What Are Recurring Payments? Definition, Types, and Best Practices

Recurring payments are pre-authorized charges that repeat on a defined schedule. They are common in subscriptions, memberships, and retainers, and require clear consent, transparent terms, and a reliable retry workflow.

Executive summary

• Define the payment cadence, amount, and cancellation rules up front.
• Separate billing schedules from revenue recognition policies.
• Design for failure recovery, refunds, and customer self-serve changes.

Next steps

• Map the end-to-end flow (consent → charge → invoice → retries).
• Review compliance and data handling expectations with your payment provider.
• Align Finance and RevOps on recognition timing and reporting.