Send a document by email
Send an invoice, an estimate or a credit note to your customer with the PDF attached, after checking it, then track its delivery.
Every sales document can be sent by email from the list or from its detail page. The PDF is attached automatically, you check it on screen before confirming, and the document page then keeps a record of the sending: sent, delivered, opened.
What you will do
- Check that the customer has an email address.
- Start the sending from the list or the document page.
- Check the PDF, then confirm.
- Track delivery in the email history.
Before sending
The recipient is the email address of the customer record (or of the supplier record for a purchase). Without a contact attached to the document, the Send by email entry of the menu is greyed out with the note "No recipient", and the envelope icon on the row shows "No associated recipient". First complete the address in the customer record.
Send from the list
- Open Invoices (or Estimates, Credit Notes).
- On the document row, click the envelope icon (Send by email), or open the Options menu and choose Send by email.
- The « Confirmer l'envoi par e-mail » (confirm email sending) window shows the PDF as it will be sent, with the message "Check the document before sending to … The email will be sent to the recipient immediately."
- Click Send. The message "Email sent" confirms that it has gone.
- Open the Options menu of the document.
- The menu shows the document actions.
- Choose Send by email.
- The menu closes and the confirmation window opens.
- The PDF is shown as it will leave, attached.
- The message names the recipient: sending is immediate.
- Click Send.
- The window closes and the message "Email sent" confirms it.
Send from the document page
Open the document, then the Options menu at the top right of the page and choose Send by email. The same confirmation window opens.
Content of the email
| Element | Content |
|---|---|
| Subject | "Your Document {number}" |
| Body | Standard covering text: "Please find the attached document." |
| Attachment | The PDF of the document, generated with your template |
The PDF template, header, footer and payment QR code are set in Settings > Documents. The same section offers, per document type, the Send automatically by email option: "Automatically sends generated documents to customers by email."
The email carries the PDF. The UBL XML file is downloaded separately with Export XML and can go with what you send to your accountant (see Export documents). For an electronic invoice, prefer Peppol.
Track the sending
On the document page, the Email history card lists each sending with the recipient, the status and the date. Until something has gone out, it shows "No emails sent".
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | The email is in the sending queue |
| Sent | Handed over to the mail server |
| Delivered | Accepted by the recipient's mailbox |
| Opened | The recipient has opened the message |
| Failed, Bounced | Not delivered: check the customer's address |
A Reminder badge distinguishes payment reminders from sendings of the document itself. The Activity card sums it all up: number of emails, including "n opened", SMS and reminders.
The detail of a sending (archived subject and message) opens by clicking the history row, only on web.novadesko.com. In the app, the history is read-only.
Document status
To move an invoice from Created to Sent without an email (handed over in person, by post), use Mark as sent (manual) in the Options menu of the invoice. See Statuses.
Bulk sending
In Bulk actions, the Send by email entry shows "This feature will be available soon." Send your documents one by one.
Alternative: Peppol
If the customer can be reached on the Peppol network, the menu offers Send via Peppol. Otherwise the entry stays greyed out with the reason: "Customer without Peppol identifier", "No associated customer". See Send an invoice via Peppol.