Late payments from customers often make businesses to lose money. They miss their billing due dates along with additional administrative expenses when QuickBooks won’t be able to deliver invoices or QuickBooks invoice email not sending. Here in this blog you can find several reasons why QuickBooks fails to deliver invoices, such as inaccurate customer information, email authentication issues, problems with attaching files to invoices, preference setting for sending invoices on the QuickBooks desktop version. Recipient’s email system issues etc.
In such cases using a decision tree, target based troubleshooting steps, a checklist with “verify-first” planning, you can reach near a solution. The guide of this blog is allowing business owners and accounting professionals to determine why is QuickBooks not sending invoices by email, or why failed to deliver, what are the appropriate corrective actions, and how to verify that the invoice is delivered successfully.
Key Takeaways
- Find out if the invoice failed to send or was sent but not able to receive.
- Before changing multiple settings or resending a batch, first test one invoice.
- Must follow a correct process for QuickBooks Online or Desktop.
- Use invoice status and recipient confirmation to check the result.
- Keep track of transaction records and avoid email security setting’s unnecessary changes.
Table of Contents
Identify the Invoice Email Failure
Identify exactly what went wrong when you can no longer send QuickBooks invoices by email because of a disruption in your billing workflow. Clicking ‘send’ again will likely not fix the root cause of the problem, and may cause multiple copies of the same email to be sent.
There are three categories to most of the problems:
- Failure Sending:QuickBooks displays a message that it failed to send the invoice, or simply stops processing the request.
- Invoice Pending:A Desktop invoice remains marked for email delivery.
- Delivery Failing:QuickBooks says they have sent the invoice, however, the customer is unable to locate it.
Suppose, a single invoice does not arrive, however other invoices do arrive successfully. Look at the recipient’s email address, the invoice description and any attached documents. When all invoices fail, check the settings for your email system, your login credentials or authentication data, or if there has been an outage of some type.
The separation is important here for troubleshooting why is QuickBooks not sending invoices by email, since each of t issues that could has a separate resolution.
Follow the Decision Tree
Before making any modifications to your settings, must use the decision tree.
- Start: Invoice email failure
- What happens when you send the invoice?
- Error appears
- Verify recipient details, attachments, email settings, and authentication.
- No clear error
- Validate invoice status, pending forms, and the recipient’s inbox.
- Apply one targeted fix and test again
- Ensure that the invoice reached the intended recipient
Suppose there is only one affected customer is available, then you need to start with that particular customer’s details. And if multiple invoices fail across the business, there scenario changes. Now you should prioritize on shared settings and the email service.
Complete the Step-by-Step Action Playbook
Work through these changed actions in sequence. Each time you make a change that affects an invoice, check to see if the problem has been resolved prior to making additional changes.
Action 1: Validate customer and company email addresses
When your email address is formatted incorrectly, you could still experience problems with delivery, even if the invoice you are sending is correct.
1.Verify the affected customer record and inspect the email address.
- Correct spelling mistakes and remove accidental spaces
- Company email address checking used for customer communications.
- If location tracking is enabled, check the email address associated with the invoice’s location.
- Save any corrections and reattempt the invoice.
When QuickBooks Online has a “Delivery Server Down” error, Intuit suggests reviewing company and customer-facing email addresses, location specific email detail, and how the invoice is formatted.
Verification: Ensure that you are sending to the right person, and that your next attempt to send will result in a successful delivery report.
Action 2: Inspect the invoice content and attachments
If only some of your QuickBooks invoice email deliveries fail, look at a failing invoice and see how it differs from a working invoice.
Check the following items:
- Description of invoice and customer-facing message.
- Email subject and recipient address.
- Custom invoice template.
- Attachment file name and format.
- PDF attachment settings.
Intuit recommends reviewing your invoices and attachments for special characters, as well as verifying the PDF attachment settings of your document delivery server. Additionally, Intuit suggests verifying that the attachments to be delivered are not in a ZIP file format and that each attachment is under 25 megabytes in size.
Make only the essential modifications. Do not delete key invoice data or modify payment conditions merely so your email can be delivered.
Verification: Run the affected invoice again. If the issue is resolved after making a change, document what was done to fix it for potential issues in the future.
Action 3: Verify email service disruption
Before you begin to create a new email setup, verify the current status of QuickBooks by visiting the QuickBooks system status page.
In the event that a service interruption occurs which could impact your ability to submit an invoice, do not continue to try to send invoices. Wait until the service is restored and then check on the status of all of your affected invoices prior to attempting to resend.
If there is no disruption, then proceed to the account specific verification checks. Although the status is normal, it may still indicate that there could be a problem in the local settings of the user or with the user’s email service.
The process for confirmation will be to verify if the sending attempt is successful once the service or configuration problem is resolved.
Fix QuickBooks Online Invoice Email Problems
If the primary problem you are experiencing is that QuickBooks Online is not able to send invoices via email, follow these instructions to help determine what is causing the error.
Action 4: Review email and sales settings
- Choose the icon of gear and open Account and settings.
- Check the company email address and contact information.
- Open the Sales settings and locate the online delivery options.
- If the error suggests an attachment problem, inspect the PDF attachment option.
- Save any necessary corrections.
- Reattempt the affected invoice and inspect its status.
As QuickBooks continues to evolve, menu label changes are likely to occur. It’s recommended that you use the options and features found in your version of QuickBooks. Also, don’t make adjustments to any other settings.
Action 5: Investigate the delivery status
When QuickBooks invoices not emailing appears to be a delivery issue, check whether the invoice is marked as sent or undeliverable. If you have problem with your QuickBooks invoices being sent via email, look for indications that the invoice was either sent successfully or failed to deliver.
- Open the Sales or invoice list.
- Locate the affected transaction.
- Review its current status and any available error details.
- Correct the issue identified in the error message.
- Retry the invoice only after checking that it has not already been delivered.
Intuit provides advice for QuickBooks Online users regarding what steps to take when there are delivery issues with invoices. This may involve examining delivery error reports, as well as confirming if the user has confirmed receipt of the invoice. Additionally, when a user sends an invoice to more than one recipient, then a failure to deliver the invoice to even one of those recipients will likely affect the overall delivery success rate of the invoice.
The Invoice was Sent – Contact the Customer to verify that they received the invoice before assuming that the issue is fixed.
Fix QuickBooks Desktop Invoice Email Not Sending
Focus on the selected email method and any pending invoices, for QuickBooks Desktop invoice email not sending.
Action 6: Check Send Forms preferences
QuickBooks Desktop allows you to send transaction information through the email settings you have established. This includes your use of an email client or using a web-based email service.
- Open QuickBooks Desktop.
- Select Edit → Preferences → Send Forms.
- Review the configured email method.
- If you use Outlook, confirm that an appropriate Outlook profile exists and is accessible.
- If you use webmail, verify the account connection and provider-supported authentication requirements.
- Send one test invoice.
You need to check the server configuration details, if you find the error message includes the term as “email server” that your email provider has given to you. Please do not attempt to find the SMTP server name or port yourself, nor should you turn off any security feature (protection) in order to bypass authentication.
Verification: Verify that QuickBooks has successfully completed the sending process and there is no longer an error being displayed.
Action 7: Resolve a possible stuck invoice queue
Check to see if the invoices are still in the queue before you assume that they have been lost if you suspect that a QuickBooks invoice email is stuck in the queue.
- Enter into relevant invoice, open it and inspect its status.
- Search for the Email later selection or invoices marked to be emailed.
- In QuickBooks Desktop, select File → Send Forms when you are ready to process pending forms.
- Check the list of invoices before sending.
- Choose one invoice to test the process.
- Validate its status before processing the remaining invoices.
Intuit provides documentation on how to use the Send Forms feature when you want to save your invoice as an email attachment for future use.
Do not delete transaction entries to remove a suspected queue. Also, do not repeatedly resubmit an entire batch of transactions in an attempt to clear a suspected queue. If there are still pending invoice entries that need to be processed following a test, document the problem and refer to the help/documentation provided with your version of QuickBooks.
Verification-First Checklist: Confirm the Fix
A successful click of “send” may or may not indicate that your customer has received the invoice. Use the checklist below to verify if they have.
- Invoice delivery verification
- Latest sending attempt reflects on the invoice status
- The correct email address of the customer
- Error addressed based any report attachment or authentication.
- A test invoice reaches the intended recipient.
- The customer confirms receipt when the invoice is urgent.
- No duplicate invoice emails were generated.
If you believe an invoice was sent, but the customer hasn’t received it, please have the customer verify their “Spam” or “Junk” mail folder. Verify that you used the correct email address for the customer and check if there are any delivery errors listed in the system prior to sending the invoice again.
In addition to continuing to try to resolve the issue with QuickBooks invoice email not working, also keep track of the error message received, the version of QuickBooks being used, the method for sending emails in QuickBooks, which invoices are experiencing problems, and what you’ve done to address the problem. This will help make escalating the issue easier.
Prevent Repeat Invoice Email Failures
Once you have resolved the most urgent issue, implement a couple of very basic controls that will help to prevent any future billing delays.
- Customer records Maintenance: Verify email addresses of onboarding customers, when they are updating their contact information.
- Test post major updates: Confirm that invoices are delivered successfully following major updates to QuickBooks, operating system, or email application updates.
- Record of current operating parameters:create a secure log of all system configuration settings as well as the agreed-upon recovery procedure.
- Use a managed delivery system:Test sending one invoice prior to executing a bulk send of invoices following an e-mail issue.
- Track delivery confirmation:Document the date and time of each successful delivery as well as documentation of why an invoice was returned.
- Have a backup workflow:If allowed by your company’s policies, create an alternative method of submitting invoice PDFs using a valid corporate email account.
By using these methods, small businesses can avoid having to perform the same trouble-shooting steps repeatedly and will not have to alter their current accounting system.
FAQs
Why is QuickBooks not sending invoices by email?
Possible causes include incorrect recipient details, invoice formatting, attachment problems, email authentication failures, or a delivery service issue. First you need to verify the invoice status and exact error message.
How to fix QuickBooks invoice email not sending?
Verify the customer address, inspect invoice content and attachments, review the appropriate email settings, and send a test invoice. Use separate procedures for QuickBooks Online and Desktop.
Why are QuickBooks invoices not emailing for only one customer?
The customer’s address, contact configuration, or email server may be responsible. Compare the affected invoice with one that sends successfully before changing company-wide settings.
What should I do if QuickBooks Desktop invoices remain pending?
Review the invoices marked for later sending and use the Send Forms workflow. Test one invoice and verify its status before processing the rest. If you are facing any difficulties, then ask experts through QuickBooks desktop support phone number 24 7.
Can I send an invoice manually if QuickBooks email fails?
You may be able to save the invoice as a PDF and send it through a verified business email account, subject to your company’s procedures. Check the recipient, preserve the original transaction, and confirm receipt.
Wrap Up
Resolving a problem with QuickBooks invoice email not sending, when invoices are not being delivered involves a series of steps: find out why the message failed to deliver, use the correct solution to fix the problem, and then make sure that the email has arrived successfully at its destination before you can close the issue. To avoid making unnecessary modifications to your QuickBooks account and to avoid creating duplicate messages, you should check to see if there are any issues with the recipient’s information, the information included in the invoice, the email settings in QuickBooks, and the delivery status of the email.
If you continue to experience problems with your QuickBooks, please contact official QuickBooks support or a professional who specializes in these types of issues. Quick Bookkeeping Expert provides real-world solutions that can assist business owners and accountants when it comes to managing their accounting software and day-to-day bookkeeping processes.
These methods help small businesses to avoid same trouble-shooting performance steps repeatedly and will not have to alter their current accounting system.
Source: quickbooks.intuit.com
