Table of Contents

Invoice Attachment Use Cases & PDF Examples

Jennifer Trower Updated by Jennifer Trower

Read Time: 7 mins

Invoice attachments are files that are added to the invoices sent to your customers. You can send an attachment to every account, or scope it to specific Companies, Account Types, and/or Account Groups.

Common uses include a limited-time promotion, a notice about changes to your business, details of a new service, or documents you are legally required to include.

Attachments are included on invoices sent automatically when billing runs. They are also included when you create an invoice manually and send it with the Email Invoice option from within an account.

An invoice attachment with no Company, Account Type, or Account Group scoping is added to every invoice. This is the opposite of invoice messages, which appear on no invoices when left unscoped. If an attachment is meant for certain accounts only, scope it before its start date.

Permissions

Before getting started with the feature, your user roles will need to be adjusted to account for the permissions required to use the invoice attachments feature.

Super Admins have all permissions by default and do not need individual permissions assigned. For more on building roles, see User Role Creation & Best Practices.
Entity
Permission
Reason
Invoice Attachment
View all invoice attachments
Opens the Invoice Attachments screen so you can see which attachments are active and the date ranges they cover.
Invoice Attachment
Create a new invoice attachment
Adds an attachment and uploads the PDF that goes out with invoices.
Invoice Attachment
Update an invoice attachment
Changes the name, start date, or end date on an existing attachment.
Invoice Attachment
Delete an invoice attachment
Removes an attachment and stops it from being added to future invoices.
Account
View accounts and related entities
Opens an account and its invoices so you can confirm the attachment was included.

How Invoice Attachment Scoping Works

Each invoice attachment can be scoped using any combination of three fields:

  • Companies: The attachment is sent to accounts in the selected Company or Companies.
  • Account Types: The attachment is sent to accounts with the selected Account Type or Types.
  • Account Groups: The attachment is sent to accounts in the selected Account Group or Groups. Account Groups work well for ad hoc sets of accounts that don't fit neatly into one Account Type.

When you fill in more than one field on the same attachment, an account must match all of them to receive it. For example, an attachment scoped to the Residential account type and to Company Y goes only to Residential accounts in Company Y.

Each Company, Account Type, and Account Group can be linked to only one invoice attachment at a time. If you select a value that is already linked to another attachment, Sonar will ask you to confirm. The value is then removed from the other attachment and added to the new one. The same value can also be linked to one invoice message, since messages and attachments are tracked separately.

If moving a value leaves the other attachment with no Company, Account Type, or Account Group scoping, that attachment will be added to every invoice. After you move a value, check the other attachment and either scope it again, add an end date, or delete it.
An account can match more than one attachment through different fields. It can also match unscoped attachments, which go to everyone. When that happens, all the matching attachments are included with the invoice.

How Sonar Delivers Invoice Attachments

An active invoice attachment is added to every invoice Sonar generates within the date range you set. This includes invoices produced automatically when billing runs and invoices you create manually and send using the Email Invoice option on an account.

For a breakdown of what an invoice contains and how it is produced, see Invoices in Sonar: Examples, Creation & Contents.
Behavior
What to expect
Scope
Every invoice generated while the attachment is active. Attachments are not filtered by account type, account status, or account group.
Active attachments
More than one attachment can be active at the same time. Each active attachment is added to the invoice.
Replacing the file
Not supported. Create a new invoice attachment with the new file, then delete the old attachment.
Stopping an attachment
Add an end date to stop it on a set date, or delete it to stop it immediately.

How to Add an Invoice Attachment

  1. Navigate to Settings > Financial > Invoice Attachments.
  2. Click Create Invoice Attachment.
  3. In the Create Invoice Attachment window, fill in these fields:
    1. Name: A name for the attachment.
    2. Start Date and End Date: The date range when the attachment will be included on invoices.
      If you leave the End Date blank, the attachment will be included on invoices until you delete it or add an end date.
    3. Companies: Optional. The Company or Companies that should receive the attachment.
    4. Account Types: Optional. The Account Type or Types that should receive the attachment.
    5. Account Groups: Optional. The Account Group or Groups that should receive the attachment.
      To send an attachment to a set of accounts that doesn't match an existing Account Type, create an Account Group for those accounts and scope the attachment to that group. You won't need to change anyone's Account Type.
    6. File: The file to attach. Only PDF and application file formats are accepted, and files can be no larger than 500 MB. The File bar turns green once the upload finishes.
  4. Click Create.

The attachment will appear in the list on the Invoice Attachments screen. The row shows its name, file name, start and end dates, and its Companies, Account Types, and Account Groups.

You cannot change the file on an invoice attachment after it is created. Confirm the PDF is final before you upload it.


Only application and PDF file formats are acceptable to upload as invoice attachments.

Viewing an invoice attachment

Use this step when you want to read the attached PDF, confirm its size or format, or download a copy. The Invoice Attachments screen offers two paths, and they open different things.

To open the PDF

Click the file name in the File column. The PDF opens in your browser's viewer, where you can read it, page through it, and download it using your browser's own controls. This is the quickest way to confirm the correct file was uploaded.

To open the attachment details

  1. Click the arrow at the far right of the attachment row.
  2. Click the File tab at the top of the panel.
  3. Click Download to save a copy.

The panel has two tabs. Invoice Attachment shows the attachment record, and File shows the uploaded file. The File tab lists the file name, the file size, and the MIME type, along with an Attached To section confirming which attachment record the file belongs to and an Activity log showing who uploaded it and when. Click Close to dismiss the panel.

Editing an invoice attachment

Use this step when the name or the date range needs to change. Find the invoice attachment in the list and click Edit. You can change the name, the start date, and the end date.

The File field is not available on this window, so the uploaded file cannot be changed. To send a different file, create a new invoice attachment and delete the old one.


Deleting an invoice attachment

Use this step when an attachment should stop going out and you no longer need the record. Find the invoice attachment in the list, click the downward arrow next to Edit, and then click Delete. Confirm by clicking Delete in the window that appears. A confirmation message displays in the top left corner once the attachment is deleted.

Deleting an invoice attachment is permanent and cannot be undone. To stop an attachment while keeping the record, add an end date instead.

Example PDFs

The examples below show three common reasons to use an invoice attachment. Each one is a working PDF you can open and use as a model.

Example
What it contains
When to use it
A limited time bundle offer for households, with three months free and a starting monthly price.
You are running a promotion and want every subscriber to see it without a separate email or mailing.
Existing service tiers with speeds and prices, plus a referral credit offer.
You want to raise awareness of plans you already sell to subscribers who may be considering a change.
A regulatory notice that was required on invoices in the state of California, with placeholders for your company name and support number.
A regulator or a contract requires specific documentation to be delivered with the invoice.

How did we do?

Agreement Templates

Invoice Messages: Overview & Use Cases

Contact