Set up a recurring bill

Ledger › Expenses › Recurring is where every regular commitment lives in one list: a charge that just debits your bank each period with no invoice (rent, a subscription, a fixed-fee contract) and a recurring bill you receive from a vendor. Each row is labelled by how it is fulfilled and shows its status (last booked, next expected, or a "may be missing" flag).

To save a charge you pay but never get a monthly invoice for:

1. Go to Ledger › Expenses › Recurring and click Add recurring expense.
2. Set the title, amount, category, frequency (Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Annually), and the Next run date.
3. When it's due, click Run now on the template to book that period's entry (confirm with Book it).

Claiming the GST as an input tax credit. If your contract is quoted with tax included (for example "$105 a month including GST"), turn on Amount includes tax and pick your Province. TALISK_HQ splits the total into the expense and the recoverable tax for you, so the GST or HST is booked to your input tax credits automatically and shows up on your GST/HST worksheet. In Quebec the QST is split too and claimed as an input tax refund when your book is QST-registered, asked as of the entry's own date: a period dated before your QST registration effective date keeps its QST inside the expense, which is the same rule your bills and receipts follow. That holds however the period got booked, by Run now, by a matching bank charge, or by a one-tap Confirm. If you'd rather enter the numbers yourself, leave the toggle off and type the amount before any tax, then the GST/HST, plus the QST in Quebec.

PST in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. PST can't be claimed back, so it stays part of the expense, but TALISK_HQ books it as its own PST (not recoverable) line so you can see what it cost. With Amount includes tax on, TALISK_HQ works the PST out of the total for you: the preview shows it as not recoverable, and it is saved as the template's PST. With the toggle off, the form shows a PST field when the province you pick charges PST (Manitoba's RST included). Put the PST in that field rather than adding it to the amount, and keep the amount as the price before any tax. For example, a $112 charge in British Columbia is $100 plus $5 GST plus $7 PST. Entered that way, the template adds up to exactly what leaves your bank, so the charge can be booked for you, and the GST claimed each month is the $5 you actually paid.

Check the total before you save. The form shows Total per charge: the amount plus every tax on the template. It should match the charge on your bank statement. If it is short, a tax is missing. If it is over, a tax has probably been counted twice, for example PST typed into its own field on an older template whose amount already included it. A tax field that holds a figure stays on the form even if you change the province, so a figure is never dropped without you seeing it.

It can book itself now. When a bank charge that matches an active template lands and its total is an exact match, TALISK_HQ books that period for you with the GST or HST already claimed, so you often don't need Run now at all. If the amount differs, it is the first charge we've seen for that template, or more than one template could fit, the charge waits for you as a one-tap Confirm (in the Recurring list and on the Banking review queue) instead of posting on a guess. If an expected charge never comes out of your bank, the row shows a "may be missing" flag so you can check the contract.

For a bill you actually receive an invoice for each period, set a vendor rule instead (on the Vendor Rules tab): mark the vendor recurring and each arriving bill comes in pre-filled, with a flag when one does not turn up. It still waits for your approval unless you also switch on auto-approve on that rule.

When a recurring bill doesn't arrive. The books health card that flags it lists each supplier, and a row can carry a button such as Ask Bell for the October bill. Clicking it opens Compose with an email already written: the period you are missing, plus the date, total and invoice number of the last bill you have from them. It goes to whoever sent that last bill, if they are a confirmed person at that supplier in your Contacts directory; otherwise to the person there who handles bills. Nothing is sent until you send it yourself. If the supplier is in your directory but nobody there is confirmed yet, the row offers Review for that supplier instead, so you can confirm the right person first. TALISK_HQ never writes to a suggested contact, a no-reply address or one of your own.

TALISK_HQ posts the expense and moves the Next run date forward. You can Pause or Resume a template, and deleting one removes the template only: it doesn't reverse anything already booked.

Whether the charge is booked automatically or you use Run now, it records the payment straight from your bank, so don't also categorize the matching line on your bank feed for the same charge, or it will be counted twice: match or reconcile that line instead.