Prepare Letters writes the same letter to many people at once and fills in each one's details: their name and address, what they owe and which invoices. The most common use is a collection letter to every customer with an overdue balance, but you can also thank customers or write to vendors. The letters come out as one PDF, one letter per page, headed with your company's name, address and contact details, ready to print and post.
Nothing is posted to your books.
Opening Prepare Letters
Company ▸ Prepare Letters…
It opens over the Home Page; Esc takes you back to the Home Page. It needs permission for the Customer Centre.
The screen
Header
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Template | Which letter to prepare (see the list below). Changing it loads that template's text and its list of people. |
| Save Template | Saves the text you have edited as this template, on this computer. |
| Restore Default | Puts the template's original text back in the editor. It is not saved until you click Save Template. |
| Print for N | Builds the letters for the N people ticked and opens them as a PDF. Shows Preparing… while it works, and is greyed out when nobody is ticked. |
The templates
| Template | Who is listed | Who is ticked at the start |
|---|---|---|
| Collection — friendly reminder | Every customer with an overdue invoice, with the amount overdue under the name. | Everyone listed |
| Collection — formal notice | The same overdue customers. | Everyone listed |
| Customer — thank you | All your customers. | Nobody |
| Vendor — general letter | All your vendors. | Nobody |
For the collection templates, a customer is overdue when one of their invoices is past its due date — the same rule as the Collections Center.
The people list (left)
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Heading | OVERDUE CUSTOMERS, CUSTOMERS or VENDORS, depending on the template. |
| Search… | Narrows the list by name. |
| Mark all | Ticks everyone currently shown (after a search, only the matches). |
| Unmark all | Clears every tick. |
| Tick boxes | One per person. A letter is printed for each ticked person. |
The text (right)
The line above the editor lists the fields you can use:
| Field | Filled with |
|---|---|
{{name}} | The customer's or vendor's name (their company name when they have one). |
{{company}} | Your company's name. |
{{date}} | Today's date, for example September 25, 2026. |
{{overdue}} | The total overdue (collection letters). |
{{balance}} | The same overdue total as {{overdue}}. |
{{invoices}} | One indented line per overdue invoice: Invoice 1042, due 2026-08-31: $1,250.00 (collection letters). |
Type the letter in the Text box. Put a field anywhere in the text; it is replaced for each person.
Preview
Under the editor, PREVIEW — and the first ticked person's name shows the letter as it will read for them, with (your company) in place of your company's name. It updates as you type.
Step by step: send collection letters
- Choose Company ▸ Prepare Letters….
- Leave Template on Collection — friendly reminder (or choose Collection — formal notice for a firmer letter).
- Every overdue customer is ticked. Untick anyone you are dealing with another way — for example a customer on a payment plan.
- Read the text and change anything you want. Check the PREVIEW.
- If you want to keep your wording for next time, click Save Template. You see Template saved on this computer.
- Click Print for N. The letters open as one PDF in your PDF viewer. Print them from there.
What each letter looks like
Each page has, from the top:
- Your company name in bold, with your address and contact details underneath in small type — from Company Information.
- Today's date.
- The person's name and their address (street lines, then city, province and postal code), from their customer or vendor record.
- The letter text with the fields filled in.
Pages are Letter size for a Canadian or US company and A4 elsewhere.
Templates are kept on this computer
Save Template keeps your wording on the computer you are using; anyone who prepares letters on that computer sees it. Another computer still shows the original text. To use the same wording everywhere, save it on each computer.
Permissions
Prepare Letters opens from the Customer Centre side of the app and needs its permission. The overdue-customer list for collection letters also needs view access to Invoices. See Roles and permissions explained.
Tips
- Before you send collection letters, check the Collections Center for promises to pay already noted.
- A statement shows every open invoice and payment; a letter is better for a personal note. For the statement, use Create Statements.
- Keep addresses up to date in each customer's record so letters reach them. See Add or edit a customer.
Common problems
Could not open the PDF viewer. The letters were built but no program opened them. Make sure a PDF viewer is installed and set as the default for PDF files, then click Print for N again.
A customer I know is late is not on the collection list. Their invoice may not be past its due date yet (check the invoice's terms), or it may already be paid. The list matches the Collections Center's Overdue tab.
A letter has no address. The customer's or vendor's record has no address. Add it to the record and prepare the letter again.
My saved wording has gone. Templates are saved per computer. On a new or different computer, type it again and click Save Template.