QuickBooks Billing Solutions

Using Billing Solutions

From the Billing Solutions Options page, you can set preferences for all Billing Solutions features. For example, you can turn Payment Reminders on and off, set preferences of when you want to notify customers of past due invoices, and more.⁴

You can find the Options page under the Customers menu. Select the Billing Solutions menu item, then Set Online Options .

If you have the QuickBooks Merchant Service, in addition to Billing Solutions, you can check the Allow online payment box on the Invoice form to let your customers pay online. The invoice will be sent to your online account where it:

When you make changes to an invoice, such as receive a payment in QuickBooks or add an item, your Billing Solutions account information is updated automatically the next time you e-mail from QuickBooks.

Tip: We recommend you synchronize your account after any changes. This can be done from the Billing Solutions menu item in the Customers menu.

To sign up for Billing Solutions, go to the Customers menu in your QuickBooks software, select Billing Solutions and Sign Up Online (if you are using QuickBooks 2004 or earlier select Set Options Online under the Billing Solutions menu). You can also sign up when you're e-mailing an invoice from QuickBooks.

Using the Billing Solutions Mailing Feature

Simply fill out an invoice in QuickBooks, then click the Send or E-mail button at the top of the invoice form. Make sure the Mail through QuickBooks button is selected, then click Send Now. Your invoice is sent to a professional mailing service that prints each invoice and attaches a remittance stub to the customer address on the invoice, and mails it via the U.S. Post Office.

You can check the invoice status and send history by clicking on the History button at the top of the invoice form or looking at your account activity page. You can assume the invoice was mailed if you don't get a notice of an error by the end of the next business day. If there is an error, you will be notified by e-mail or you will have a notice on the account activity page and the Company Navigator.

Tip: To save an invoice to be sent later in a batch, check the "To Be Mailed Through QuickBooks" box at the bottom of the invoice. Then select Send forms (or E-mail forms) from the QuickBooks File menu or select Send Batch from the Send or E-mail menu on the invoice form to review and send the invoices you've saved to be mailed or e-mailed.

Tracking Invoices in Billing Solutions

In most cases, invoices you send will be mailed the same or next business day. In the case of any error, we'll notify you about this via e-mail. The error will also be posted in the alert section of the Company Navigator and on the Account Activity page.

The Account Activity Page can be accessed numerous ways:

On the Recent Account Activity Page, there is an Action Required section. If there is no alert in that section and you forwarded the invoice more than 24 hours before, then the invoice has been mailed.

The E-mail Forms Tracking feature lets you know when customers have opened an invoice or statement sent via e-mail.³ If the e-mail bounces, you will receive that notification in your regular e-mail in-box.

Billing Solutions keeps all communication between you and your customers confidential. Only your company sees this information. The first time you send an invoice, information on the e-mail message you send will help notify your customers of this tracking capability.

The Notification option allows you to choose what you would like to be notified of and when you want notification. For example, you can choose whether you want to be notified if an e-mailed invoice is viewed or not. If you choose to be notified when the invoice was not viewed, you can determine how long it has to remain unopened before you're notified. In addition, you can choose whether to be notified immediately by e-mail, every few days in a batched report, or not at all.

To turn the feature ON, OFF, or to set preferences, go to the Billing Solutions Options page in QuickBooks and select the E-Mailed Forms Tracking feature.

Mailing Internationally in Billing Solutions

International mail is not available at this time.

Producing, Editing, and Customizing Invoices in Billing Solutions

The printing service will reproduce your QuickBooks invoice, including the fonts, images, graphics, and layout. In addition, a remittance stub will be added that has cleansed addresses based on U.S. Post Office information as well as a remittance envelope, which makes it easier for your customers to pay. Please note the invoices as well as remittance will be printed in black and white (gray scale) tones.

An invoice can be edited up until the point it is e-mailed or sent to the professional printing and mailing company. Once the invoice has been forwarded, its format is fixed. However, the printing and mailing house may update the address for you based on their U.S. Post Office database.

Logos are automatically included if you have them in your QuickBooks invoice.

This feature gives you an easy way to remind customers to pay their invoices, based on the due date and your defined grace period (before or after the due date). That means more timely payments from your customers and less hassle for you.

When you set up reminders, the Billing Solutions service keeps track of which previously e-mailed invoices haven't been paid, and sends out reminders based on the time frame you choose. You can also customize a message for this purpose. There are two main settings for this service. One is automatic, allowing the Billing Solutions service to send reminders without asking for your approval. This is useful if you are a company that sends a lot of invoices. The other setting notifies you via e-mail that you have reminders ready to send to your customers. You can also send collection reminders for outstanding invoices that you've previously e-mailed to your customers at any time from the Billing Solutions Options page.

To turn Collection Reminders ON or OFF or to customize settings, go to the Billing Solutions Options page in your QuickBooks software.²

What Your Customers Will Experience When You Use Billing Solutions and QuickBooks Merchant Service

When you e-mail invoices, estimates and statements from QuickBooks, your customers will see the same invoice you review in their e-mail. If you add your logo, they will also see this on the forms you send.

When you sign up for Billing Solutions and the QuickBooks Merchant Service, your customers can access the Customer Account Center from any invoice. From the Customer Account Center, they will be able to view billing history, print invoices, submit inquiries, set payment reminders and make credit card payments.

To make the transition smooth for your customers, contact them first to tell them about the new options available to them. Inform your customers when the new options will be available and how they will benefit. For example, you could mention that they will be able to view their past history, open invoices, and pay online. And tell them to watch for e-mails from you.

Matching Billing Solutions Information to Your QuickBooks

You can easily update this information by using the Synchronization tool. To make sure information is up-to-date, you should synchronize after you make changes to your invoices, and/or receive a payment in QuickBooks.

You can do this by selecting Synchronize under Billing Solutions (Online Billing in QuickBooks 2001-2003) in the Customers menu. This updates your Billing information based on the information you entered in QuickBooks, so you never have to enter data twice. Also note, each time you e-mail an invoice through the service, synchronization happens automatically.

Customizing Your Billing Solutions

The Billing Solutions Options page found under Set Online Options under the Billing Solutions menu in the Customers drop-down menu in QuickBooks is your command center for customizing and accessing the features of Billing Solutions.

From the Options page, you can activate the following functions: Customer Account Center, the E-Mailed Forms Tracking feature, and Payment Reminders. The last two can be customized further so that you can set up how often you want to be notified of activity, and which items you want to track.⁴

For example: You can set up Payment Reminders to be fully automatic so that e-mail reminders are sent automatically to your customers when their invoice exceeds the grace period you have chosen; or you can choose to be reminded of this condition via e-mail, where you can decide whether or not to send the reminders.

E-mailing From QuickBooks

You can e-mail invoices, statements, estimates, sales receipts, credit memos, sales orders, purchase orders, and reports for free through QuickBooks 2004 and higher (in prior versions you can e-mail invoices, statements, and estimates).

New in QuickBooks 2008: With QuickBooks Billing Solutions, you can also send invoices for online payment via credit card using Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express and Windows Mail.⁵

Using the Online Payment Option

The online payment option is available with our Billing Solutions service when combined with the QuickBooks Merchant Service. After signing up for both services, you will be able to get paid online from any invoice (prior to QuickBooks 2005 only e-mailed invoices could be paid online). Simply check the Allow online payment box directly in the invoice form before it is printed, e-mailed or sent to the QuickBooks Mailing Service.

When you send a pay-enabled invoice and your customer receives the invoice, he or she can click on the link in the e-mail to make a payment online. If they received the invoice by mail, they can type the Web address into a browser to make the payment online. Once payment is received, an alert is displayed in your Company Home Page. You will also receive an e-mail alert. Simply go to the Receive Payments screen, click on the Get Online Payment button, and select QuickBooks Billing Solutions. With one click the payment is downloaded into QuickBooks and matched to the appropriate invoice. Once payment information is downloaded into QuickBooks, you can create customer reports by date, customer name and transaction number.

If you've signed up for online payment and want to disable it for individual invoices, simply clear the Allow Online Payment checkbox when creating an invoice or statement.

Using the QuickBooks Merchant Service

The QuickBooks Merchant Service is the only merchant service that is integrated with your QuickBooks software. With this service you can process all major credit cards directly in QuickBooks, reducing data entry. Find out more.

Using QuickBooks online Login

Logging into QuickBooks Billing Solutions allows Intuit to identify you in the unlikely event of a service interruption. If a problem occurs, we can notify you at the time of the interruption that your invoices may not have been transmitted successfully. QuickBooks does not share this data with any outside parties. Learn more about our Privacy Statement.

The login also lets you use a single name and password so only you, or someone you authorize, can access any QuickBooks service.

Data Stored Online by Billing Solutions

All data transmitted to the QuickBooks Billing Solutions' servers uses SSL encryption. The data is protected behind high-security firewalls, regularly backed up, and all servers are monitored around the clock for proper operation.

When you e-mail with QuickBooks Billing Solutions, the contents of the forms you e-mail are stored on our servers for later use in the Customer Account Center. This information is also used for e-mail Delivery Notification tracking and Payment Reminders.

When you make changes to the invoices you've previously sent and then e-mail or synchronize (see Synchronize question above) from QuickBooks, these changes are automatically updated in your Billing Solutions information.

Only the forms you send while using QuickBooks Billing Solutions are stored online and available to QuickBooks Billing Solutions customers.

Your customers can choose to store their encrypted credit card information on the Billing Solutions system and/or on the payment provider's system. You will not have to collect or store this information to accept online payments.