How to Set Up Recurring Payments for Retainer Clients

Retainer relationships are the holy grail of freelancing — predictable income, ongoing work, stable client relationships. But the payment side of retainers is often handled manually: sending an invoice at the start of each month, following up when it’s late, sending another reminder, getting paid 15 days after you should have.

Vulta’s recurring payment system automates this entirely.

How Recurring Payments Work in Vulta

You create a recurring subscription for each retainer client. Vulta automatically sends a payment link to your client’s email on your specified schedule. When they pay, crypto settles in your wallet. If they don’t pay, Vulta sends a reminder automatically.

You never have to manually send a monthly invoice or chase a payment again.

Step-by-Step Setup

Step 1: Create a payment link for your retainer

Go to Payment Links → New Link. Set the amount to your monthly retainer fee. Add a description like “Monthly retainer — SEO management.”

Step 2: Set up the recurring subscription

Go to Recurring → New Subscription.

Enter:

• Client name and email
• Payment interval (monthly, bi-weekly, custom number of days)
• Link to the payment link you created

Click Save. Vulta immediately sends the first payment link to your client.

Step 3: Configure reminders

In the subscription settings, set a reminder interval — e.g., send a reminder if unpaid after 3 days. Vulta will automatically follow up with your client if they haven’t paid.

Step 4: Monitor in your dashboard

Your dashboard shows all active subscriptions with status (paid, pending, overdue) and payment history. You see at a glance which clients are current and which need attention.

What Your Client Experiences

On the first of each month (or whatever interval you set), your client receives a professional email from you with a payment link. They click the link, pay with card or crypto, and receive a confirmation. The whole experience takes under 2 minutes.

From the client’s perspective, it feels like a professional billing system — because it is one.

Handling Missed Payments

When a client misses a payment, Vulta sends automatic reminders. After the reminder interval you set (e.g., 3 days after due date), a follow-up email goes out automatically.

For clients who consistently miss payments, you can add a personal note to the reminder email template — reminding them of the payment terms in your contract.

Upgrading From Manual to Automated

If you’re currently invoicing retainer clients manually:

1. Create the recurring subscription for each client
2. Set the billing date to match your current invoicing schedule
3. Notify your clients that they’ll receive payment links automatically going forward
4. Remove the monthly “send invoice” task from your calendar

The time saving adds up. If you have 5 retainer clients and spend 30 minutes/month on manual invoicing per client, that’s 2.5 hours/month — 30 hours/year — that you get back.

The Non-Custodial Advantage for Recurring Payments

With Payoneer or Wise, your monthly retainer sits in their account until you withdraw. With Vulta, each payment goes directly to your wallet the moment it’s made. Your retainer income is in your control immediately — not pending in someone else’s system.

Set up automated recurring payments for your retainer clients on Vulta.