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Invoice Messages: Overview & Use Cases

Jennifer Trower Updated by Jennifer Trower

Read Time: 4 mins

Invoice messages let you print a brief message, up to 255 characters, on the invoices of specific accounts. You choose which accounts get the message by scoping it to one or more Companies, Account Types, and/or Account Groups.

Invoice messages are often used for text that certain accounts must see before they can pay. Common examples are wording required for government or commercial accounts, a policy notice, or payment instructions.

An invoice message with no Company, Account Type, or Account Group scoping will not appear on any invoices. This is the opposite of invoice attachments, which appear on every invoice when left unscoped. To show a message on invoices, you must scope it to at least one Company, Account Type, or Account Group.
When you create an invoice manually and add text through the "Print Message" option, that text replaces any invoice message that would otherwise apply.


How Invoice Message Scoping Works

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

  • Company: The message applies to accounts in the selected Company or Companies.
  • Account Type: The message applies to accounts with the selected Account Type or Types.
  • Account Group: The message applies 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 message, an account must match all of them to receive the message. For example, a message scoped to the Commercial account type and to Company Y will print only for Commercial accounts in Company Y.

Each Company, Account Type, and Account Group can be linked to only one invoice message at a time. Suppose you select a value that is already linked to another message. That value is removed from the other message and added to the new one.

If moving a value leaves the other message with no Company, Account Type, or Account Group scoping, that message will stop appearing on invoices.

An account can match more than one invoice message through different fields. For example, Message A is scoped to Company A, and Message B is scoped to the Commercial account type. A Commercial account in Company A will get both messages on its invoice.

How to Add an Invoice Message

  1. Go to Settings, and under Financial, select Invoice Messages.
  2. Click Create Invoice Message.
  3. In the Create Invoice Message window, fill in these fields:
    1. Message: The text that will appear on invoices. It must be between 1 and 255 characters.
    2. Name: A name for internal use only. It does not appear on the invoice.
    3. Company: Optional. The Company or Companies this message applies to.
    4. Account Type: Optional. The Account Type or Types this message applies to.
    5. Account Group: Optional. The Account Group or Groups this message applies to.
  4. Click Create.

The new message will appear in the table on the Invoice Messages screen. Its associated Companies, Account Types, and Account Groups are shown in separate columns on the same row. Use the actions menu on the row to edit or delete the message or to view its details.

What Your Customers Will See

Once an invoice message is created, it appears on every invoice generated from then on for accounts that match its scoping. The message prints directly below the “Total due by” summary box. If an account matches more than one message, all the matching messages will print.

Example Use Cases

  • Company-specific payment instructions: If you run more than one Company in Sonar, scope a message to each Company so every customer sees the right remit-to details or portal link.
  • Required wording for certain account types: Scope a message to your Government or Commercial account type for text those accounts need before they can pay.
  • Targeted notices: Put affected accounts in an Account Group, such as one service area or accounts affected by a policy change, and scope a notice to that group.
  • Billing dispute instructions: Tell customers what to do if they need to dispute a charge.
  • Online payment reminders: Point customers to your customer portal to pay online.

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