In a clear demonstration of their intention to remain the top small business accounting package, Quickbooks has introduced a list of helpful improvements. We’d like to highlight the one that we think will make the greatest impact for our clients – Email Invoicing.
Simply stated, if you email a customer a copy of an invoice, Quickbooks now includes the ability to edit the message prior to sending and the ability to exchange messages back and forth regarding the invoice.
In previous versions, users had to use the limited “email preferences” feature to turn on control of the content of invoice email messages and were limited to editing the email address in the Edit Delivery Information window. In addition, users were limited to seeing only the last email delivery of each invoice.
Now, users have a new preference option to email a link to view and pay invoices online. In addition to being able to send the email with or without PDF attachments, the updated Quickbooks invoice email feature includes an option to send the link (again with or without attachments).
Another great update offers users the ability to preview the invoice and edit the subject and text of the email message after clicking the Save and Send button. This allows for much more convenient and simple personalization of each outgoing message (as well as content review).
Once received, customers can click on the “view invoice now” button which will take them to the Intuit Connect website and display the invoice in a new browser window (note that customers can also open/download/view the invoice as attached PDF if you’ve included it). They can then reply and communicate via a special Intuit email that allows for bidirectional communication with your accounting department. Included in this communication is a history function that can be easily accessed and referred to by both parties at any time, allowing for more consistent and transparent handling of each invoice (and the overall working relationship)
One of our favorite aspects to this updated Invoice Emailing feature is the branding portal that can be created and used. The Intuit Connect website does a great job of presenting all of your corporate information, as well as the pertinent billing information. It’s important to understand that Intuit is actually pulling the data from an actual transaction here, rather than just displaying a simple PDF (although they can ultimately click to produce and download a PDF from this online invoice for their records if they desire).
Finally, if users have enabled QuickBooks Payments to accept with online and desktop payments, customers can click a Pay Now button directly from that invoice. We think this convenience will definitely have a positive impact on collections, reducing Accounts Receivable efforts and improving cashflow.
Although we work with nearly every accounting software package on the market today, we remain steadfast in our preference for Quickbooks, and this new Invoice Email feature is a great reminder of why. If you have questions about upgrading to the latest version of Quickbooks and/or any of the upcoming functionality, contact Lescault and Walderman at 866-496-2042.
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