stays on its recurring invoice and the extra hours go on a separate invoice, which helps the client see what they pay for each item. If you also paid for something on the client's behalf, expenses marked as billable show up ready to be added to that invoice.

Following the payment of each installment

Once sent, every invoice has its balance. You can send reminders by hand, one at a time or in bulk, or turn on automatic notices before and after the due date. The advance notices start at 10, 5 and 1 days and you can change them; for a specific client you adjust the frequency, turn off advance notices or choose to send to all their billing contacts.

When the client pays, the team records the payment, partial or full, and the balance updates. If your client has access to the Client portal, they see their invoices, what was paid and what is pending there, and Pay now takes them to your organization's own payment page. The balance goes down when your team records that payment.

If your retainer is a maintenance contract with site visits, the article on installation and maintenance, from site visit to invoice follows that whole workflow.

Frequently asked questions

Can I schedule a quarterly retainer?

Yes. A recurring invoice can repeat every month or every few months, so a quarterly retainer is set up the same way as a monthly one, with the day of the month it should be generated.

Are recurring invoices sent automatically?

Only if you turn on the automation. Then each installment is generated on its date and goes out by email from your organization's address. With automation off, you generate them when they are due.

How do I bill the hours beyond the retainer?

Log them on tasks marked as billable and create the invoice from the project. The draft includes only the hours not yet invoiced, at their hourly rate.

Does AgentticCRM do the retainer's accounting?

No. It records the invoices, payments and expenses tied to the client; general accounting and bank reconciliation stay with your accountant.