Send an invoice or quote to a customer

Once an invoice, quote or credit note is issued, you can give the customer a private link to it, send that link by e-mail or WhatsApp, or print the document.

Before you start

• You need the Books right Manage sales documents and payments.
• Customer links use your organisation's public address. Set it on the Online settings page first; until then Books asks you to do so.
• The document must be issued. Drafts cannot be shared.

Steps

1. Open the issued document, for example from Books → Invoice.
2. Select Customer link. The link appears under the document, ready to copy.
3. To e-mail it, select Send e-mail. Books sends the link to the address on the document.
4. To use WhatsApp, select WhatsApp, then Open WhatsApp. WhatsApp opens with the message ready; you press send yourself.
5. To print, select Print or save as PDF and use your browser's print window. Choose "Save as PDF" there to get a file.
6. To stop the link working, select Revoke link.

Good to know

• The link is long and random and works for one year. Revoking it stops it at once; selecting Customer link again makes a new one.
• The customer's page shows only that document. It does not show their other invoices or their overall balance, and it has no button to pay online.
• A sent invoice shows Sent with the date. Opening the WhatsApp message does not prove it was sent, so Books does not mark it sent. If you sent the invoice from another app, use Record as sent on the invoice and give a reason.
• If Books shows "Delivery could not be confirmed", check the recipient before you send again, so the customer does not get the message twice.
• The owner can see sent and pending messages under Books → Messages.
• Printing is done by your browser on an A4 page in Arabic and English. There is no PDF made on our server, and long documents over several pages have not been fully checked. Change the layout under Change how documents look.
• The page says it is a prepared document: your accountant must confirm tax details and rounding before you rely on it.
• For quotes, the customer can accept or decline on the same page: see Send a quote and track the outcome.