Sending an invoice
Send the customer a booked invoice by email, SMS, WhatsApp or post, or send a reminder if it has not been paid yet.
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With Send notification you send the customer a booked invoice by email, SMS, WhatsApp or post. Tillor never does that by itself. If the invoice has already been sent but not yet paid, you send a reminder. The customer can then pay via the link in the message, see Letting a customer pay online.
Before you start:
- The invoice is booked. On a draft the buttons are missing.
- The customer has at least an email address, a phone number or a complete postal address (street, postcode and town). Otherwise the buttons are missing.
- For a reminder, an amount is still outstanding.
Sending an invoice
Open the booked invoice
Go to AdministrationInvoices and open an invoice with status Booked.
Click Send notification
A Send notification window opens.
Choose the channels
You can choose from:
- Email: the customer receives an email with the invoice attached. On by default if there is an email address.
- SMS: the customer receives a text message. Only available with a phone number.
- WhatsApp: only visible if WhatsApp Business is installed. Requires a phone number, and a payment method at Meta or an ongoing conversation with the customer.
- Post: the invoice is sent as a PDF by post. Only available with a complete postal address. Off by default and shows an indicative postage amount per letter.
A channel that is not possible for this customer is disabled with the reason, for example No email address on file. Choose at least one channel.
Send
Click Send.
Sending a reminder
A reminder is possible as soon as the invoice is booked and an amount is still outstanding.
Open the dropdown menu
Click the arrow next to Send notification and choose Send reminder.
Choose the channels
Here Email and SMS are on by default if the customer has an email address and phone number. With Post, the customer receives a reminder letter with the invoice attached, with a QR code to view or pay online.
Optionally choose registered mail
If you ticked Post, you can choose Registered mail with receipt confirmation. That is only possible for a reminder, not for the first invoice notification, and only if registered mail is available for that address. Tillor then shows the indicative extra amount on top of the normal postage costs. The button is then called Send with extra cost.
Send
Click Send.
What happens next?
On the invoice page, the Notifications block shows which messages have been sent. All messages of your organisation are under CommunicationNotifications.
Postal items start as Pending. The status of the letter then follows: PDF received, Validated, Processing, In print center and Handed to postal service. As soon as the carrier confirms it, the status becomes Sent. Undeliverable post becomes Failed. A letter that has been cancelled at the carrier gets the status Skipped. Open the message for the postage amount, the carrier's reference and the latest tracking status. More about this is under Notifications.
- Tillor sends the message immediately. The customer receives a link to view the invoice and pay online.
- A reminder remains a separate action per invoice. The Due for a reminder filter in the invoice list helps you choose whom to remind again.
- Automations can also send reminders automatically. See Automations.
An invoice for which a notification has already been sent can no longer easily be reverted to draft. See Correcting an invoice.