I personnaly don't like recurring tasks because if you make one mistake, it
will hose your entire task and any linked tasks to it.
It would make more sense to do either:
(a) make a project plan for each month and roll that up into a master plan; or
(b) create the tasks for one month and copy the same set of tasks 12 times
(12 times for 12 months)
In either case above, you can accurately capture time spent on each task
since one would assume the time (hours) per task would vary by month.
Of course, if you are just doing "%Complete" for each task, then just use a
spreadsheet with the To-Do items listed in a column and Months listed on the
top.