Automatic invoice advancement
Learn how Stripe can automatically advance invoice states and help collect payment.
All invoices start as a draft
and must be transitioned to open
to accept a payment. If the invoice becomes overdue, or payment on the invoice fails, Stripe can automatically send reminders or retry the payment for you. You can choose to let Stripe manage these state transitions and these collection attempts automatically or choose to manage them yourself. Learn more about the invoice lifecycle.
For invoices created using the API, set the auto_advance property on the invoice to true
. You might also want to configure a webhook endpoint to receive associated events. When you set auto_
to false
, you’re responsible for transitioning the invoice between states. Learn more about webhook endpoints and finalizing invoices.
Update automatic invoice advancement 
An invoice must be in a draft
or open
state to update automatic advancement. Invoices that are paid
, void
, or uncollectible
always have automatic advancement turned off.
Automatic advancement feature comparison 
When you turn off automatic advancement in the Dashboard or set auto_
to false
, Stripe disables most of the automatic collection features for Invoicing. The following table outlines some key changes in the behavior of automatic collection, depending on whether auto_
is set to true
or false
:
Feature | True | False |
---|---|---|
Emailing invoices | ||
Retries (email and charge) | ||
Invoice reminder emails | ||
3D Secure reminder emails | ||
Email receipts | ||
Attempting payments for auto-charge invoices | ||
Finalize draft subscription invoices to open | (after approximately one hour) | |
Stripe Automation |
Legend
- = Can be enabled depending on your settings.
- = Configurable in your settings.
- = Not enabled. The invoice isn’t automatically transitioned.