# Recurring Retainers Guide

This guide covers setting up and managing recurring billing for retainer clients, subscription services, and ongoing engagements in Tillage.

## What Are Retainers?

Retainers are ongoing service agreements where you bill clients regularly (monthly, quarterly, etc.) for continuous services. Common examples:

- Website maintenance
- Marketing support
- Consulting hours
- Social media management
- Ongoing development support
- Advisory services

## Benefits of Retainers

### For Your Business

- **Predictable revenue** - Know what's coming each month
- **Better cash flow** - Regular income stream
- **Client relationships** - Deeper, long-term partnerships
- **Reduced sales time** - Less constant prospecting
- **Higher lifetime value** - Clients stay longer

### For Clients

- **Priority access** - First in line for your attention
- **Consistent support** - Ongoing relationship
- **Budget predictability** - Known monthly cost
- **Better rates** - Often discounted vs project work

## Setting Up a Retainer

### Step 1: Create the Quote

1. Go to Quotes > New Quote
2. Select the client
3. Name it clearly (e.g., "Website Maintenance Retainer")
4. Add line items for monthly services:
   - Example: "Monthly Maintenance - 10 hours @ $150/hour"
   - Include specific deliverables in description
5. Set variance buffer (typically lower for retainers, 5-15%)
6. Apply profit margin
7. Send for approval

### Step 2: Create the Contract

1. From approved quote, click "Create Contract"
2. Choose contract type (Service Agreement recommended)
3. Add an **Ongoing Services** block:
   - Name the service
   - Set billing frequency (monthly, quarterly, etc.)
   - Choose start date
   - Set end date (optional) or "ongoing"
   - Configure due days (when invoice is due after issue)
   - Enable auto-send if desired

### Step 3: Configure Billing

In the Ongoing Services block:

**Frequency Options:**
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Quarterly
- Biannually
- Annually

**Invoice Settings:**
- **Auto-send**: Automatically email when generated
- **Invoice status**: Draft or Sent
- **Due days**: Days until payment due (e.g., 15, 30)

**Line Item Template:**
Define what appears on each recurring invoice:
- Service name and description
- Quantity (e.g., monthly hours)
- Unit price

### Step 4: Use Smart Variables

For invoice titles, use variables:

`{clientName} - {month} {year} Retainer`

Generates: "Acme Corp - January 2025 Retainer"

Available variables:
- `{clientName}` - Client company
- `{month}` - Current month
- `{year}` - Current year
- `{monthYear}` - Combined
- `{quarter}` - Q1, Q2, etc.

### Step 5: Send Contract for Signature

1. Preview the contract
2. Send for signature
3. When signed, recurring billing begins automatically

## Managing Retainers

### Viewing Active Retainers

- Go to Contracts > filter by "Signed"
- Or view Payment Plans for recurring schedules
- Dashboard shows MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue)

### Modifying Retainers

**Changing the Price:**
1. Create a new quote with updated pricing
2. Create new contract to replace existing
3. Cancel old recurring schedule
4. Start new one from new contract

**Pausing Temporarily:**
1. Go to the payment instance
2. Set status to "Paused"
3. Resume when ready

**Ending the Retainer:**
1. Set an end date on the recurring schedule
2. Or cancel the payment instance
3. Final invoice generated if applicable

### Tracking Performance

In Analytics:
- Total MRR/ARR
- Retainer vs project revenue
- Client retention rate
- Average retainer value

## Automatic Payments

For truly hands-off billing:

### Setting Up Auto-Pay

1. Client saves payment method when paying first invoice
2. Client grants consent for automatic payments
3. Configure consent level:
   - "Recurring only" - Auto-pay just retainer invoices
   - "All invoices" - Auto-pay everything

### Safety Features

- Maximum amount per invoice limit
- Client can revoke consent anytime
- Notification before each charge
- Failed payment alerts

### What Happens Each Month

1. Invoice generated on schedule
2. If auto-send enabled, client notified
3. If auto-pay enabled, payment attempted
4. Success: Invoice marked paid, receipts sent
5. Failure: Retry attempted, you're notified

## Retainer Structures

### Fixed Monthly Fee

Most common structure:
- Same amount every month
- Covers defined scope of services
- Unused hours don't roll over

Example: "$2,000/month for website maintenance"

### Hourly Retainer

Pre-purchased hours:
- Client buys block of hours
- Track usage throughout month
- Notify when hours running low

Example: "20 hours/month @ $150/hour"

### Tiered Retainer

Multiple service levels:
- Basic: Essential services
- Standard: Additional features
- Premium: Full support

Example:
- Basic: $500/month - Updates only
- Standard: $1,500/month - Updates + support
- Premium: $3,000/month - Full management

### Hybrid (Retainer + Projects)

Combine ongoing support with project work:
- Base retainer for maintenance
- Separate quotes for new projects
- Client gets priority on projects

## Invoice Naming Best Practices

Clear, consistent naming:

**Good:**
- "Acme Corp - January 2025 Retainer"
- "Monthly Website Maintenance - Jan 2025"
- "Q1 2025 Marketing Support"

**Avoid:**
- "Invoice" (too vague)
- "Monthly" (which month?)
- "Services" (what services?)

Use smart variables for consistency:
`{clientName} - {month} {year} {projectName}`

## Handling Scope Changes

### Mid-Month Requests

If client asks for work outside retainer scope:
1. Clarify it's outside the agreement
2. Offer to quote separately
3. Or apply to next month's hours

### Scope Creep Prevention

In your contract, clearly define:
- What's included
- What's excluded
- How to request additional work
- Pricing for out-of-scope work

### Annual Reviews

Schedule retainer reviews:
- Assess scope vs actual work
- Adjust pricing if needed
- Renew or modify terms

## Common Retainer Mistakes

### Underpricing

- Not accounting for communication overhead
- Forgetting admin time
- Too few hours for actual needs

### Overcommitting

- Promising more than you can deliver
- Not setting boundaries
- Accepting scope creep silently

### Poor Communication

- Not sending regular updates
- Surprising clients with unused hours
- Not documenting what was done

## Best Practices

1. **Document everything** - Track time and deliverables
2. **Send monthly summaries** - Show value provided
3. **Set clear boundaries** - Define what's included
4. **Review annually** - Adjust pricing and scope
5. **Enable auto-pay** - Reduce collection friction
6. **Use smart variables** - Consistent invoice naming

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*Related: [Contracts](/llms/features/contracts.txt) | [Invoicing](/llms/features/invoicing.txt) | [Smart Variables](/llms/reference/smart-variables.txt)*