Sending Invoices & Credit Notes to Debtors Via Email

If the preferred delivery method of email applies to an invoice or credit note, the invoice/credit not can be distributed to the debtor by template-based email from the Billing > Manage Delivery screen.

When sending invoices/credit notes to a debtor via email you can select the relevant template that defines the format of the email. The format determines what text appears in the subject/topic line of the email as well as the text that is to appear in the body of the email message. You can edit the subject or message text that is predefined by the template prior to sending the message if necessary.

The message text can include merge tags that allow the contents of database fields to be output within the body of the email message. For example, a merge tag can be included within the body of a message to print the relevant invoice number. Merge tags can be defined within the email template and can also be added or removed from the body of the message prior to sending.

It is possible to add attachments to the email message. This can be any relevant electronic file to which you have access from your computer. This may be, for example, a PDF copy of an invoice/credit notice.

It is possible to email multiple invoices/credit notes to a debtor simultaneously. Only invoices/credit notes that have a preferred delivery method of email can be delivered to debtors via the email method. You can check which preferred delivery method applies to an invoice/credit note by viewing the Delivery Method column in the grid list on the Billing > Manage Delivery screen.

When delivering invoices/credit notes via email, you are prompted to set the Delivered flag on the invoices/credit notes you are emailing, if it is not already set.

When you choose to set the Delivered flag, you are confirming that the invoice/credit note is being distributed to the debtor. Once the Delivered flag is set, the system will consider the invoice/credit note to have been distributed to the debtor and it will not be possible to clear the flag.

Therefore, take care to only set the Delivered flag if you are confirming the delivery of the invoice/credit note to the debtor.

Important Information About Email Delivery File Size Limits

When delivering invoices and credit notes to debtors via email, the relevant invoices or credit notes, and any associated secondary documents that may be attached to the invoices and credit notes, are attached to an email message as PDF documents.

In some cases the file size of the PDF documents that are attached to an email message for delivery to a debtor may exceed the maximum file size that can be sent by an email server, which is typically around 30 megabytes (Mb). Because of that, FastTrack360 prevents invoices/credit notes from being sent if the total file attachment size exceeds 30 Mb. When that happens, the following applies:

the Delivered flag is not set for those documents that were not sent
an event is recorded in the Invoice Log to identify there was a failure to deliver invoices due to exceeding of the file size limit.

Based on the event recorded in the Invoice Log, action can then be taken accordingly to address the problem. For example, if a number of invoices were selected to be attached and emailed together to the same debtor, thereby making the overall attachment size too big, you can attempt to email the invoices individually, thereby reducing the size of the attachment that is being emailed in each instance.

How to Distribute Invoices/Credit Notes via Email

To distribute invoices/credit notes to debtors via email, follow the procedure below.

How to Distribute Invoice/Credit Notes to Debtors via Email
	Using the Portal > Billing > Manage Delivery screen, search for the relevant closed invoices/credit notes. The invoices/credit notes matching your criteria are listed in the results list.
2.	In the results list, tick the invoices/credit notes that you want to deliver and click Email Debtor. The Email Debtor button is enabled only if all of the invoices/credit notes that you have ticked have a preferred delivery method of Email. If you have ticked an invoice/credit note that has a preferred delivery method other than Email, you will need to un-tick that invoice/credit note before proceeding to attempt to deliver any remaining invoices/credit notes via email to the debtor. To determine the preferred delivery method of any invoice/credit note in the results list, refer to the Delivery Method column in the list. The Email Invoice to Debtors screen opens.
3.	In the Email Template field, select the name of the template to be used for the email message. The Subject* and Message fields display the default text and merge fields as defined by the template you selected.*
4.	In the Subject field, modify the default subject/topic text of the email message if necessary.
5.	In the Message field, modify the default body text of the message. Note that you can add merge tags or remove any default merge tags that are defined by the template. For more information, see Working with Merge Tags below.
6.	If you want to add an attachment to the email message, click Add Files and use the dialog box that opens to navigate to and select the relevant file to be attached. Repeat this step as many times as necessary until you have added all relevant attachments you want to send with the email. The selected files are listed within the Attachments* field*.
7.	Click Send. The message is sent to the email addresses of the debtors corresponding to the invoices/credit notes you selected and a confirmation message opens.

Working with Merge Tags

When creating a new email message in the Email Invoices To Debtors screen you can add additional merge tags, which are not defined by the message template, to the message body text that is displayed within the Message field. To do this, follow the procedure below.

How to Add a Merge Tag to the Message Text
	In the Message field within the Email Invoices To Debtors screen, click the position within the message text where you want the merge field to appear. The text cursor flashes at the position where you clicked.
2.	In the Merge Tags field, click the merge tag to be inserted into the message. Click here to see descriptions of the available merge tags. BillingCompanyContactEmail Email address of the contact person at the billing company that is issuing the invoice/credit note. This is taken from the billing company record. BillingCompanyContactFirstName First name of the contact person at the billing company that is issuing the invoice/credit note. This is taken from the billing company record. BillingCompanyContactPhone Telephone number of the contact person at the billing company that is issuing the invoice/credit note. This is taken from the billing company record. BillingCompanyContactSurname Surname of the contact person at the billing company that is issuing the invoice/credit note. This is taken from the billing company record. BillingCompanyCorporateIdentityNumber Corporate identity number of the billing company that is issuing the invoice/credit note. This is taken from the billing company record. BillingCompanyCountry Country to which the billing company that is issuing the invoice/credit note belongs. This is taken from the billing company record. BillingCompanyName Name of the billing company that is issuing the invoice/credit note. This is taken from the billing company record. DebtorCode Unique ID number identifying the debtor company receiving the invoice/credit note. This is taken from the debtor record. DebtorContactName Name of the contact person at the debtor company receiving the invoice/credit note. This is taken from the debtor record. DebtorEmail1 Primary email address of the debtor company receiving the invoice/credit note. This is taken from the debtor record. DebtorEmail2 Secondary email address of the debtor company receiving the invoice/credit note. This is taken from the debtor record. DebtorMailAddress1 First address line of the mailing address of the debtor company receiving the invoice/credit note. This is taken from the debtor record. DebtorMailAddress2 Second address line of the mailing address of the debtor company receiving the invoice/credit note. This is taken from the debtor record. DebtorMailCountry Country in which the mailing address of the debtor company receiving the invoice/credit note is located. This is taken from the debtor record. DebtorMailStateProvince State or province in which the mailing address of the debtor company receiving the invoice/credit note is located. This is taken from the debtor record. DebtorMailSuburb Suburb or city in which the mailing address of the debtor company receiving the invoice/credit note is located. This is taken from the debtor record. DebtorMailZipPostCode Zip code or post code of the debtor company receiving the invoice/credit note. This is taken from the debtor record. DebtorName Name of the debtor company receiving the invoice/credit note. This is taken from the debtor record. InvoiceBalanceDueDate Date on which payment of the invoice/credit note is due, based on the issue date and the invoice terms. InvoiceNumber Invoice/credit note number, as defined on the invoice/credit note. InvoiceTerms Payment terms as defined on the invoice/credit note. RecipientFirstName Prints the given name of the contact, who is the recipient of the email, within the body of the email. RecipientSurname Prints the family name of the contact, who is the recipient of the email, within the body of the email. The merge tag you clicked is selected.
3.	To the left of the Merge Tags field, click the Add Tags to Message button. The selected merge tag is added to the Message* field at the point where you positioned the text cursor.*

You can move any merge tag if necessary by copying and pasting the merge tag or using any other standard Windows text editing operations to shift the position of the tag.

Ensure that you move/copy the entire tag including the parenthesis surrounding the field name as the parenthesis designate the start and end of the merge tag.

You can delete any merge tag that has been inserted into the message or that is defined by default by the message template by selecting the entire tag and clicking DELETE.