A retainer is a recurring quote line with a per-period allowance - say 35 hours a month, or 2,000 dollars a quarter - that you draw down as you deliver. The quote sells it, the contract runs it, and a usage ledger keeps both sides honest.
On the quote, set the line's billing type to Recurring and fill in the retainer settings: a unit (hours or dollars), the amount included per period, and a rollover policy - expire (unused balance dies with the period), roll over one period (unused balance carries forward once, capped), or roll over unlimited. The billing frequency on the line sets the period length. These terms are visible to your customer on the quote - see Building a Quote.
Once the quote is accepted, signed, and converted to a contract (see Contracts, Renewals, and Change Orders), the contract's page carries a Retainer usage card: the current period's running balance, a form to record usage, and a table of recent periods. Log usage in the line's own unit - hours against an hours retainer, dollars against a dollars retainer. Usage can only be recorded against an active contract and into the current open period; once a period closes, its entries are locked.
Periods close automatically each night once their end date passes. At close, EmpireVault snapshots the period's balance, applies the rollover policy to any unused allowance, records any overage (usage beyond the allowance), and opens the next period. You don't manage any of this by hand - the ledger just accumulates.
Retainer lines bill per period alongside the contract's other recurring lines - see Invoices for how per-period invoices generate and get sent.
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