Some transactions in a business happen like clockwork — rent on the first of the month, a software subscription every quarter, a loan repayment every two weeks. Entering these manually every single time isn't just tedious, it's a quiet source of errors: an entry forgotten during a busy week, a wrong amount typed in a hurry, or a month where the bookkeeping simply falls a few days behind and stays there. Recurring Transactions exist to remove that entirely.
How it works
A recurring rule is a transaction template that runs itself. You set it up once — description, amount, type (income or expense), wallet, category, frequency, and a start date — and from then on, CWS Pocket Ledger creates the actual transaction automatically every time it's due, without you needing to open the app that day at all.
Choosing the right frequency
Frequency options run from daily to yearly, with weekly, fortnightly, monthly, and quarterly in between, covering most real-world billing cycles. Rent and salaries are typically monthly. A loan repaid every two weeks fits fortnightly. A domain name or software license renewed once a year fits yearly. Match the rule to how the actual bill or income arrives, and the recorded transaction will land on the right date without you needing to remember it.
Setting an end date — or not
Some recurring costs have a natural end: a 12-month equipment lease, a fixed-term loan. For these, set an end date and the rule stops itself automatically once it's run its course. For genuinely open-ended costs — ongoing rent, permanent staff salaries — leave the end date blank and the rule simply continues indefinitely, until you choose to edit or delete it yourself.
Where this earns its keep
The clearest value shows up with payroll. A small team paid monthly means the same set of salary transactions, for the same people, from the same wallet, every single month. Set each one up as a recurring rule once, and your books stay current automatically even in a month where you're too busy to sit down and do bookkeeping — the transactions are already there, dated correctly, waiting in your records rather than waiting on you.
The same logic applies to rent, insurance premiums, loan repayments, and any subscription service the business depends on. Anywhere the amount and timing are predictable, a recurring rule turns a repeated manual task into something that simply happens.
It's not "set and forget" forever
Recurring rules are built to reduce manual entry, not eliminate oversight entirely. If rent increases, or a subscription price changes, the rule needs a quick edit to reflect it — otherwise it will keep recording the old amount correctly and consistently, which is exactly the problem, just automated. Treat recurring rules the way you'd treat a standing bank order: reliable once set, but worth a glance whenever the underlying terms actually change.
Getting started
Under Tools, open Recurring Transactions and create your first rule — rent or the most predictable line item in your business is usually the best place to start. Once it's set up, you'll notice its absence: one less thing to remember, showing up correctly in your reports whether or not you thought about it that month.