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Accounting | How To

How To Set Up Messages in QuickBooks Online

Tim Yoder, Ph.D., CPA

REVIEWED BY: Tim Yoder, Ph.D., CPA

Tim is a Certified QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) Pro, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and CPA with 25 years of experience. He brings his expertise to Fit Small Business’s accounting content.

 

WRITTEN BY: Mark Calatrava

Published June 22, 2022

Mark has researched and reviewed accounting software at Fit Small Business since 2019 and has developed an extensive knowledge of accounting software features and how unique business needs determine the best accounting software.

Published June 22, 2022

This article is part of a larger series on Accounting Software.

Learn More With Our QuickBooks Online Course
Explore the chapters in the guide.
  1. How to Set Up QuickBooks Online
  2. Part 1: Setting Up QuickBooks
    1. How to Set Up Company Information
    2. How to Customize Invoices, Sales Receipts & Estimates
    3. How to Set Up Invoices, Sales Receipts & Estimates
    4. How to Set Up Products and Services
    5. How to Set Up Messages
    6. How to Set Up Statements
    7. How to Set Up Expenses
    8. How to Set Up Advanced Settings
  3. Part 1: Setting Up QuickBooks (Cont.)
    1. How to Import Bank Transactions
    2. How to Import Credit Card Transactions
    3. How to Set Up Multiple Users
    4. How to Set Up the Chart of Accounts
    5. How to Set Up the Products and Services List
    6. How to Set Up Customers
    7. How to Set Up Vendors
  4. Part 2: Managing Sales and Income
    1. How to Create Estimates (Quotes or Bids)
    2. How to Create and Send Invoices
    3. How to Receive Payments
    4. How to Create & Send Sales Receipts
  5. Part 3: Managing Bills and Expenses
    1. How to Write & Print Checks
    2. How to Enter Bills
    3. How to Pay Bills
  6. Part 4: Managing Banking Transactions
    1. How to Enter Banking Transactions Manually
    2. How to Manage Downloaded Banking Transactions
    3. How to Record Bank Deposits
    4. How to Transfer Funds Between Bank Accounts
    5. How to Handle Bounced Checks From Customers
    6. How to Process Bank Reconciliation
  7. Part 5: Managing Business Credit Card Transactions
    1. How to Enter Business Credit Card Transactions Manually
    2. How to Manage Downloaded Business Credit Card Transactions
    3. How to Enter a Credit Card Refund
    4. How to Reconcile Business Credit Card Accounts
  8. Part 6: Managing Credit Card Sales
    1. How to Manage Credit Card Sales With QuickBooks Payments
    2. How to Manage Credit Card Sales With a Third-party Credit Card Processor
  9. Part 7: Set Up and Manage Payroll
    1. How Set Up and Run Payroll
    2. How to Manage Payroll Tax
    3. How to Add Historical Payroll Data
    4. How to Set Up Automatic Deposits
    5. How to Print Payroll Checks
    6. How to Run Payroll Reports
    7. How to Reconcile Payroll Liabilities
  10. Part 8: Reporting in QuickBooks Online
    1. How to Run a Profit and Loss Statement
    2. How to Run a Balance Sheet Report
    3. How to Run a Statement of Cash Flows
    4. How to Run an A/R Aging Report
    5. How to Run an A/P Aging Report

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to set up email messages for your customers in QuickBooks Online. First, we’ll cover how to set up your companywide default email message to accompany invoices and other sales forms. Then, we’ll show you how to override the default message with a custom message for your invoices, estimates, and sales receipts.

This guide is part of our free tutorials on QuickBooks, our leading small business accounting software. The best way to learn the platform is through hands-on experience, so we hope you can follow along in your own account by either watching the video or going over the detailed instructions and screenshots. If you don’t yet have a subscription, you can choose between a 30-day free trial and 50% off for three months.

Visit QuickBooks Online

Step 1: Navigate To Your Sales Options

From your QuickBooks Online company dashboard, click on the gear icon on the top right of the page, select Account and settings in the popup window, and then choose Sales in the left menu bar.

Account and Settings navigate to Sales options.

Navigate to Sales options under Account and Settings

Step 2: Select Messages

Scroll down to Messages and click anywhere on the grayed section.

Click on the Messages section under Sales.

Click on the Messages section under Sales


Step 3: Set Up Your Default Email Settings for Each Form

Setting up email default settings in QuickBooks Online.

Set up your email default settings for your sales form in QuickBooks Online

From the Messages section, you’ll see the following options:

  • Greeting: You can select either “Dear” or “To:” as the salutation and determine how you want the customer’s name to appear in the greeting.
  • Sales form: You can change the suggested email message for each of the following customer forms:
    • Invoice
    • Estimate
    • Credit memo
    • Sales receipt
    • Statement
    • Refund receipt

Each form can have a completely different email message.

  • Email subject line: You can change the standard email subject line provided by QuickBooks, but we recommend keeping the form number for customers that might receive multiple invoices in a short period of time.
  • Email message: Your email should be customized for your business but not personalized for any particular customer. If you have a client that you would like to treat special, we recommend you create a custom invoice just for them, which can include a custom email message that we’ll discuss later in this tutorial.

If you’ve modified the message and want to return to the original message suggested by QuickBooks, click the green Use standard message button next to the Sales form.

  • Email copies: You can check the box to send a copy of every email automatically to the QuickBooks Online administrator, plus provide a list of additional email addresses that should receive copies. These email addresses will receive copies anytime a client is sent this form, so make sure the person wants and needs all these emails.
  • Sales form: Leave this field blank. There are two fields labeled “Sales form.” The lower field is obsolete since users can now create a separate email message for each type of form.

When you’re satisfied with your email settings for all six customer forms, click the green Save button at the bottom of the Messages section.


Step 4: Customize Your Email Message for Each Sales Form Template (If Needed)

When creating and sending a sales form, you’ll see the default message that you just created on your form. Often, the default message is sufficient; but if you opt to customize your email invoice―or any other sales form―you can do so with the following steps.

Step 4.1: Click on the Customize look and feel Button Under the Customize Section in the Sales Tab

Click Customize under Account and Settings.

Click Customize look and feel under Account and Settings


Step 4.2: Edit Your Template

Select an invoice or any other form from the Custom form styles list and click Edit.

QuickBooks Online edit an existing sales form template.

Edit an existing sales form template in QuickBooks Online


Step 4.3: Click on the Emails Tab to View the Available Options

You might’ve learned to design your custom estimate template in How To Customize Invoices in QuickBooks Online and how to designate the content in your estimate template in How To Set Up Sales Form Content in QuickBooks Online. Now, we’ll work with the third tab in the design window to customize the email that will accompany your estimate.

Click on the Emails tab to further customize email messages in QuickBooks Online.

Click on the Emails tab to further customize email messages for your sales form.

The default options in this screen should match the options you selected in the prior section for your estimates. The changes you make here will only apply to this particular estimate template. This could be very useful if you want to customize your email messages to a particular set of your customers. To do so, create a custom template for each set of customers and apply that template when you generate a sales form.

Changing the default email message for custom invoices and sales receipts follows the same procedure. From the Custom forms style window, create a new invoice or sales receipt or edit an existing one and go to the Emails tab.



Wrap Up

You’ve learned how to set company-wide messaging options, including creating emails for invoices and other sales forms in QuickBooks Online. You also learned how to customize the default email settings for custom invoices, estimates, and sales receipts.

The next guide in our QuickBooks Online course is How To Set Up Customer Statements in QuickBooks Online. This will cover a few options that are available for formatting the statements you send to customers.

🠜 Previous Tutorial

Free QuickBooks Online Tutorials

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About the Author

Mark Calatrava

Find Mark OnLinkedIn

Mark Calatrava

Mark Calatrava is an accounting expert for Fit Small Business. He has covered more than 50 accounting software for small businesses and niche industries and has developed an in-depth knowledge of the important features of accounting software and how the importance of these features vary by business.

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