Batch Print
Batch Print
This option is used to print a batch of invoices (and other documents) based on a specific range of transactions or using a selected list of transactions.
You can access this option by clicking the Print button in the Sales section.
In the Print Transactions window you can specify the range of transactions that you want to print. You can use a list of transactions selected from the Sales section list (using the Multi-Select facility in the Sales section) or you can enter the range you want to print based on the available settings in this window.
Print selected transaction(s) only
Tick this checkbox if you only want to print the currently selected transaction or transactions (if a multi-select list of transactions is used). If there are more than one transaction selected in the Sales section when this option was opened then this checkbox will be ticked by default. When ticked there will also be a magnifying glass icon displayed to the right which you can click to view a list of the selected transactions and to deselect any that you don't want to include in the batch print.
Ignore all previously printed transactions in range
Tick this checkbox if you want to ignore any transactions which have already been printed. This will be ticked by default unless the checkbox above is ticked If you want to print all transactions in the selected range or list regardless of whether they have been printed previously then untick this box.
Transaction Number Range
If you want to set a range of transactions to print based on transaction numbers then you can enter them in to the boxes provided. Enter the first transaction number you want to include into the From Transaction No. box and enter the last transaction number you want into the To box. These will default to the first and last transactions you have on record so if you leave these settings as per their defaults then all transactions will be included. If you want to search for a specific transaction you can click the lookup search (magnifying glass) button in either box to locate it.
Customer Range
If you want to set a range of transactions to print based on the customers that the transactions were raised for you can enter the relevant customer references in to the boxes provided. Enter the first customer that you want to include in to the Customer From box and enter the last customer that you want to include in the To box. If you want to print invoices for just one customer then enter the relevant customer's reference into both the From and To boxes. When you enter a customer reference into the Customer From box the same customer's reference will automatically be entered in the To box. These settings will initially default to the first and last customer references you have on record so if you leave these settings as per their defaults then transactions for all customers will be included. If you want to search for a specific customer you can enter a partial reference or click the magnifying glass button in either box to locate the relevant customer.
Transaction Date Range
If you want to set a range of transactions to print based on their dates then you can enter the required date range in to the boxes provided. Enter the date that you want to start from in to the Date From box and enter the end date in to the To box. If you want to select a date from a calendar you can click the down-arrow button or press Alt+DownArrow on your keyboard in either box. Any transactions dated outside of this range will not be included in the print batch.
Select the document layout that you want to print
You can select the document layout that you want to use in this print batch by selecting from the list available in the Document Layout box. Click the down-arrow button or press Alt+DownArrow on your keyboard to select a document layout from a list of available documents. You can have as many different document layouts as you require for different purposes or for different customers or circumstances etc. A common alternative document layout can be used to print delivery notes.
If you are printing documents for a single customer and you have selected to use a specific layout for the customer's documents, that layout will be used as the default document layout (see Customer Details for how to define a default layout for a customer). If the customer you are printing documents for does not have their own specific document layout defined for them or if the batch of documents you are printing includes transaction for more than one customer then the software will use the default document layout set for the company you are using (see Document Designer to setup default layouts for each company). If you have not defined a default layout for the company, the software will use the document layout that you last used.
When you have selected the document layout that you want to use, if you need to make on-the-fly changes to the page layout, you can click the layout icon to the right of the layout selection box and the document page designer will open for you to make any necessary changes to your chosen document layout such as adding your company logo or a new field. If you want to add more layouts you can use the Document Designer facility.
When you have defined the range or list of documents that you want to print you have several buttons at the bottom of the window which give you the available options for what you want to do next.
Click the Print button to send the batch of transaction documents directly to your chosen printer.
Preview
Click the Preview button to view the batch of transactions in a preview window first. You can then print them from within the Preview window.
Click the Email button if you want to email the batch of transactions directly to customers or to email them all to a specified recipient. You will be given a window to select if you want to send them all to the relevant customer's email addresses or to send them all in a single PDF document attachment to an email address that you supply.
Tick the relevant checkbox that you want and click OK to proceed or Cancel to abandon the procedure. You can use the Template button to change the email template that will be used to generate the email messages which are sent with the document attachments. For more information see the Email Template page. Email message templates are not used when emailing multiple documents to a single email address.
If you have selected to send each document separately to each relevant customer then the system will generate all of the relevant PDF documents and attempt to send them to the email addresses on the customer's records (using the email settings defined - see the Email section in Company Preferences). You can define precisely which email address(es) for each customer are used by specifying which contact(s) on each customer will receive their documents. See Contact Details for information on setting up contacts. As the software raises and sends the emails, you will be shown a progress bar to indicate how many emails have been sent. Once completed you will be given a message informing you that the process was completed. This message will either tell you that all emails were sent successfully or how many were sent and how many were not. Generally emails that are not successfully sent are due to no email address or an invalid email address being specified on the customer record.
If you have selected to send all of the documents to one email address in a single PDF then you will be given an email window to specify the email address(es) to send the files to and to enter the message details that you want. See Sending Emails for more information.
If you are emailing a single document to a customer you will be asked to confirm or enter their emails address and recipient name. Enter the relevant details and click OK to proceed with sending or click Cancel to abort the procedure. You will also be given a button to Edit/View Email which enables you to view and, if required, to change the email details and also to attach any additional files which may be required.
Click the PDF button if you want to export the batch of transactions as PDF documents either as individual documents or to include all of them in a single PDF document. Similar to the Email option, you will be given a window to select how you want to export the documents. If you select to export to a single PDF document you will be given an export window which enables you to make settings about how you want the PDF document exported and whether you want to open it after it has been exported. You can then select where you want to save it and to save it under a specific file name. See the Exporting PDF Documents for more information.