Sending payment receipts for invoices

Payment receipts let you confirm that a customer has paid a SortScape invoice. They are separate from the original invoice email or text message, and they use editable Payment received templates rather than fixed system wording.

This feature only applies to invoices created, sent, and managed through SortScape’s built-in invoicing. If your business creates and sends invoices through Xero or QuickBooks Online, payment confirmation messages for those invoices stay in your accounting system.

When receipts are sent

How the invoice was paid	Email receipt	Text receipt
Mark paid manually in SortScape	Optional	Optional
Stripe online payment	Sent automatically	Not sent automatically

Sending a receipt when marking an invoice paid

To send a receipt for a manual payment:

1. Open a sent SortScape invoice. The invoice must already have been sent; this does not apply to draft or unsent invoices.
2. Click Mark paid.
3. Enter the payment date and optional payment method.
4. Optionally tick Email payment receipt to customer and/or Text payment receipt to customer.
5. Click Mark paid.

Receipts are sent only when you click Mark paid, and only for the options you select. The email option needs an email address on the billing contact. The text option needs a mobile number and available SMS allowance.

SortScape remembers your last checkbox choices for the next time you mark an invoice paid. This is remembered per user, not as a company-wide setting.

Receipts are not sent if you mark an invoice paid by editing the invoice directly, such as by ticking Paid on the invoice form. Use Mark paid if you want to send a receipt.

Online payment receipts

When a customer pays a SortScape invoice online through Stripe, SortScape automatically attempts to email a payment receipt using your Payment received (email) template.

There is no checkbox for Stripe online payments, and no automatic text message is sent. If the receipt email cannot be sent, the payment is still recorded and the invoice is still marked paid.

Can I send a receipt later?

There is no separate Send payment receipt button on an already-paid invoice. Editing payment details on the invoice does not send a receipt.

If you need to send a receipt after the fact, the workaround is to mark the invoice unpaid, then use Mark paid again with the receipt checkbox selected. Use this carefully because it temporarily changes the invoice’s paid status.

There is no built-in way to resend a Stripe online payment receipt after the payment has completed.

Editing payment receipt templates

Go to Settings → Customer messaging → Invoice messages.

When SortScape invoicing is enabled, you can edit these templates:

• Payment received (email): Used when marking invoices paid manually and when customers pay online.
• Payment received (text): Used when marking invoices paid manually. It is not used for online payments.

Click the template name to edit the subject, message body, and merge tags. The email template includes a subject and body. The text template includes a message body only.

The default email subject is:

Payment received - invoice_number

The default text message is:

Hi cust_first_name, we've received your payment of invoice_total for invoice #invoice_number. invoice_link

Payment receipt templates support the same invoice message tags as other invoice messages, including cust_first_name, invoice_number, invoice_total, invoice_link, and your_company_name.

If you have Email addresses to cc when emailing quotes and invoices set on the Invoice messages page, those addresses are also CC’d on payment receipt emails.

What the customer receives

Email receipts are sent to the billing contact’s primary email address. They use your Payment received (email) template and include a PDF of the paid invoice.

Text receipts are sent to the billing contact’s mobile number, use your Payment received (text) template, and count against your SMS usage like other customer texts.

Sending a receipt does not change the invoice’s sent status or sent date. It is a receipt, not the first invoice send.

Payment receipt emails and texts appear in the invoice communication history like other customer notifications.

If something goes wrong

If you mark an invoice paid with a receipt option selected but the message fails to send, the invoice is still marked paid. You will see an error such as Failed to send payment receipt email or Failed to send payment receipt text message.

Xero and QuickBooks Online invoices

Payment receipt messages, editable Payment received templates, and the Mark paid receipt options are for SortScape invoices only.

If you create and send invoices through Xero or QuickBooks Online, handle payment confirmations for those invoices in Xero or QuickBooks instead.