Recurring expenses API | Rebill Help Centre

Recurring expenses are templates that automatically create Expense records on a schedule (weekly, monthly, or yearly), such as rent, software subscriptions, or a retainer paid to a supplier. The schedule model mirrors recurring invoices: an interval, an optional monthly anchor day, and account-timezone-local next-run dates.

Premium feature

Recurring expenses are a premium feature. POST /recurring_expense, PUT /recurring_expense/:id, and PUT /recurring_expense/:id/activate all return 402 Payment Required on a free-plan account. Listing, reading, deactivating, and deleting templates are not gated, so a downgraded account can still see, pause, and remove existing templates; it just can't create new ones, edit them, or turn them back on.

List recurring expenses

GET /recurring_expense

Returns every recurring expense template on the account, active or inactive.

curl https://api.rebill.co.za/recurring_expense \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_your_secret_key"

Response:

{
  "recurring_expenses": [
    {
      "id": "rex_001",
      "created": "2026-03-01T00:00:00Z",
      "active": true,
      "start_date": "2026-03-01T00:00:00Z",
      "next_date": "2026-04-01T00:00:00Z",
      "interval": "month",
      "interval_amount": 1,
      "amount": 45000,
      "currency": "ZAR",
      "category_id": "cat-002",
      "payment_method": "bank_transfer",
      "billable": false,
      "tax_deductible": true,
      "supplier_name": "WeWork Cape Town"
    }
  ]
}

Get a recurring expense

GET /recurring_expense/:id

Returns a single recurring expense template by ID.

Recurring expense object

Field	Type	Description
id	string	Unique identifier
created	timestamp	When the template was created
active	boolean	Whether the schedule is currently running
start_date	timestamp	Date the schedule begins
end_date	timestamp	Date the schedule ends (optional; runs indefinitely if absent)
next_date	timestamp	When the next expense will be generated (absent while inactive)
interval	string	Recurrence unit: week · month · year
interval_amount	integer	Number of intervals between expenses (e.g. 2 + month = every 2 months)
monthly_anchor	string	Which day of the month expenses are generated (see Monthly anchor in the Recurring invoices section for the full value list)
monthly_anchor_day	integer	Used when monthly_anchor is specific_day (1 to 31)
amount	integer	Amount in cents, prefilled onto every generated expense
currency	string	ISO 4217 currency code
tax_amount	integer	Tax portion in cents (optional, 0 if not set)
category_id	string	ID of the expense category applied to generated expenses
payment_method	string	`cash` · `card` · `bank_transfer` · `other`
billable	boolean	Whether generated expenses are billable to a client
tax_deductible	boolean	Whether generated expenses are tax deductible
client_id	string	Client ID (only present when billable)
supplier_name	string	Free-text supplier or vendor name prefilled onto generated expenses
notes	string	Notes prefilled onto generated expenses

Create a recurring expense

POST /recurring_expense

Field	Required	Type	Description
start_date	Yes	date	Date the schedule begins (YYYY-MM-DD)
interval	Yes	string	Recurrence unit: week · month · year
interval_amount	Yes	integer	Number of intervals between expenses (must be > 0)
amount	Yes	integer	Amount in cents (must be greater than 0)
category_id	Yes	string	ID of an existing expense category
supplier_name	Yes	string	Free-text supplier or vendor name
payment_method	Yes	string	`cash`, `card`, `bank_transfer`, or `other`
end_date	No	date	Date the schedule ends; omit for indefinite
monthly_anchor	No	string	same_day (default) · first_day · last_day · specific_day · last_day_offset
monthly_anchor_day	No	integer	Used when monthly_anchor is specific_day (1 to 31)
currency	No	string	ISO 4217 code; defaults to your account currency
tax_amount	No	integer	Tax portion in cents
notes	No	string	Notes to prefill on each generated expense
billable	No	boolean	Whether generated expenses are billable to a client
tax_deductible	No	boolean	Whether generated expenses are tax deductible
client_id	No	string	Client ID if billable
activate_immediately	No	boolean	Activate the schedule as soon as it is created (default: false, created paused)
schedule_initial_now	No	boolean	With `activate_immediately`, generate the first expense synchronously on create instead of waiting for its natural next-run date

curl -X POST https://api.rebill.co.za/recurring_expense \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_your_secret_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "start_date": "2026-03-01",
    "interval": "month",
    "interval_amount": 1,
    "amount": 45000,
    "category_id": "cat-002",
    "supplier_name": "WeWork Cape Town",
    "payment_method": "bank_transfer",
    "tax_deductible": true,
    "activate_immediately": true
  }'

Response (201 Created):

{
  "id": "rex_001"
}

Free plan accounts receive 402 Payment Required.

Update a recurring expense

PUT /recurring_expense/:id

Replaces the schedule and payload of a recurring expense. Accepts the same fields as create (excluding activate_immediately and schedule_initial_now, which only apply at creation). Only inactive templates can be updated: deactivate first, then update, then activate again. Attempting to update an active template returns 422 Unprocessable. Free plan accounts receive 402 Payment Required.

Delete a recurring expense

DELETE /recurring_expense/:id

Permanently deletes a recurring expense template. Expenses it already generated are unaffected.

curl -X DELETE https://api.rebill.co.za/recurring_expense/rex_001 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_your_secret_key"

Activate a recurring expense

PUT /recurring_expense/:id/activate

Turns the schedule on and computes the next run date. Free plan accounts receive 402 Payment Required.

curl -X PUT https://api.rebill.co.za/recurring_expense/rex_001/activate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_your_secret_key"

Deactivate a recurring expense

PUT /recurring_expense/:id/deactivate

Pauses the schedule and clears its next run date. No new expenses will be generated until it is activated again. Allowed on free-plan accounts, so a downgraded account can still pause its existing templates.

curl -X PUT https://api.rebill.co.za/recurring_expense/rex_001/deactivate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_your_secret_key"