Cloud Accounting Tips & Tricks: Automated monthly statements in Sage Business Cloud

Automated monthly statements can be set up in Sage Business Cloud, to be distributed by email to customers of your choosing. With these, you can easily keep tabs on customer accounts and ensure that both parties know what is due and when.

Automated statements can also serve as a useful routine ‘touchpoint’ between you and your customers; something that may help to encourage prompt payment, reduce the number of bad debts and improve cash flow.

Aside from the aforementioned benefits, there is also a time saving to be made as statements will be sent automatically, on a day as decided by you.

To set automated monthly statements:

1. Go to contacts, and click on customers
2. Select and click on your chosen customer
3. Go to manage, and click on statements
4. Go to manage statement, and click on schedule monthly statement
5. Check or enter the following information:
   
   [Enable monthly statement] – tick this box to set up monthly statements
   
   [TO] – check the email address that is automatically allocated
   
   [CC] – add, delete or amend any email address you want to include here
   
   [Subject] – add, delete or amend the subject line you want to include here
   
   [Message] – add, delete or amend the message you want to include here
   
   [Email statements monthly on day] –  choose ‘day 1’if you want to send a monthly statement for the entire month, e.g. 1^st Jan to 31^st Jan will be sent on 1^st Feb
   
   [Exclude zero balances] – tick this box to exclude transactions with a zero balance
   
6. Save

It’s worth bearing in mind that you can change the address that is printed on the statement by adding a new address to your customers account and then following the above steps to step 4 and clicking on ‘statement addresses/contacts’ instead of ‘schedule monthly statement’. You will then be able to choose which address is featured on the monthly statements.

If you want to stop monthly statements at any time, follow steps 1-5 and then untick the ‘enable monthly statements’ box.

Our cloud accounting experts in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire are here to help you explore what works for your business, and to ensure you’re getting the most out of your chosen software.

If you’d like to find out more about how Sage Business Cloud, or any of the other market-leading software, could help you to manage customer relations and improve your cash flow, please contact us.