About customer statements

You can produce statements to send to your customers to show the status of their accounts. The statement shows all transactions and the total invoiced to the customer for a particular date range. It also shows the amount the customer has paid and the amount outstanding at the end of the period specified.

To choose the statement type

1. Go to Settings, then click Statement Settings.
2. In the Customer Statement Type field, select one of the following:

• Outstanding items only – Select this option if you want your customer statements to only show outstanding transactions.
• All Activity – Select this option if you want your customer statements to show all transactions.

3. Click Save.

Creating a batch of statements

On the Customers page, you can use the Statement Run feature to generate a batch of customer statements.

By default, the method used to send these batch statements is set to By post (PDF Generated) for all customers. You can change this setting for each of your customers on the Options tab of their contact record. You can also edit the contact and address that appears on their statements.

To generate a statement run:

1. Go to Contacts, and then click Customers.
2. Click Statement Run.
3. In the Outstanding amount over field, enter the amount by which a customer’s account must be outstanding for a statement to be produced.
4. In the Produce statement as of field, enter the date you want to run the statements for.

Note: Any invoices paid after this date will be included on the customer statements.

5. Click Next. An overview displays that includes the total you are currently owed, the statement date, and the number of statements that will be printed or emailed.
6. Generate statements, change statement criteria, or cancel, as follows:

• Click Generate to generate statements.
• Click Back if you want to change statement criteria.
• Click the close button if you want to cancel without generating statements.

Viewing a customer statement

1. Go to Contacts and then Customers.
2. Click the customer.
3. On the Manage menu, click Statements.
4. In the To field, enter the end date. The transactions entered by the end date appear.

Managing the customer’s statement

You can email the statement to your customer or save it as a PDF or CSV file. You can also set up monthly statements, which are then emailed automatically to your customer on the day that you specify. To do this, follow the steps above, and then refer to one of the following sections.

To email a statement

1. On the Manage Statement menu, click Email.
2. Enter the following information:

• To. If the main customer contact has an email address, it automatically appears in this field. You can change it if necessary. Enter additional email addresses separated by a semicolon.

• Cc. Optionally, enter another person's email address to send them a copy of the email and PDF.
• Copy to me. By default, a copy of the email and invoice is sent to your email address. Unmark this checkbox if you do not want to send yourself a copy.
• Message. Enter a message for the customer. To view the statement you are about to send, click the statement link above the message.

3. Click Send.

Printing a statement

To save the statement as a PDF file, on the Manage Statement menu, click Print.

The PDF opens in a new window or tab, and you can print it or save it from your browser's file menu or toolbar.

Exporting a statement to a CSV file

You can save the statement as a CSV file, which you can then open with Microsoft Excel. On the Manage Statement menu, click Export to CSV file.

Depending on your browser, the file is either automatically downloaded to your Downloads folder, or you receive a message asking you to open the file or save it to your computer. To save the file, browse to the desired location and click Save. You can then open the file with Excel.

Editing the default statement address and contact

The first time you send a statement, the main customer address appears on the statement. If you email the statement, it includes the email address for the main contact. You can change these default values.

Note: If you need to add a new address or contact, you can edit the contact record.

To select a different default contact or address.

1. On the Manage Statement menu, click Statement Addresses/Contacts.
2. Do one of the following:

• To change the default contact, on the Statement Email menu, select the desired contact.
• To change the customer address that appears on the statement, on the Statement Address menu, select the desired address.

3. Click Save.

The next time you produce the statement PDF or email the statement to your customer, the selected address and contact email address are used.

Sending monthly statements

You can automatically send monthly statements to your customers.

1. On the Manage Statement menu, select Schedule Monthly Statements.
2. Enter the following information:

• Enable Monthly Statement. Select this check box to send monthly statements to the customer.
• To. If the main customer contact has an email address, it automatically appears in this field. You can edit it and enter additional email addresses separated by a semicolon.
• Cc. Optionally, enter another person's email address to send them a copy of the email and PDF.
• Subject. Displays a default subject line, though you can edit the text after you select Enable Monthly Statement.
• Message. Enter a message to send to the customer.
• Email statements monthly on day. Enter the day of the month that you want to send the statement. The statements include transactions entered up to and including the day of the month before the day you enter. For example, if you enter day 10, the statement includes transactions from day 10 of the previous month to day 9 of the current month.

• Exclude zero balances. If you don’t want to include transactions that have a zero balance, select this check box.

3. Click Save.

You have enabled monthly statements, which are now emailed to your customer on the specified day. You can stop the statements at any time. On the Manage Statement menu, click Schedule Monthly Statements. Clear the Enable Monthly Statement check box and then click Save.