WordPress Recurring Invoices: How Recurring Payments Work with Bit CRM
The 3rd of the month arrives, and so does the same task. Open last month’s invoice, copy the line items, cha...
Onie Dutta
8 min read
Creating an invoice is easy when every sale looks the same. But many WordPress businesses do not work that way.
An agency may charge separately for design, development, and maintenance. A consultant might invoice for a fixed service plus additional hours. A business using WooCommerce may need to add an existing store product alongside a custom service that was never sold through the normal checkout.
That is where a custom invoice in WordPress CRM becomes useful.
Instead of forcing every charge into a WooCommerce order, you can create an invoice around the actual client agreement. With Bit CRM, an invoice can combine products already stored in your CRM, products from WooCommerce, and one-off custom line items. You can then adjust quantity, pricing, discounts, taxes, payment terms, client details, and invoice content before sending it.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to create a custom invoice in WordPress with Bit CRM, including the exact steps for adding products and services, customizing the invoice, checking the totals, and sending it to your client.
To create a custom invoice with Bit CRM:
You can mix WooCommerce products, Bit CRM products, and custom services on the same invoice.
A custom invoice is an invoice you create around a specific transaction rather than relying only on a predefined ecommerce order. This is where a WordPress CRM becomes useful; it lets you manage the client relationship and billing details in one place. For example, suppose you are building a website for a client. The final bill includes:
Some of those items may already exist as products in WordPress or WooCommerce. Others may be services priced specifically for that client.
A custom invoice within your WordPress CRM lets you put all of them into one invoice and control the details for each line item. It is important to distinguish this from customizing a WooCommerce invoice template.
In this guide, “custom invoice” means customizing the billing information, products or services, prices, quantities, discounts, taxes, written content, payment terms, and other invoice details for a client all managed through your CRM. It does not mean building a completely new PDF layout with a drag-and-drop invoice template designer.
WooCommerce works well when a customer visits your store, chooses a product, completes checkout, and generates an order.
Client work often starts somewhere else.
A lead contacts you. You discuss their requirements. The lead becomes a client. You create a deal, agree on the work, decide the price, and then send an invoice.
Creating the invoice from the CRM keeps those steps connected.
Bit CRM invoices are linked to deals. Once you select the deal, the CRM can carry relevant contact information into the invoice rather than making you enter the customer again. Products associated with your sales process can also be used when building the invoice. So the workflow becomes:
Client → Deal → Products or Services → Invoice
This is particularly useful when you sell services, negotiate prices, create B2B deals, or bill clients outside the normal WooCommerce checkout flow.
After installing and activating Bit CRM, a little setup will save you from correcting the same information on every invoice.
Open Bit CRM and go to Settings → Invoice Settings
There are two main areas:
1. Prefix Settings: Set the prefix used before your invoice numbers. For example: INV-0001
The invoice prefix can contain up to 10 characters.
2. Configure Payment Terms: Here you can create reusable payment terms such as:
Each term contains a name and a number of days.
If you select Net 30 when creating an invoice, Bit CRM calculates the due date based on 30 days from the invoice date. You do not need to calculate the date manually.
You can also reach this configuration area from the Terms field while creating an invoice.
Before sending an invoice, make sure your general Bit CRM settings contain the correct business information, including your business name, logo, and address. Check the business information from Settings>General Settings.
These details appear on the invoice, so it is better to configure them before you begin invoicing clients.
Bit CRM creates invoices against deals. That means the client and the related sales opportunity should already exist as a deal before you create the invoice.
This connection is important because selecting a deal lets Bit CRM pull the client’s information into the invoice rather than requiring you to start with an empty billing document.
Now we can create the invoice.
From your WordPress dashboard, open Bit CRM, then go to: Invoices → Create Invoice
This opens the invoice builder.
The form contains the invoice details and a preview, allowing you to see how the final invoice will look while you work on it. Bit CRM’s current invoice module provides a live preview as invoice information and line items are added.
Start with the basic invoice information. You’ll see fields for details such as:
The invoice number uses the prefix you configured in Invoice Settings.
Select the appropriate invoice date and payment term. Once you choose a saved payment term, Bit CRM can calculate the due date automatically. For example:
Invoice date: August 15
Payment term: Net 15 or Custom
Due date: August 30
This makes your payment deadline clear without manually working out the dates every time.
Next, search for the deal connected to this invoice. Once you select it, Bit CRM pulls the related client information into the invoice.
Check the billing information carefully before continuing.
This is one of the useful differences between creating a standalone invoice and creating an invoice from a CRM deal. You are working from an existing customer relationship instead of creating an unrelated billing record.
Now we get to the main part of creating a custom invoice in WordPress. Click Add Line Item. Bit CRM gives you three product sources:
You are not restricted to one source. Bit CRM allows WooCommerce, Local, and Custom items to be mixed within the same invoice.
That makes the invoice useful for transactions where standard products and custom work are billed together.
If the product already exists in WooCommerce, select Woo. You can then search your WooCommerce products and add the relevant item to the invoice.
The Woo source is useful when you already maintain your product catalog, pricing, and tax information in WooCommerce but need to include one of those products in a client-specific CRM invoice. Bit CRM can pull WooCommerce products into the invoice instead of making you recreate them manually. For example, an agency might invoice a client for:
Electronic Digital Blood Pressure Monitor — $25
The product exists as a WooCommerce product, so it can be selected directly while building the invoice.
This is different from automatically generating an invoice from a WooCommerce order. You are deliberately adding a WooCommerce product to a CRM invoice tied to a deal.
Choose “Local” when the item already exists in your Bit CRM Products module. This could include:
Once you choose the stored item, its existing information can populate the invoice line.
Using Local products makes sense for services or products you sell repeatedly but do not necessarily sell through WooCommerce.
For example, if your agency sells a monthly website maintenance service to many clients, creating it once as a Bit CRM product avoids entering the same information for every new invoice.
Note: The Bit CRM Products module is a Pro feature.
For one-off work, select Custom. This lets you create a line item directly inside the invoice without first adding it to your permanent product catalog. For example: Custom Solution — $300
Perhaps this client needs an unusually complicated migration that you do not sell as a standard service.
There is little reason to create a reusable product for something you may never sell in exactly the same form again. Add it as a custom line item, set the price, and continue building the invoice. This is especially useful for:
You can also combine all three product sources. Imagine a $2,000 WordPress project with the following invoice:
| Item | Source | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Website Development | Local | $1,500 |
| Premium Plugin License | Woo | $99 |
| Content Migration | Custom | $300 |
| Maintenance Setup | Custom | $101 |
| Total | $2,000 |
The client receives one invoice even though the individual charges came from different places.
This is one of the most practical uses of a custom invoice. The invoice follows the commercial agreement rather than forcing the agreement to follow your product catalog.
Adding an item does not lock you into its default values. For individual invoice lines, Bit CRM lets you work with details such as:
You can therefore adapt a stored product for the specific transaction without changing the original product itself.
Suppose your regular consulting package costs $500, but you agreed to charge this client $450. Add the product, then use the agreed price on the invoice.
Or perhaps the client ordered three licenses instead of one. Change the quantity rather than adding the same item repeatedly. This is where a CRM-based invoice becomes more suitable for negotiated client work.
Discounts and taxes can also be handled while building the invoice. As you change the invoice items, Bit CRM calculates the financial totals for you, including:
The invoice module supports tax-exclusive, tax-inclusive, and no-tax calculations. For example:
Service price: $1,000
Discount: $100
Tax: $90
Grand total: $990
You can see the updated numbers before sending the invoice instead of calculating the final total somewhere else and copying it into WordPress.
Always check which tax treatment applies to your business and customer. The correct tax rules depend on your location and circumstances.
A useful invoice needs more than prices. You may need to explain what the invoice covers, specify the agreed payment conditions, or leave information for the client.
Bit CRM provides editable invoice content along with areas for notes and terms. Its rich-text fields support formatting such as bold text, italic text, lists, and quotes. Keep these sections practical. For example:
Invoice title:
Digital Health Monitor & Workflow Consulting Services
Notes:
Thank you for your business. This invoice covers the products and services listed above. Please review the invoice details and contact us if any information needs to be updated.
Terms:
Payment is due within 15 days of the invoice date. Any additional work outside the listed scope will be quoted separately. Products and services will be delivered according to the agreed schedule after payment confirmation.
Avoid filling the invoice with generic text. Add only the information the customer actually needs.
Before creating the final invoice, check the live preview. Verify:
Bit CRM updates the invoice preview as you build it, which gives you a chance to catch incorrect details before the invoice reaches your client.
Pay particular attention to manually entered custom items. Because those values are entered specifically for this invoice, a typo in the quantity or price can directly affect the total.
Once everything is correct, click: Create & Preview
Bit CRM opens the completed invoice in its shareable view. From there, you can send the invoice to the client by email.
You can also use: Actions → Download to download the invoice as a PDF. This gives you both a digital delivery option and a PDF copy that can be saved or shared separately.
Here is a quick summary of the main invoice details you can control.
| Invoice element | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Invoice number | Use your configured invoice prefix |
| Invoice date | Set the invoice date |
| Payment term | Select a saved term such as Net 15 or Net 30 |
| Due date | Calculate it from the selected payment term |
| Client | Pull customer information from the linked deal |
| Products | Add WooCommerce or Bit CRM products |
| Custom services | Create one-off Custom line items |
| Description | Adjust line-item information |
| Price | Set the amount for the specific invoice |
| Quantity | Invoice multiple units |
| Discount | Apply discounts where needed |
| Tax | Apply the appropriate tax treatment |
| Invoice content | Add relevant formatted information |
| Notes | Leave client-specific information |
| Terms | State your billing and payment conditions |
| Branding | Display configured business details and logo |
| Delivery | Email the invoice or download the PDF |
The key distinction is flexibility at the invoice level. You can build the bill around the client transaction without having to create a permanent WooCommerce product for every service you sell.
They serve different purposes.
| Standard WooCommerce invoice | CRM-based custom invoice |
|---|---|
| Usually starts from an ecommerce order | Starts from a client deal |
| Best suited to normal store purchases | Suited to negotiated or client-specific sales |
| Primarily reflects products in the order | Can combine CRM, WooCommerce, and Custom items |
| Follows checkout information | Uses CRM client and deal context |
| Good for repeatable ecommerce sales | Useful for services, B2B and custom projects |
If every sale comes through your WooCommerce store in a standard way, an order-based invoice may be enough.
If you discuss requirements, negotiate pricing, create deals, sell custom services, or combine products and services, creating the invoice from your CRM gives you more control over the billing process.
Bit CRM supports invoice payment workflows through WooCommerce, allowing businesses to connect invoicing with their existing WooCommerce payment setup. Depending on the available configuration, this can include full or partial payments and payment tracking.
For businesses already using WooCommerce, this helps keep invoicing and payment collection within the same WordPress-based sales workflow rather than managing them as completely separate processes.
Not every WordPress sale starts with an Add to Cart button.
Service businesses negotiate work. Agencies build project scopes. Consultants charge for specific deliverables. B2B customers may buy standard products alongside custom services.
Your invoice needs to reflect those details clearly.
Bit CRM lets you start from an existing deal, bring in the client context, combine WooCommerce products, CRM products, and custom services, adjust the billing details, and review the final invoice before sending it. That keeps invoicing connected to the sales process instead of treating billing as a separate record.
If you already manage clients and deals inside WordPress, you can explore Bit CRM’s Invoice module to handle the next step from an agreed sale to a client-ready invoice.
With Bit CRM installed, go to Bit CRM → Invoices → Create Invoice, select the relevant deal, add your products or services, configure pricing, quantity, discount and tax, review the invoice, then select Create & Preview. You can then email the invoice or download it as a PDF.
Yes. In Bit CRM, you can use a service stored in your local Products module or add it as a one-off Custom line item. This is useful for consulting, development, design, maintenance, setup fees, and other service-based work.
Yes. Select Custom when adding a line item. It lets you enter a one-off product or service directly into the invoice without saving it as an existing CRM or WooCommerce product.
Yes. Choose Woo as the line-item source and select a product from your connected WooCommerce store. You can also combine WooCommerce items with Local Bit CRM products and Custom items in the same invoice.
Yes. A Bit CRM invoice can contain multiple line items from WooCommerce, your Bit CRM product catalog, and one-off Custom entries. This makes it possible to invoice products and services together.
Bit CRM lets you adjust line-item information such as price, quantity, discount, tax rate, and description when preparing an invoice. This is useful when a particular deal has negotiated pricing.
Yes. Bit CRM supports discounts and taxes on invoice line items and automatically calculates the subtotal, tax, gross discount, and grand total. Its invoice module also supports tax-exclusive, tax-inclusive, and no-tax modes.
Yes. After creating the invoice in Bit CRM, open the completed invoice and use Actions → Download to save a PDF copy. You can also email the invoice directly to the client.
No. WooCommerce is only one available product source. You can create invoices using products stored locally in Bit CRM or one-off Custom line items without adding WooCommerce products.
