Automatic emails for new invoices

You can set FreeAgent to send an automatic email to accompany the new invoices you send to customers. This article explains how to set this email up in FreeAgent.

To start, select Settings, and choose Email Templates.

Select the 'New invoice' tab.

Build your content

Use the tags over on the right to build the content for the To, Subject and Text boxes.

From / To

The From e-mail can be any one of the users who are set up in FreeAgent. Choose the user from the drop-down menu. You can also tick the box under the From e-mail box to send a copy of this e-mail, and the invoice, to the sender. This is useful if you're a bookkeeper and you need to show the finance manager that you've sent the invoice.

The To e-mail, by default, is your client's contact e-mail that you set up under Contacts, but you can amend this to the billing e-mail for that contact which can also be set up under Contacts. To amend the tag, simply type in an extra _billing so that the tag in the box matches the tag in the list.

If you put "[contact_billing_email],[contact_email]" in the To field, the e-mail will go out assuming that the contact has one or other of the e-mail addresses entered, and if you use the tag [billing_or_contact_email] in the To field, then if you've put in a billing e-mail address that will be used, but if there's no billing e-mail, FreeAgent will use the contact's main e-mail address.

Subject

The Subject field already has the reference tag in it, so the subject of the e-mail will be the reference number of the invoice. You can of course change this if you wish.

Invoice attachment

The invoice will be sent attached to this e-mail as a .pdf.

Other attachment as default

You can send other attachments with your invoices if you wish. To do this, select the Attach Files link, and choose a file from your Files store, or alternatively you can upload a new file.

Remember that any attachment you put here will be sent out with all the invoices that you send automatically. This is useful if, for example, you wish to send your terms and conditions with all your invoices.

Body text

Build the body text using the tags. There is some sample text for you to use and edit as you wish.

We have also included your FreeAgent referral link with a tag that will use your own specific referral code as part of this sample text.

Once you're happy with the New Invoice email, select Save New Invoice Template.

How do I use the automatic email once it's set up?

Then as you set up a new invoice, or edit an existing invoice that's in draft, you can tick the first of the three Invoice Emails boxes under Invoice Details. If you’ve set default options for the client you’re invoicing, this option will be updated automatically.

You do also have the option to edit the template text of your New Invoice email by selecting the Edit email template link, which will appear once you've ticked this box. Remember to save your changes if you're editing an existing invoice.

And once this invoice is ready, start the invoice email sequence by selecting this button at the top of the invoice. It'll say "Send Now" if the invoice date is today's date, or "Schedule to Send" if the invoice date is in the future. You can't send a New Invoice email for an invoice whose date is in the past.

You can also see above this button that there's a note reminding you that you've configured the New Invoice email for this invoice.

Here's what the button looks like if the invoice date is today's date...

...and what it looks like for future invoices.

FreeAgent will then automatically email the invoice to your client, using the template you set up.

Can I see which invoices will be sent automatically?

Yes.

Go to Work > Invoicing and filter the list to "Scheduled to email".

What about chasing payment?

If you need to remind a client to pay, there is another type of automatic invoice email that you can set up to do this, and you can also set up an automatic thank-you email to go to customers who have paid you.