---
title: Generate Invoices
slug: generate-invoices
docTags: 
createdAt: 2026-02-13T04:24:47.814Z
---

# Overview

This guide explains how customer invoices are generated in Nue via API.

## What Is Billing Schedule

A Billing Schedule in Nue defines when and how invoices are generated for customers. It supports both “On Demand” (one-time/single-run) and “Recurring” (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly, custom) execution patterns. Administrators can target specific customers, products, or orders by applying filters when setting up a schedule. Each billing schedule comprises a series of billing jobs—each billing job triggers invoice creation for all matching subscriptions/orders within its scope.

### Core Concepts

- **Billing Schedule:** A saved set of parameters that governs how and when invoices are generated for associated orders/products. Can be run on demand or set to recur on custom intervals. 
- **Billing Job:** A single execution instance of a billing schedule. Each run creates invoices (and optionally credit memos), processes results, and tracks job status. 

## Create Billing Schedule

You can create a billing schedule through the Nue API ([Create Billing Schedule](https://api-docs.nue.io/create-a-new-billing-schedule)) to generate invoices for specific customers, products, or orders. 

For example, the below request creates a recurring billing schedule for a specific customer (id: "001KS00000DVz1aYAD"), and the billing job will be executed every day at 3:00 AM. 

```curl
curl -X POST "https://api.nue.io/billing/schedules" \
  -H "nue-api-key: {yourApiKey}" \
  -H "accept: application/json" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "createdThrough": "API",
    "scheduleStartDate": "2025-06-30",
    "invoiceDate": "2025-06-30",
    "targetDate": null,
    "scheduleType": "Recurring",
    "status": "Draft",
    "recurringSchedule": "0 0 3 * * ? *",
    "dailyObject": {},
    "customExpression": [],
    "recordType": "BillingSchedule",
    "customerFilter": "{id:{_in:[\"001KS00000DVz1aYAD\"]}}",
    "orderFilter": null,
    "billCycleDayFilter": null,
    "productFilter": null,
    "description": "This is a sample billing schedule!"
  }'
```

The details of the created billing schedule will be returned:

```json
{
    "orderFilter": null,
    "dailyObject": {},
    "description": "This is a sample billing schedule!",
    "lastRunDate": null,
    "customExpression": [],
    "billCycleDayFilter": null,
    "recurringSchedule": "0 0 3 * * ? *",
    "lastModifiedById": "424cb15f-da63-4d6a-b397-c15142058084",
    "zoneId": "Asia/Shanghai",
    "targetDateIncrementTimeUnit": "Days",
    "id": "da17ce49-31b4-4f25-98b3-a7c1fc4a3d3a",
    "createdById": "424cb15f-da63-4d6a-b397-c15142058084",
    "targetDateIncrement": 0,
    "targetDateIncrementSign": "Plus",
    "productFilter": null,
    "lastModifiedDate": "2025-06-30T02:42:32.016+00:00",
    "targetDate": null,
    "recordType": "BillingSchedule",
    "createdThrough": "API",
    "invoiceDate": "2025-06-30",
    "customerFilter": "{id:{_in:[\"001KS00000DVz1aYAD\"]}}",
    "createdDate": "2025-06-30T02:42:32.016+00:00",
    "scheduleType": "Recurring",
    "scheduleStartDate": "2025-06-30",
    "name": "BS-00000200",
    "status": "Draft"
}
```

## Activate Billing Schedule

Once the billing schedule is activated, billing jobs will start at the scheduled time, and invoices will be generated after executing the billing jobs. ([Activate Billing Schedules](https://api-docs.nue.io/activate-billing-schedules))

```curl
curl -X POST "https://api.nue.io/billing/schedules:activate" \
  -H "nue-api-key: {yourApiKey}" \
  -H "accept: application/json" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "scheduleIds": [
      "da17ce49-31b4-4f25-98b3-a7c1fc4a3d3a"
    ]
  }'
```

:::hint{type="info"}
If the setting '**Automatically generate the first invoice when an order is activated**' is enabled, invoices will be generated when activating an order through Nue API
:::