Subscriptions | General explanation

The subscriptions module is used to generate an order or an invoice automatically, at set moments:

• Invoice: when an agreed amount has to be invoiced.
• Order: when a service has to be scheduled.

A few examples:

• You offer an on-call service for which the customer pays a fixed amount every month → create a subscription that generates an invoice every month.
• You carry out garden maintenance for your customer twice a year → create a subscription that generates an order every 6 months.

Overview screen

You can adjust the overview of the subscriptions via the settings: which columns do you want, in which order, which quick filters? In addition, every user can create and personalise their own overviews.
Via the overview screen you can make bulk changes for several subscriptions at once.
Subscriptions can be deleted, archived or locked via the action buttons at the top, and can be exported to Excel.

Creating a new subscription

Follow these steps to create a new subscription:

1. Add a new subscription by clicking the + sign. You can do this from the subscriptions module or from various other modules (customer, project, quotation, etc.)
2. Fill in the general information of the subscription on the left
3. In the subscription details, choose whether the subscription has to generate an invoice or an order and set it to active.
4. As soon as the subscription is active, you can choose the recurrence and the next execution. In the settings you can define the recurring periods yourself and determine whether they have an end date or not. If you want to deviate from a recurring period for one subscription, choose the recurrence 'Custom' in the subscription and set it up.
5. At the bottom, under items, complete the lines that have to appear on the order or the invoice. The details are explained extensively below.

Stopping a subscription

Go to the subscription and untick 'Active' in the subscription details. From now on no more orders or invoices will be generated.

Subscription for maintenance

You can create a subscription for, for example, the annual maintenance of a particular installation, for example a condensing boiler, at an agreed price. During the annual maintenance, working hours and/or material will be registered. In the subscription you can determine whether these have to be invoiced on top of the agreed price or not.

1. Choose the type 'invoice'.
2. In the subscription lines, fill in the agreed price for the maintenance. This will then generate an invoice annually, for example.
3. To schedule the maintenance on an installation, you link an installation to the subscription. If it is a new installation, create it from the subscription (click + under 'overview'). If it is an existing installation, go to that installation and fill in the subscription number.
4. Complete the installation further and provide a maintenance schedule on it that generates a maintenance order annually.
5. On the subscription you can indicate under 'Maintenance invoicing strategy' whether the employee hours and the material used will be invoiced or not. If they are already included in the subscription, you can choose 'Do not invoice'.

This means that all orders that will be generated from the installation linked to this subscription will follow this invoicing strategy for the items on the work order if 'execution based invoicing' is switched on in the settings of the orders.

Tabs and extra fields

Just as with the other modules in Robaws, with subscriptions it is also possible to add remarks, files or tasks.
You can also create extra fields via the settings to keep track of information about the subscription.

The 'items' tab

Under this tab you enter the lines of the subscription. These can be posts, items or descriptions. They will appear on the invoice or the order.

• You can add the columns 'line number' and 'post number' via the settings.
• You can link the subscription to a project or equipment per line, and fill in the GL account.
• A 'discount' column can be added via the general settings.
• The annual price of this subscription is shown per line. You can fill in the price under 'price' or under 'annual price'. This is automatically recalculated in line with the recurring period that has been chosen.

Extra options

Generating an order or invoice manually

Once you have activated the subscription, you may want to create a first invoice or order straight away. You can do this by clicking '€' (invoice) or 'order' at the top, or by clicking + next to orders or invoices in the overview. Do make sure that the next execution is set correctly.

Overview of the invoices / orders

In the 'overview' box you see how many orders, invoices and installations have already been created for this subscription. You can click through on the word to view the list.

Converting a quotation into a subscription

You can convert a quotation into a subscription with one click. You do this by clicking the action button 'Make subscription' at the top of the quotation. If you do not see this button, you will have to activate it in the settings of the quotation.
The lines of the quotation are then automatically applied to the subscription.

Updated on: 09/09/2026