Avoiding duplicate invoice emails when you use QuickBooks

If customers get an invoice email from QuickBooks and from PayMidWare, they see the same invoice twice and may not know which link to use. The fix is to choose one of the two to do the emailing, and to switch the other one off. PayMidWare cannot change QuickBooks' settings for you, so the steps below are done in QuickBooks itself.

Where the duplicates come from.

• QuickBooks reminders. QuickBooks can send its own reminders for unpaid invoices. In QuickBooks Online they are on or off for the whole company, not per customer or per invoice.
• Invoices sent from both places. An invoice you email from QuickBooks and that PayMidWare also emails (see the import choices below) reaches the customer twice.
• Recurring invoices in QuickBooks. A recurring template that is set to send its emails automatically sends them on its own schedule.

If you want PayMidWare to do the sending

1. QuickBooks Online: turn off automatic reminders. In QuickBooks open Settings, then Account and settings, then the Sales tab. In the Reminders section choose the edit (pencil) icon, switch Automatic invoice reminders off and Save. QuickBooks keeps your reminder wording in case you turn it back on. According to Intuit, automatic reminders only go to invoices that were emailed from QuickBooks, so an invoice you never email from QuickBooks does not normally get one, but switching the setting off removes any doubt.
2. QuickBooks Desktop: turn off payment reminders. In QuickBooks choose Edit, then Preferences, then Payments, then the Company Preferences tab, and answer No to sending payment reminders. Menu wording can differ a little between versions and years. Desktop does not send reminders without you approving them first, but it will keep asking until the setting is off.
3. Do not email those invoices from QuickBooks. Use PayMidWare to send them. On any recurring template in QuickBooks, untick the option to send emails automatically.
4. Pick the right import choice. Open QuickBooks (or QuickBooks Desktop) from your account page and find Import from QuickBooks. Under invoices created in QuickBooks, Import as Sent, don't email the customer is the safe choice: invoices come in with a pay link and nobody is emailed until you send one yourself. Save the change.

What each import choice does about email

• Import as Sent, don't email the customer - PayMidWare never emails an invoice that came from QuickBooks. You send the pay link when you choose to.
• Import as Sent and email the customer the pay link - PayMidWare emails every new invoice that comes from QuickBooks. Use this only if you do not also email those invoices from QuickBooks.
• Import as Sent and email the customer only when QuickBooks marks the invoice to be sent - PayMidWare emails an invoice only when QuickBooks says it is to be sent: in QuickBooks Online, when Send later is ticked; in QuickBooks Desktop, when the invoice is in the to-be-emailed queue. An invoice you send from QuickBooks with Save and send is emailed by QuickBooks only: PayMidWare does not email it, so that customer has no PayMidWare pay link unless you share it. To have PayMidWare do the sending, tick Send later and leave it for PayMidWare. QuickBooks Desktop clears its queue mark once it has sent the invoice, so a Desktop invoice emailed from QuickBooks is normally not emailed again.
• Informational only - the invoice is listed in PayMidWare for your records, has no pay link and nothing is emailed.

An invoice is emailed by PayMidWare at most once from an import, even if it is edited again or you change the import choice later. Only invoices created after you connected QuickBooks are ever emailed, never older ones.

If you want QuickBooks to do the sending instead, leave the import on Import as Sent, don't email the customer and do not send those invoices from PayMidWare. The customer then pays through the link in the QuickBooks email unless you share the PayMidWare pay link yourself.

Good to know. Switching off QuickBooks' reminders applies to the whole QuickBooks company, including invoices you send to customers who are not in PayMidWare. If you want to keep QuickBooks reminders for those, leave the setting on and simply do not email your PayMidWare invoices from QuickBooks. Intuit can change where these settings are, so if a screen looks different, search Intuit's help for invoice reminders.