QuickBooks helps you save time by sending the same invoice to numerous customers at once.
From the very beginning, one of Intuit’s goals with QuickBooks has been to provide software tools that would help small businesses save time. During its 20+-year history, the company has introduced myriad ways.
QuickBooks training courses go over these approaches in great depth. But you can do some learning on your own, too, by exploring features that you knew existed but hadn’t used. Batch invoicing is one of these. It’s a simple concept: You can create one invoice and sent it to multiple customers, personalized for each of them.
Warning: When you use the batch invoice feature, you can’t use multiple price levels or operate in multiple currencies. Neither can you check a customer’s credit limit.
Start by going to the Customers menu and selecting Create Batch Invoices. You’ll see this on the left side of the window that opens:
You can select the customers who should create the batch invoice in this window.
You have two options for selecting invoice recipients. You can select them manually by highlighting them in the list and clicking Add.
Or you can create a billing group. To do this, click the drop-down arrow below Billing Group and select <Add New>. The Group Name window opens. Enter a name and click Save.
Let’s say you have a custom field set up in customer records that indicates whether or not each customer is a “Dave’s Discount Member” (a “club” you’ve set up that gives members a 5 percent discount on all products if they pay an annual fee every June 30). In the Look for field below Search, you’d type “Yes,” since that’s what appears in the record of every member customer.
(If you’ve never worked with custom fields before, a QuickBooks class will tell you what you need to know.)
Click the drop-down arrow next to All Fields and select Custom fields. Click the Search button, and QuickBooks will display your group names below. Click Select All and then Add, and your customer list will move over into the right pane, under Customers In This Group. Click Save Group.
Once you’ve created a billing group, click Save Group.
Whether you’ve just selected a group of customers or created a billing group, click Next. In the window that opens, you’ll enter a line item for the club membership, then click Next to see a complete list of your customers and their charges. Click Create Invoices. The Batch Invoice Summary window tells you how many will be printed and emailed, and how many are unmarked (for later delivery).
When you click the Print or Email button, the Select Forms To Send window opens. Scroll down if you have to and find the names of your group. Make sure there’s a check mark in front of only those customers, and click Edit Email, changing your message if necessary. Click OK, and then send or print.
