Agreeing to Net 30 is straightforward: payment is due 30 days after the invoice date. Putting that agreement into a recurring billing setup takes one more decision.
Does it apply to this invoice, this recurring arrangement, or the customer's billing more broadly?
Answer that before opening a setting. It helps you avoid changing more than the agreement requires. Keep company-wide defaults out of a one-customer decision.
Choose your product: [QuickBooks Online](#quickbooks-online) or [Xero](#xero).
QuickBooks Online
If the exception is for one invoice
Open that invoice and review its Terms and Due date. Make the intended change, then compare the displayed due date with the agreement before saving or sending.
A match completes the due-date check for this invoice. If the date differs, correct it before sending. This check does not establish what the next recurring invoice will show.
If one recurring arrangement is changing
Open the customer's recurring template and review Terms and Due date. This is the place to consider when the new rule belongs to that billing pattern.
First, check for Autopay, QuickBooks Online's automatic-payment feature. Changing Terms on an Autopay-enabled recurring template cancels Autopay. If that is not an intended part of the change, stop before saving.
When the change is appropriate, set the intended terms and save the template. Open a generated invoice and compare its displayed due date with the agreement. Resolve a mismatch before sending or relying on the next run; a matching date confirms only the invoice you inspected.
If the agreement applies more broadly to the customer
Customer-level terms deserve a wider review. Intuit says changing customer information can update previously sent invoices and recurring transactions that use it, including payment terms.
Consider those effects before saving a customer-level change. If they are not acceptable, pause and reconsider where the change belongs.
After an appropriate change, review the recurring template and a generated invoice. Compare the invoice's displayed due date with the agreement and resolve any mismatch before sending. Do not assume a universal rule about whether company, customer, template, or invoice settings take priority.
Xero
If the exception is for one invoice
Open the generated invoice and edit its Due date. Compare the displayed date with the agreement before approval or sending.
If it matches, the due-date check for this invoice is complete. If it differs, correct it before proceeding. This one-invoice check does not establish the dates of future invoices.
If one recurring arrangement is changing
Open the repeating invoice template and set its Due Date for that arrangement. Changes to the template apply to invoices created later; they do not revise invoices already generated.
Before saving, review whether the template automatically approves or sends invoices. Use Save As Draft when each invoice needs review before it goes out.
Check a generated draft's displayed due date against the agreement. A match confirms the date for that draft. If it differs, resolve the mismatch before approval, sending, or relying on the next run.
If the rule should apply whenever you invoice the customer
Open the contact's Sales defaults and set Invoice due date. Xero says this contact setting overrides the organisation's due-date default.
Check the contact rule alongside the repeating template's Due Date. If they conflict, resolve the mismatch with the agreement before relying on the next run. Avoid changing a contact-wide default just to accommodate one repeating template.
Then inspect a generated draft. A matching due date confirms that invoice's date only; resolve a different date before approval or sending. Do not assume one setting controls every combination of defaults, templates, and invoice edits.
Also distinguish the date from the wording: payment terms printed through a Xero branding theme are presentation text. Check the invoice's actual Due date field.
Leave a clear record of the change
Note which setting you chose, the recurring template name or identifier where applicable, and the invoice due date you checked. That gives the next person a useful starting point without asking them to reconstruct your decision.
The aim is simple: make the billing setup reflect the agreement, check the invoice it produces, and keep a one-customer change from reaching farther than intended.
Official sources
QuickBooks Online
- Create and manage invoices
- Create recurring transactions
- Edit a recurring template
- Edit customer information
- Set up Autopay for recurring invoices
Xero
- Set due dates and payment terms
- Add or edit a repeating invoice template
- Edit an invoice
- Add, adjust, or remove payment terms on invoices
Last verified: 2026-09-15