Retainers

A retainer is an invoice that repeats every month. You set it up once from a draft invoice, and Forge raises the next one on the day you chose.

Starting a retainer is part of the paid plans.

Set up a retainer

1. Create a draft invoice for the client, with the line items you want to bill each month. See Invoices and deposits.
2. On the draft, find Repeats monthly and switch it on.
3. Give it a Retainer name.
4. Choose Bill on the: any day from the 1st to the 28th.
5. Choose Payment due: 7, 14 or 30 days after billing.
6. Choose the First bill: now, or on the next billing day.
7. Leave Send automatically on to have each invoice emailed for you.

Retainers bill monthly. Other intervals are not available.

What happens each month

On the billing day, in your timezone, Forge raises that month's invoice.

• With Send automatically on, it is emailed to the client with a link to pay.
• With it off, the invoice lands as a draft for you to check and send.
• If Stripe is not connected, it lands as a draft either way.

Nothing is ever taken from a client's card automatically. The client pays each invoice themselves.

Pause, resume or cancel

Open Invoices → Recurring to see your retainers, each marked Active, Paused or Cancelled.

• Pause stops new invoices until you Resume. After resuming, the next invoice goes out on the next billing day.
• Edit changes its settings. A cancelled retainer can't be edited.
• Cancel ends it. The client is not billed again, invoices already raised are unaffected, and it can't be undone.

If your plan lapses, retainers you already have keep billing. You need a paid plan to start or resume one.

Packages of sessions

A package is a block of sessions a client buys up front, such as ten coaching sessions.

1. Open the client and find Packages.
2. Choose Sell a package.
3. Set How many sessions, a Name, and the Price per session.
4. Under What it covers, choose Any booking or one event type.
5. Optionally set Use it by.
6. Under How they're paying, choose Raise an invoice or Already paid me.

When that client books a session the package covers, it is drawn from the package. If they have more than one, the one that expires soonest is used first.

A package shows as Awaiting payment, Active, All used, Lapsed, Expired, Refunded or Cancelled.