Set Up Recurring Obligations
Recurring obligations are the fixed costs and predictable income your workshop deals with on a regular schedule — rent, salaries, utility bills, insurance premiums, franchise fees, equipment leases, and software subscriptions. Defining them in BayWise Payments gives you forward visibility in your cashflow calendar and optional automatic transaction creation when obligations come due.
This guide covers creating a recurring obligation, understanding the form fields, managing existing rules, and handling due-date alerts.
Who can do this: Account Owner, Org Admin, and Location Manager.
Understand the Recurring Obligations screen
Navigate to Settings → Recurring. The screen shows a list of all recurring rules configured for this location. Each row displays:
- Description — what the obligation is (e.g., “Workshop Rent - Q3”)
- Frequency badge — color-coded: Weekly (blue), Monthly (primary), Quarterly (amber), Annual (green)
- Next due date — when the next occurrence falls, with visual highlighting for overdue (red left border) and due-soon items
- Contact — the counterparty (landlord, employee, vendor)
- Amount — the fixed amount per occurrence
- Active toggle — whether the rule is currently active
Contact names are batch-fetched from your organisation’s contact directory for display. If a contact has been deleted or renamed, the updated name appears automatically.
Add a recurring obligation
Open Settings → Recurring
Navigate to the Recurring settings tab. You will see any existing obligations for this location, or an empty list.
Click Add Rule
Click the Add Rule button. An inline form opens below the header.
Enter the description
In the Description field, enter a clear name for the obligation. This is what appears in the cashflow calendar, transaction history, and due-date alerts.
At Muller Werkstatt in Berlin, recurring obligations might include “Mietvertrag Werkstatthalle” (workshop hall rent), “Gehalter Techniker” (technician salaries), and “Strom & Wasser” (electricity and water).
Select the direction
Choose whether this obligation is an Outflow (money leaving the business — expenses, payments to vendors) or an Inflow (money entering the business — rental income from a sub-let bay, retainer payments from a fleet client).
Most workshop obligations are outflows. Inflows are less common but useful for workshops that sub-lease space or receive regular retainer income.
Choose a category
Select from the predefined categories:
| Category | Typical use |
|---|---|
| Rent | Workshop lease, office space |
| Salaries & Wages | Employee payroll, contractor payments |
| Utilities | Electricity, water, internet, phone |
| Insurance Premium | Vehicle insurance, liability insurance, property insurance |
| AMC / Maintenance Contract | Annual maintenance contracts for equipment |
| Marketing & Advertising | Monthly ad spend, listing fees |
| Royalty / Franchise Fee | Franchise royalties, brand license fees |
| Software & Subscriptions | BayWise subscription, accounting software, parts catalog |
| Equipment Lease | Diagnostic tools, lifts, paint booth leases |
| Other | Anything that does not fit the above |
Set the frequency
Choose how often the obligation recurs:
- Weekly — due every 7 days from the start date
- Monthly — due on the same day each month
- Quarterly — due every 3 months
- Annual — due once per year
The frequency determines the cadence of due-date alerts and auto-created transactions.
Enter the amount
In the Amount field, enter the fixed amount per occurrence. This is the value that will appear in cashflow projections and, if auto-create is on, the pre-filled amount on the generated transaction.
V1 supports fixed amounts only. Variable and computed amount types (e.g., a percentage of revenue for franchise fees) are planned for a future release. If you see these types on an existing rule, they were created via direct database entry and will display correctly in the list.
Select a contact (optional)
Click the Contact field to open the contact picker. Search for and select the counterparty — your landlord, utility provider, insurance company, or the person/entity you pay. The contact picker searches your organisation’s shared contact directory.
At Santos Body Works in Sao Paulo, the contact for “Aluguel Oficina” (workshop rent) might be the property management company, and the contact for “Seguro Empresarial” might be the insurance broker.
Set the next due date
Use the date picker to set the Next Due Date — the next calendar date when this obligation falls due. The system uses this date as the anchor for calculating future occurrences based on the frequency.
Configure alert days
Enter the number of days before the due date that you want to receive a reminder. The default is 7 days. Set this based on how much lead time you need to prepare payment — utilities might need 3 days, while insurance premiums might need 14 days.
Toggle auto-create transaction
When Auto-create transaction is on, BayWise automatically generates a draft transaction for this obligation when it comes due. The transaction pre-fills the amount, contact, category, and direction from the rule. You still need to confirm and record the actual payment.
When auto-create is off, BayWise only sends a reminder. You create the transaction manually.
Save
Click Save. The obligation appears in the list with its frequency badge and next due date.
Edit an existing obligation
Find the obligation in the list
Scroll through the Recurring settings tab or use the list to locate the obligation you want to change.
Click the obligation row
Click on the row to expand the inline edit form. All fields are editable.
Make changes and save
Modify any field — description, amount, frequency, contact, next due date, alert days, or auto-create toggle. Changes are saved when you click Save.
Pause an obligation
If an obligation is temporarily suspended — for example, a franchise fee waiver during a renovation — you can pause it without deleting it.
Find the obligation
Locate the obligation in the list.
Toggle Active to off
Switch the Active toggle to the off position. The obligation remains in the list but is grayed out. It will not generate alerts or auto-create transactions until reactivated.
Reactivate when ready
Switch the Active toggle back on. Update the next due date if the pause shifted the schedule.
Delete an obligation
Find the obligation
Locate the obligation in the list.
Click Delete
Click the Delete button on the obligation row.
Confirm deletion
A confirmation prompt appears — click again to confirm. This is a two-click safety mechanism to prevent accidental deletion.
The obligation is permanently removed. Any transactions that were already auto-created from this rule remain in the transaction history — they are independent records.
Deletion is permanent. If you might need the obligation again, consider pausing it (toggling Active off) instead of deleting it. Paused obligations retain all their configuration and can be reactivated at any time.
Due date highlighting
The recurring obligations list uses visual cues to draw attention to time-sensitive items:
- Red left border — the obligation is overdue (next due date is in the past and the rule is active)
- Highlighted row — the obligation is coming due within the alert window
These indicators update automatically as the calendar date advances. An overdue obligation remains highlighted until you record the payment and the next due date advances.
Common questions
Can I set up a recurring obligation for income, not just expenses? Yes. Set the direction to Inflow instead of Outflow. This is useful for regular income like fleet retainer payments, sub-lease rent, or insurance claim installments.
What happens when a due date falls on a weekend or holiday? The system does not adjust for weekends or holidays. The due date is calculated strictly from the frequency and anchor date. If the 15th falls on a Saturday, the obligation is due on Saturday. Adjust your alert-days buffer to account for non-business days if needed.
Can I attach a document to a recurring obligation (e.g., the lease agreement)? Not in V1. Document attachments for recurring rules are planned for a future release. For now, reference the document in the description field or store it in your organisation’s file management system.
What categories are available for recurring obligations? Ten categories: Rent, Salaries & Wages, Utilities, Insurance Premium, AMC / Maintenance Contract, Marketing & Advertising, Royalty / Franchise Fee, Software & Subscriptions, Equipment Lease, and Other.
Can I duplicate a recurring obligation to another location? Not directly. Each location manages its own recurring rules independently. You can use the same settings as a reference and create a new rule at the other location manually.
Related pages
- Manage Recurring Payments — day-to-day management of active recurring obligations
- Use the Cashflow Calendar — see how recurring obligations appear in your cashflow projections
- Record an Expense — manually record a payment against a recurring obligation
- Configure Payment Preferences — set the currency and payment method defaults used by auto-created transactions