posted
Adding new features to our business repoirtoire this year and was wondering how to e-mail invoices...
When I send a quote out, it goes on a background of our letterhead, typed in Word, saved as a PDF and sent. Easy, nice presentation.
Our invoicing is in Quick Books.
I email invoices when the client asks, but it seems awkward the way I do it and I am wondering how everyone else does it?
(I have found that if you e-mail invoices for larger companies that have terms with me, they pay faster!)
Currently, I Snag the "preview" screen at a somewhat high res (150 dpi). Then I remove the white background and place it on our letterhead file. Save as PDF and email. However, it seems really blurry, even at the 150 res. Do I just need to increase the res? (What is the res of Word?)
Thanks!
-------------------- Nikki Goral Image Advantage Signs 4050 Champeau Road New Franken, WI 54229 920-465-4500 "Finish every day and be done with it. Tomorrow is a new day."-Ralph Waldo Emerson Posts: 928 | From: New Franken, WI (East Green Bay) | Registered: Jun 2007
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posted
Don't care much for Word, QuickBooks, or office programs in general. I use CorelDraw because the sign and the invoice are in one place.
I make a pdf of the CorelDraw invoice and email it. If you must use Word, maybe a 300 dpi image would work better...
That's my letterhead/invoice you see in the middle of the stuff at the bottom. Above is the sign and in other places a photo of the storefront, pictures of the owner, logo designs, etc. What I like about CorelDraw is that everything is all there in sight all in one place.
-------------------- Frank Smith Frank Smith Signs Albany, NY www.franksmithsigns.com Posts: 807 | From: Albany, NY USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Nikki, you should be able to e-mail the invoice right out of quickbooks. Depending what version you have...but that feature goes back a few. Not in front of QB right now, but if you need help, send me an e-mail and I will walk you thru. We print our logo right out of QB also.
-------------------- Patricia A. Raap Raap Signs 2615 Arthur Coopersville, MI 49404 616-677-0158 pat@raapsigns.com Posts: 576 | From: Coopersville, MI 49404 | Registered: Nov 2003
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posted
We have QuickBooks, but emailing invoices was not an option- you had to buy the next version. You could still PRINT the invoice though, on paper.
Nikki, try installing a free pdf creating program which installs as a printer- then you can print the invoice from QB directly to a pdf file, and then attach that to an email.
We set QB up with a miniature logo/letterhead on it, and you can regulate the look of the printed out invoices.
Alternately, set up a fresh letterhead in Word, and save it as a template, and manually write up invoices from that & save to PDF.
I find we email over half the invoices we issue- works well- in fact any that we don't see in person when we deliver or erect, we email- especially to bigger clients. They expect it anyway, and can just forward the email to the correct department in a flash, anyhow.
[ February 03, 2010, 10:47 PM: Message edited by: Ian Stewart-Koster ]
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
Here is the quote form I use...same as my printed letterhead....
Here is what I usually do with the invoice...
a little blurry and..about 5 steps total from Snagging to final output...seems like a lot to me, but maybe not...
If I could crop out the white background of the snag, and keep the text black with transparent around it for the file to go over the letterhead...
Maybe I will do some "adjusting" with Photoshop...
-------------------- Nikki Goral Image Advantage Signs 4050 Champeau Road New Franken, WI 54229 920-465-4500 "Finish every day and be done with it. Tomorrow is a new day."-Ralph Waldo Emerson Posts: 928 | From: New Franken, WI (East Green Bay) | Registered: Jun 2007
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Good post Nikki- I'm using an old MS Publisher program for invoicing, but it's time to make some changes. PDF seems to be the way to go, but I'll be interested to see some others' methods.......
-------------------- www.signcreations.net Sonny Franks Lilburn, GA 770-923-9933 Posts: 4115 | From: Lilburn, GA USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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I email almost ALL of my invoices anymore... it's cool because you can follow up with the excuse, "just wanted to make sure you got it" which a lot of times prompts them into going ahead and processing it... I love it.
I have Adobe Acrobat on my computer, so use their Print to PDF function... if you don't have Acrobat, the free CutePDF thingy works also. I have an Invoices folder in which I have folders for most of my customers. Really handy when you have to jump back and email it again, or send one to a different person...
And since I use Gmail, I save all those messages. That way I can always do a search and find out exactly when and how many times I've sent an invoice. Also, if you discuss certain terms or get promises from a customer, you have proof of that if you need it at some point...
Nikki, it'd be some work but I think you could design a custom invoice in Quickbooks that would print like that straight out of QB. Also, QB has a function where you could email the PDF straight out of Quickbooks with one step...
-------------------- Jon Jantz Snappysign.com jjantz21@gmail.com http://www.allcw.com Posts: 3395 | From: Atmore, AL | Registered: Nov 2005
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You could try Cutepdf or any of several other free pdf generators. Cutepdf acts as a printer so instead of selecting your usual printer you select it and then designate the location to save the finished pdf. Then open a new email, attach the invioce and send
-------------------- David Fisher D.A. & P.M. Fisher Services Brisbane Australia da_pmf@yahoo.com Trying out a new tag: "Parents are the bones on which children cut their teeth Peter Ustinov Posts: 1450 | From: Brisbane Queensland Australia | Registered: Nov 1998
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Your Invoice and presentation page would be impossible for me to throw away. Mine looks weenee compared to yours.
Very effective and great idea.
Best wishes
Joe
-------------------- Joe Crumley Norman Sign Company 2200 Research Park Blvd. Norman, OK 73069 Posts: 1428 | From: 2200 Research Park Blvd. | Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
We email all our invoices via QB, with a link to pay for it as well online, via our web site. You can email the invoice directly from Quickbook. If the client name also has the email info in their client info, it will automatically populate the mail to address.
"Some are born to move the world, to live their fantasies. But most of us just dream about the things we'd like to be." - Rush Posts: 1192 | From: Washington, NJ | Registered: Feb 1999
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Quickbooks and Estimate both have the option to e-mail estimates and I do the invoices thru Quickbooks. I do the e-mail version but I usually mail a copy too. I figure anyway to get them to pay is a good thing! You can even send a statement if you have multiple invoices for the same customer. Gotta love that Quickbooks!
-------------------- Jane Diaz Diaz Sign Art 628 W. Lincoln Ave. Pontiac, Il. 61764 815-844-7024 www.diazsignart.com Posts: 4102 | From: Pontiac, IL USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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posted
I guess it depends on what version of QB you're using. With the newer versions (I have 2006), you can email right from the program or "print" to a PDF file. I typically save the file as a PDF and email it.
Like Glenn, I use EstiMate for quoting and QuickBooks for billing. Corel's publish to PDF is used for proofing once I receive a deposit and convert the design to a 96 dpi bitmap before I send it.
I typically keep the estimates in with the job folder and final invoices have their own folder.
I save the final invoice as the invoice number then the client's name. So, the file would be saved as 1234_Client_Name.PDF
Havin' fun,
Checkers
-------------------- a.k.a. Brian Born www.CheckersCustom.com Harrisburg, Pa Work Smart, Play Hard Posts: 3775 | From: Harrisburg, Pa. U.S.A. | Registered: Nov 1998
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quote: I save the final invoice as the invoice number then the client's name. So, the file would be saved as 1234_Client_Name.PDF
...so do I, except I also add "fromTraditionalSigns" to the end of the file name too, so if they copy & save it somewhere on their system, it'll make more sense to them.
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
Since so many of you e mail invoices in Quickbooks, maybe you can tell me how? I can send the invoice no problem. But since I use preprinted invoices, the e mailed invoice goes out the same way as it prints, just the customer name, quantity, description, and totals. My company name, address, and terms are not on the invoice. Is it just a matter of clicking on plain paper invoice before e mailing? I can see that being a minor problem when I forget to switch back and forth.
-------------------- Dave Sherby "Sandman" SherWood Sign & Graphic Design Crystal Falls, MI 49920 906-875-6201 sherwoodsign@sbcglobal.net Posts: 5397 | From: Crystal Falls, MI USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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We just don't do enough transactions to justify learning QuickBooks here. Susan- I keep track by name. Clients who get a lot of signs get new folders for more recent or new categories of work. Old invoices get dragged off to the side, not deleted. By panning and zooming, you can see everything on one surface: preliminary sketches & quotes, copied & pasted emails, notes, the signs, all invoices...
-------------------- Frank Smith Frank Smith Signs Albany, NY www.franksmithsigns.com Posts: 807 | From: Albany, NY USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Dave, what is your reason for using pre-printed invoices?
Yes, clicking on the Plain Paper would add that info in, if you have it set up. But I would be like you and then sometimes forget to swap it back one way or the other...
-------------------- Jon Jantz Snappysign.com jjantz21@gmail.com http://www.allcw.com Posts: 3395 | From: Atmore, AL | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Dave Sherby: Since so many of you e mail invoices in Quickbooks, maybe you can tell me how? I can send the invoice no problem. But since I use preprinted invoices, the e mailed invoice goes out the same way as it prints, just the customer name, quantity, description, and totals. My company name, address, and terms are not on the invoice. Is it just a matter of clicking on plain paper invoice before e mailing? I can see that being a minor problem when I forget to switch back and forth.
Dave, I deal with that issue by creating a second template. The original one I made when I matched the fields to the particular preprinted form I bought, (with my letterhead on it) is called "custom template" and the second template I built is called "fax template" and it is similar, except it has an area in the corner that is assigned to print an image of my logo that must be stored in the QBP folder.
To fax or email an invoice or estimate, this template is selected first. QBP may have fixed it, but years ago the email feature went through their server somewhere & offered you a field to type a personal greeting of some kind.... but you had no copy in your sent email box, so I always "save as .pdf" from the file menu, & then attach to a standard email. My faxing is done through the computer, by selecting "fax" from among my printer options, and this same template gets my logo on there.
posted
Jon, I like the preprinted forms mainly for the colored background, and for the fact that I have them done locally, really cheap, and my terms are on there. In Quickbooks you have to choose a message so you can have your terms, but if you want something else your terms are gone. As expensive as ink jet cartridges are, I figure the convenience of preprinted forms are worth it.
I also read that colored invoices get paid faster than plain paper invoices according to a survey.
-------------------- Dave Sherby "Sandman" SherWood Sign & Graphic Design Crystal Falls, MI 49920 906-875-6201 sherwoodsign@sbcglobal.net Posts: 5397 | From: Crystal Falls, MI USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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I email almost all my invoices through Quick Books. Once a job is complete I make out the invoice and email it to the customer with the message that their project is finished and that they can pick it up or arrange for shipping, and that for their convenience the invoice is attached. For most of my smaller clients this is a pretty good way to encourage them to show up cheque in hand.
-------------------- “Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?” -Winnie the Pooh & A.A. Milne
Kelly Thorson Kel-T-Grafix 801 Main St. Holdfast, SK S0G 2H0 ktg@sasktel.net Posts: 5496 | From: Penzance, Saskatchewan | Registered: May 2002
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I guess my main issue is that I want the above LOOK, which is consistent with all of my other materials, but the convenience of emailing from QB.
I have PDF creator and use it ALL the time.
I just wanted to eliminate having to bring the Snagged invoice into Photoshop and get rid of white the background (making it a transparent so the watermark shows through)and then emailing it.
Like in Word, you place the background as an image or template, and have your text go over the top of it. I have used the "put logo on invoice" feature and it just seemed, for lack of a nicer term, lame compared to all the other paperwork I send for the project. I was wondering if there was a feature like that in QB?
-------------------- Nikki Goral Image Advantage Signs 4050 Champeau Road New Franken, WI 54229 920-465-4500 "Finish every day and be done with it. Tomorrow is a new day."-Ralph Waldo Emerson Posts: 928 | From: New Franken, WI (East Green Bay) | Registered: Jun 2007
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I dont have quickbooks or estimate I fax or scan and email invoices. I buy those purchase order books in bulk and handwrite invoices still. I know behind the times. It doesnt matter how damn efficient, how beautiful the invoices are they are still going to go unpaid, un noticed or simply just lost.
funny how people can lose our invoices but NEVER lose the power bill
-------------------- You ever notice how easily accessible people are when they are requiring your services but once they get invoice you can't reach them anymore
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