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Expenses
Recurring Expenses

Setting Up Recurring Expenses

Overview

Automate your regular business expenses with recurring expense tracking. Set it once, and Akili Apps automatically creates expenses for subscriptions, rent, utilities, and other repeating costs.

What You'll Learn

  • What recurring expenses are
  • How to create recurring expenses
  • Managing and editing recurring patterns
  • Skipping or pausing occurrences
  • Common recurring expense examples
  • Troubleshooting recurring expenses

What Are Recurring Expenses?

Recurring expenses are business costs that repeat on a regular schedule:

Monthly:

  • Software subscriptions (Adobe, Microsoft 365)
  • Office rent
  • Insurance premiums
  • Phone and internet bills

Quarterly:

  • Estimated tax payments
  • Quarterly software licenses
  • Maintenance contracts

Annual:

  • Annual subscriptions
  • Business license renewals
  • Domain renewals
  • Professional association dues

Benefits of recurring expenses:

  • ✅ Never forget to record regular expenses
  • ✅ Maintain accurate month-to-month tracking
  • ✅ Better budgeting and forecasting
  • ✅ Consistent categorization
  • ✅ Time savings

Creating a Recurring Expense

Method 1: From New Expense

  1. Click "+ New Expense"
  2. Fill in expense details as normal:
    • Merchant name
    • Amount
    • Category
    • Payment method
    • Description
  3. Toggle "Make Recurring" switch (below amount field)
  4. Recurring settings panel appears
  5. Configure recurrence (see settings below)
  6. Click "Save Expense"

Method 2: Convert Existing Expense

  1. Open an existing expense
  2. Click "Edit"
  3. Toggle "Make Recurring" switch
  4. Configure recurrence settings
  5. Click "Save Changes"

This is useful when you realize an expense repeats after entering it once.

Method 3: From Recurring Expenses Page

  1. Navigate to Expenses > Recurring
  2. Click "+ New Recurring Expense"
  3. Fill in template details
  4. Configure recurrence
  5. Save

Recurrence Settings

Frequency Options

Daily

  • Every X days
  • Example: Every 7 days for weekly expenses

Weekly

  • Every X weeks
  • Select days of week
  • Example: Every Monday

Monthly

  • Every X months
  • Day of month (1-31)
  • Or: First/Last [Day] of month
  • Examples:
    • 1st of every month
    • Last Friday of every month
    • 15th of every 2 months

Quarterly

  • Every 3 months
  • Starting month
  • Day of month

Yearly

  • Every year
  • Select month and day
  • Example: January 15 every year

Start and End Dates

Start Date:

  • Date of first occurrence
  • Can be today or future date
  • Past dates allowed (for backdated recurring expenses)

End Date Options:

  • Never - Continues indefinitely
  • After X occurrences - Stops after number of times
  • On specific date - Ends on chosen date

Examples:

  • Monthly subscription: Start today, Never end
  • Quarterly tax payments: Start Q1, After 4 occurrences
  • Annual insurance: Start Jan 1, On Dec 31, 2026

Amount Settings

Fixed Amount:

  • Same amount every time
  • Example: $19.99/month software subscription

Variable Amount:

  • Set amount as $0 or leave blank
  • Reminder created, enter actual amount when expense occurs
  • Example: Utility bills (amount varies monthly)

Amount with Variance:

  • Base amount with expected range
  • System warns if actual amount differs significantly
  • Example: $100 ± 20% for phone bill

Managing Recurring Expenses

Viewing Recurring Expenses

  1. Navigate to Expenses > Recurring
  2. See list of all recurring expense templates:
    • Merchant name
    • Amount
    • Frequency
    • Next occurrence date
    • Status (Active, Paused, Ended)

Dashboard Preview

On the main dashboard:

  • "Upcoming Recurring" widget shows next 5 recurring expenses
  • Due date and amount
  • Quick action buttons

Recurring Expense Details

Click any recurring expense to see:

  • Template details (merchant, amount, category, etc.)
  • Recurrence pattern
  • History of created occurrences
  • Upcoming occurrences (next 6 months)
  • Total spent (all time)

Editing Recurring Expenses

Edit Template

  1. Open recurring expense
  2. Click "Edit Template"
  3. Modify any settings:
    • Merchant, amount, category
    • Recurrence frequency
    • Start/end dates
  4. Choose scope:
    • Future occurrences only (recommended)
    • All occurrences (past and future)
  5. Save changes

Note: Past occurrences already created won't change (unless you select "All occurrences").

Edit Single Occurrence

When a recurring expense is created:

  1. Find it in regular expense list
  2. Edit like any normal expense
  3. Changes only affect that one occurrence
  4. Template remains unchanged

Useful for: One-time price changes, special circumstances

Pausing Recurring Expenses

Temporarily stop a recurring expense:

How to Pause

  1. Open recurring expense template
  2. Click "Pause" button
  3. Choose pause duration:
    • Pause for 1 month
    • Pause for 3 months
    • Pause for 6 months
    • Pause indefinitely (until I resume)
    • Custom date range
  4. Confirm pause

What happens:

  • No new expenses created during pause period
  • Template remains in system
  • Automatically resumes after pause period (if date set)
  • Can manually resume anytime

When to Pause

  • Canceled subscription (but might resubscribe)
  • Seasonal expenses (winter only)
  • Temporary suspension of service
  • Business on hold

Resuming Paused Expenses

  1. Open paused recurring expense
  2. Click "Resume" button
  3. Set next occurrence date
  4. Confirm

Skipping Occurrences

Skip a single upcoming occurrence:

How to Skip

  1. Dashboard upcoming widget or Recurring expenses page
  2. Find upcoming occurrence
  3. Click "Skip This Occurrence"
  4. Options:
    • Skip and adjust future dates (push everything back)
    • Skip but keep future dates same
  5. Confirm skip

Use cases:

  • Prepaid for 2 months, skip one
  • Service temporarily suspended
  • Already manually entered this month

Ending Recurring Expenses

Permanently stop a recurring expense:

How to End

  1. Open recurring expense template
  2. Click "End Recurring" button
  3. Choose end date:
    • End after this month's occurrence
    • End immediately (cancel upcoming)
    • End on specific date
  4. Choose what to do with template:
    • Archive template (recommended)
    • Delete template
  5. Confirm

What happens:

  • No new occurrences created after end date
  • Past occurrences remain in expense history
  • Template archived or deleted based on your choice

When to End

  • Canceled subscription permanently
  • Service no longer needed
  • Business expense no longer relevant
  • Switching to different provider

Common Recurring Expense Examples

Software Subscriptions

Adobe Creative Cloud - $54.99/month

  • Frequency: Monthly, 1st of month
  • Category: Office Expenses or Equipment & Technology
  • Payment Method: Credit Card
  • End: Never

Microsoft 365 - $12.99/month

  • Frequency: Monthly, 15th
  • Category: Office Expenses
  • Payment Method: Credit Card

Utilities & Services

Internet Service - $75/month (variable)

  • Frequency: Monthly, 25th
  • Category: Telecommunications
  • Amount: Variable (set to $0, enter actual when billed)

Office Rent - $1,500/month

  • Frequency: Monthly, 1st
  • Category: Rent & Utilities
  • Payment Method: E-Transfer

Insurance

Business Liability Insurance - $1,200/year

  • Frequency: Yearly, January 1
  • Category: Insurance
  • Payment Method: Credit Card
  • Can split into monthly: $100/month

Taxes

Quarterly Tax Payments - Variable

  • Frequency: Quarterly (Jan 15, Apr 15, Jul 15, Oct 15)
  • Category: Taxes (if available) or Professional Fees
  • Amount: Variable (set estimated amount)

Memberships

Professional Association Dues - $300/year

  • Frequency: Yearly, renewal date
  • Category: Professional Development
  • End: After 1 occurrence (re-evaluate annually)

Notifications

Stay on top of recurring expenses:

Notification Settings

Go to Settings > Notifications > Recurring Expenses

Available notifications:

  • ☑ 3 days before recurring expense due
  • ☑ Day of recurring expense
  • ☑ If recurring expense fails to create
  • ☑ When recurring expense is paused
  • ☑ When recurring expense is ending soon

Email Notifications

Receive email reminders:

  • Subject: "Upcoming: Adobe Creative Cloud - $54.99"
  • Quick link to view/edit expense
  • Option to skip this occurrence

Dashboard Notifications

"Upcoming Recurring" widget:

  • Shows expenses due in next 7 days
  • Color-coded by urgency:
    • Green: 7+ days away
    • Yellow: 3-7 days away
    • Red: Due today or overdue

Tips & Best Practices

  • Review monthly - Check recurring expenses are still needed
  • Use variable amounts for utilities - Set to $0, enter actual amount
  • Set reminders - Enable notifications for review
  • Tag with "recurring" - Makes filtering easier
  • Annual review - Once a year, audit all recurring expenses
  • Pause instead of delete - Easier to resume than recreate
  • Keep descriptions updated - Note plan changes ("upgraded to Pro")
  • Track subscription trials - End date when trial expires

Troubleshooting

Recurring Expense Didn't Create

Possible reasons:

  1. Template is paused - Check status, resume if needed
  2. End date reached - Template may have expired
  3. Bank sync conflict - If bank imported same expense, duplicate prevented
  4. System error - Check notifications or contact support

To fix:

  • Manually create missed occurrence
  • Check template settings
  • Contact support if recurring

Wrong Amount Created

If amount is incorrect:

  1. Edit the created expense (not template)
  2. Correct the amount
  3. If error in template, edit template for future occurrences

Need to Change All Past Occurrences

Not directly possible, but:

  1. Filter expenses by merchant name or tag
  2. Use bulk edit to update past occurrences
  3. Update template for future

Delete All Occurrences

  1. End recurring template
  2. Choose "Archive" or "Delete"
  3. Go to Expenses page
  4. Filter by merchant
  5. Bulk select and delete

Common Questions

Q: Can I have multiple recurring expenses for the same merchant? A: Yes! Example: Two different Adobe subscriptions or multiple Netflix accounts.

Q: What happens if I miss entering a variable amount? A: Expense is created with $0 amount. You'll receive a reminder to update it.

Q: Can I make an existing expense recurring retroactively? A: You can convert it to recurring for future, but past months need manual entry or import.

Q: Do recurring expenses work with bank sync? A: Yes! Bank sync will match transactions to recurring expenses automatically.

Q: Can I set recurring expenses for business days only? A: Use "Monthly - Last business day" option, or set to specific date and adjust as needed.

Q: Will pausing affect my reports? A: No, past occurrences remain. Only future expenses won't be created during pause.

Q: Can I duplicate a recurring expense template? A: Yes! Open template, click "Duplicate", modify as needed.

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Need More Help?

Contact support at support@akiliapps.com or use the live chat in the bottom right corner of the app.

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