Line items
Learn how line items are displayed on invoices and how they impact totals, taxes, and hosted page displays.
Overview
Required plan
This feature or setting is available to all customers on any Recurly subscription plan.
Prerequisites & limitations
Line items can be named freely but should avoid special characters unless confirmed with your payment gateway.
Invoices only display the first 500 line items in the Admin Console, Hosted Invoice, and PDF views.
Full line item details (beyond 500) must be accessed via the Adjustments Export.
Definition
Line items are individual charges or components listed on an invoice, each representing a product, service, or adjustment applied to a transaction. These can be associated with subscriptions or stand-alone charges.
Key benefits
- Clear billing breakdown: Provides transparency to subscribers by itemizing all charges.
- Supports stand-alone items: Line items don't need to be tied to a subscription to be invoiced.
- Displayed across channels: Visible in Admin Console, PDFs, Hosted Invoice, and Hosted Account Management.
Key details
Invoice line items
Every invoice line item displays these columns:
- Date
- Description
- Quantity
- Price
- Discount (when applied)
- Subtotal
- Tax (including rate, when applicable)
- Total (only shown if tax is applied)
Note: Invoices in the Admin Console, the Hosted Invoice page, and PDF format will show only the first 500 line items. However, the Subtotal, Tax, and Total always reflect the full set of line items, even those beyond the first 500.
To download all line items, use the Adjustments Export.
Description and naming guidelines
Be specific
Use clear, descriptive names rather than generic labels like “Item 1” or “Charge.”
Match the product
If you sell fruit, list “Apple,” “Orange,” and “Banana” rather than “Fruits.”
Avoid business names
Don’t repeat your company name in item names or descriptions (e.g., “Fruit Shop Items”).
Skip single-character names
Avoid names that are a single character or all symbols—they confuse customers.
Where descriptions appear
Subscriber invoices, Hosted Account Management pages, and Hosted Invoice PDFs.
Character limit
Descriptions must be 255 characters or fewer.
Special character tip
Check with your payment gateway about any restrictions on special characters.
Updated 1 day ago