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How to use Invoice Cycles

Discover how to implement and leverage Invoice Cycles to streamline your agency's billing process

Anjelica avatar
Written by Anjelica
Updated today

Please note: The following feature is available as part of Birdie’s Starter, Core, Advanced and Plus packages (as well as Care Management Rostering & Finance, Premium, Entry and Essentials) Please get in touch if interested in more information on this feature!

Invoice cycles are set periods for generating recurring invoices. They establish regular billing schedules which reduces the amount of work required when invoicing and minimises the risk of errors. They also help ensure timely billing when dealing with complex funding, such as needing to bill different payers on different periods or needing to support Clients with multiple payers.

Invoice cycle steps

  1. Create an invoice cycle

  2. Link the cycle to a contract(s)

  3. Generate invoices using the cycle dashboard

How to create an invoice cycle

Start by going to the Invoice cycles tab under Finance Setup. To add a new invoice cycle click the + Add cycle button.

Birdie Finance "Set Invoice Cycles" page with left sidebar showing "Set Invoice Cycles" highlighted in turquoise circle under Finance Setup. Main content displays table of invoice cycles including "Jessica's monthly cycle" (Monthly, 1 Dec 2024, Active, 2 contracts), "Jessica's 2-weekly cycle" (2-weekly, 1 Mar 2025, Active), "Lestat" (2-weekly, 1 Sept 2025, Unused), "weekly" (Weekly, 29 Jun 2025, Unused), and others. "Add cycle" button highlighted in turquoise circle at top right. Shows page 1 displaying 10 out of 23 cycles.

From here, you can add the details of the invoice cycle:

  • The cycle name

  • Recurrence (weekly, 2-weekly, 4-weekly and monthly)

  • Start date (You will be able to backdate the start date of the cycle)

Modal dialog titled "Add new invoice cycle" with form fields: Cycle name field with placeholder text "Use a few words like Public Ashfield Council", Recurrence section with radio buttons for "Weekly", "2-Weekly", "4-Weekly", and "Monthly" (selected and highlighted in teal), Start date field with placeholder "dd/mm/yyyy" and calendar icon. Cancel and "Add cycle" buttons at bottom.
  1. Monthly cycles will repeat on the same day every month, so if you pick 1st January, your next billing period will start on 1st February, then on 1st March, etc. For example, this is the billing period of some private payers.

  2. 4-Weekly cycles will repeat every 28 days, so if you pick 1st January, your next billing period will start on 29th January, then on 26th February, etc. For example, this is the billing period for some council payers.

  3. 2- Weekly cycles will repeat every 14 days, so if you pick 1st January, your next billing period will start on 15th January, then on 29th January, etc. For example, this is the billing period of some supported living care payers.

  4. Weekly cycles will repeat every 7 days, so if you pick 1st January, your next billing period will start on 8th January, then on 15th January, etc. For example, this is the billing period of some live-in care payers.

Once you have added the details click Add cycle. You will now see the cycle on this page.

Invoice cycles table showing cycle names, recurrence, start dates, and status. Shows page 1 displaying 6 out of 6 entries with Active/Unused status tags. "Add cycle" button highlighted in top right corner.

You can see which cycles have been used in the status column, if they are linked to a contract they will be Active (it also is marked Active if it no longer is linked but has been in the past) and when they are not yet linked to a contract they will be marked as Unused.


How to add an invoice cycle to a new contract

You can add the invoice cycle when adding a new contract. For a more in-depth step-by-step guide on how to create a contract for a payer, see this article - How to Add & Edit Contract Information.


How to bulk assign invoice cycles to existing contracts

To add an invoice cycle to multiple contracts at once, click the three dots on the invoice cycle and select Link contract(s) option.

Invoice cycles table showing cycle names, recurrence, start dates, and status. Dropdown menu is open for one entry showing options "Edit cycle", "Link contract(s)", and "Delete cycle" with icons. Shows page 1 displaying 8 out of 8 entries.

A pop-up will appear that allows you to search for available, unassigned contracts by contract name.

You can add individual contracts by clicking the + button in the left column under Available Contracts, or you can add all contracts that come up in your search by clicking the green Arrow >> button in the middle.

Modal dialog titled "Manage Contracts for Public SW Cycle" for selecting contracts to add or remove from the cycle. Left side shows "Available Contracts (4/732)" including "Beryl Lewisham Council", "Al Pacino contract", "Alexandra Hanna", and "Alice O'Malley Private personal" with add buttons. Right side shows "Attached Contracts: 3" including "Beryl Client", "Cara Yell", and "EB Private" with remove buttons. Cycle details show "Public SW cycle" starting 2024-04-04 with quarterly recurrence. "Save" button at bottom right.

Similarly, you can also remove individual contracts by clicking the X button in the right column under Attached Contracts, or you can remove all contracts by clicking the green Arrow << button in the middle.

When you are done adding contracts, click Save to save your updates and all selected contracts will be linked to that invoice cycle.


How to add an invoice cycle to an existing contract (individually)

To add an invoice cycle to a contract, start by going to the Funding: Payers tab and select the payer. Here you will be able to see the payer's details and the list of contracts associated with them. 

You will be able to see if they have an invoice cycle attached to the contract under the invoice cycle section (circled in the image below). If this has not been added yet it will show as N/A.

Birdie Finance Funding: Payers page with left sidebar showing "Funding: Payers" highlighted in turquoise circle. Main content shows search for "pip" with Pip Paddington payer card displaying Personal Care service type, Direct debit payment method, and 1 active contract. Right panel shows Pip Paddington payer profile with contact details and Contract 1 "Pip Private Contract" using ED test invoice rate card. "Invoice cycle" field highlighted in turquoise circle showing "N/A". Edit button highlighted in turquoise circle at top right of contract section.

To add an invoice cycle click the edit button on the contract. From here you can add the cycle, you can only add one cycle per contract. Click Save when you are done.

Update contract form showing fields for Ezio's Payer, contract name "Ezio's Contract", Ezio's Inv Rate card, Standard invoice format, Service type "Live-in care", and South east cycle, with Cancel and Save buttons at top

You will now see that the contract has been updated with the invoice cycle.

Ezio's Payer profile page showing active status, payer details with N/A fields for email/address/phone, payment method "None", "All preferences" sending option, and Contract 1 "Ezio's Contract" with Ezio's Inv Rate card, Live-in care service, Standard format, and South east cycle


How to generate invoices using invoice cycles

Once you have set your invoice cycles up you are ready to generate invoices.

Click on the Generate Invoices tab in the left hand menu under Invoices. You will have the option to view and filter this page using Cycles or Period.

Birdie Finance Generate Invoices page with "Cycle" and "Period" buttons circled in teal at top right, showing £0.00 total charges and subscriptions, 0 hours, with "Select Cycle" dropdown, "Select contract" field, and "Select period to view items" message in empty table

To view an invoice cycle click the Select Cycle button and choose the invoice cycle on the drop-down list.

You can filter this further by selecting:

  • Contract(s)

  • Client(s)

Birdie Finance Generate Invoices page showing "Select Cycle" dropdown with options including Hackney Council/monthly, South east cycle/monthly, Chester/monthly, Private care cycle/monthly, and others, with Cycle Instances panel displaying 2025 date ranges from May-September

You will now see all the visit data associated with that invoice cycle ready for you to generate an invoice.

Invoice generation page showing £90.00 total visit charges, 4.5 hours for South East Cycle/Monthly with 2 contracts applied (Newport Council-Personal Care and Ezio's Contract), displaying 3 William Board care visits at £30.00 each from 23-28 Sept 2024


How to check your visits for any discrepancies 

If you see any visits at this stage which are not right, you can check the details of the visit by clicking the three dots and selecting View visit details on the drop-down menu. 

Care visits table showing William Board and Joan Multi-Client entries for Newport council-personal care and Mr &amp; Mrs Multi-Client contracts, with dropdown menu displaying "Restore to confirmation", "View visit details", and "View rating details" options

A pop-up will appear showing you:

  • Visit start time

  • Visit end time

  • Rate card

  • Invoicing rate

Visit details dialog showing invoicing information: started 14 Dec 2024 13:00, ended 14:30, "senior carer raven care" rate card (linked), invoice rating 1.50 hours @ £20.00 = £30.00, with Close button

If the information here is incorrect you have the option to restore these to the Confirm visits tab to reconcile again.

You can do this by clicking the Restore visits button in the filter section or by doing this individually by clicking the three dots at the end of each row for a visit.

Once you are ready to generate your invoices, click the Generate invoice button, here you can select whether to generate an invoice per contract or an invoice per client.

Invoice generation interface showing "Generate invoice" dropdown menu open with options "By Contract" and "By Client", alongside "Filters 0" and "Restore 1 visits" buttons

For more information on generating and exporting invoices, see this article - How to export and send invoices in Birdie.


How to archive an invoice cycle

Once your cycle has been linked to a contract, it becomes Active and can no longer be deleted. This is to minimise errors and maintain an audit trail.

However, you can archive an active cycle, this ensures they no longer appear in the cycles lists when you link a cycle to a contract or when you generate invoices.

To do this, click the three dots on the invoice cycle and select Archive cycle on the drop-down menu.

Invoice cycles table showing 6 cycles with recurrence patterns and statuses: Private care cycle (Monthly, Unused), South east cycle (Monthly, Active), with dropdown menu showing Edit/Archive/Delete options

You will see a pop-up warning you of your actions and that this cycle will be removed from the active list but will be preserved. This allows you to restore it in the future if needed without having to create it again.

Click the Archive button to confirm.

"Archive Test" confirmation dialog explaining that the cycle will be removed from the active list but data and history will be preserved, with note that it can be restored anytime, showing Cancel and Archive buttons for user decision

To view your archived invoice cycle, click the show archived button.

Invoice cycles table with "Show archived" toggle enabled, displaying 6 cycles including Private care cycle (Monthly, Unused), South east cycle (Monthly, Active), Camden Council (Monthly, Active), and Test cycle now showing "Archived" status, with search bar and "+ Add cycle" button

To restore an archived invoice cycle, click the three dots and select Restore cycle. This will make it Active again. Any contracts linked to this cycle will continue to be assigned to this cycle.

Invoice cycles table with "Show archived" toggle enabled, displaying cycles with various statuses including Active cycles like South east cycle and Camden Council, plus the Test cycle showing "Archived" status with dropdown menu open showing options: Edit cycle, Restore cycle, and Delete cycle

Please note: Archiving a cycle does not remove it from a contract. If you wish to move the contract to an Active cycle, please reassign it.


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