# How to Manage Recurring Retainers & Billing | Axumind | Clientlex

Learn how to set up recurring retainers, manage subscription agreements, track renewal dates, and monitor recurring payments in Axumind.

Many agencies provide ongoing services that require clients to make regular payments. Examples include monthly SEO retainers, website maintenance, content marketing, and other recurring service arrangements.

Axumind supports recurring agreements that help agencies manage these ongoing client engagements and their associated billing schedules.

You can create recurring agreements through your service storefront or set them up manually from your agency dashboard.

## Creating Recurring Retainer Agreements

There are two ways to create a recurring agreement in Axumind:

- **Through your storefront:** Clients can purchase services configured for recurring billing through your agency storefront.

- **Manually:** Agency administrators can create recurring agreements directly from the dashboard.

### Creating an agreement manually

To create a recurring retainer from your agency dashboard:

- Log in to your agency dashboard.

- Navigate to **Invoices → Recurring Retainers**.

- Click **New Agreement**.

- Complete the required agreement details.

- Review the billing information and save the agreement.

Make sure the agreement reflects the service and payment arrangement agreed upon with the client.

### Selling recurring services through your storefront

You can also offer services configured for recurring billing through your agency storefront.

When a client purchases an eligible recurring service, Axumind creates the associated recurring agreement as part of the purchase process.

This gives clients a way to subscribe to your ongoing services without requiring your team to create every agreement manually.

## Managing Recurring Billing and Renewal Dates

Axumind tracks recurring agreements and their billing schedules so your agency can manage ongoing client arrangements.

Each agreement has a status and a next billing date, which the billing system uses to identify agreements due for processing.

For agreements configured for automatic payment collection, Axumind uses the connected Stripe payment integration to process recurring payments.

Make sure the payment arrangement and billing details are correct when creating an agreement so subsequent renewals can be handled appropriately.

You can review your recurring agreements from:

**Invoices → Recurring Retainers**

Use this section to monitor existing agreements and their billing information.

## Understanding Automatic Payments

Recurring agreements configured for automatic collection can use the client's available payment method for scheduled renewals.

When the agreement reaches its next billing date, Axumind processes the renewal through its billing system.

The payment outcome should be monitored from the relevant billing and agreement records.

**Important:** Automatic payment collection depends on the agreement configuration and an available, valid payment method. An agreement being active does not, by itself, guarantee that every renewal payment will succeed.

## Handling Failed Recurring Payments

A recurring payment may fail for several reasons, including an expired card, insufficient funds, a bank decline, or a payment that requires additional authentication.

When a renewal payment fails, review the payment and agreement status to understand what happened.

Depending on the payment failure, the client may need to provide an updated payment method or complete an additional authentication step before payment can succeed.

When following up with the client:

- Identify the affected recurring agreement.

- Review the associated payment status and available failure information.

- Contact the client and explain that the renewal payment requires attention.

- Direct the client to the supported payment or card-update process.

- Confirm the payment outcome before treating the renewal as settled.

Avoid assuming that every failed payment will be retried automatically or that a specific grace period applies. Follow the payment status and recovery options available for the agreement.

## Monitoring Your Recurring Agreements

Reviewing recurring agreements regularly helps your agency keep track of ongoing client engagements and upcoming billing activity.

From **Invoices → Recurring Retainers**, review the available agreement information, including its current status and next billing date.

Pay particular attention to agreements approaching their renewal date and any payments that require attention.

Keeping agreement records accurate makes it easier to monitor recurring client services and identify billing issues.