Sending a Bulk Email with an Attachment

The following is an example of a Custom Process to send an email to a selected group of clients and where the email needs to include an attachment as a PDF.

In this example, the selection of which clients to send the email to will be done directly in the Process by selecting a specific value for one of the Client Custom Fields. In this example this is for clients that have "Bookkeeping - Quarterly" set as the Client Custom Field "Services".

This article contains the following sections:

• Create the Word Template and the Email Template
• Add the Custom Process
• Add Step 1 to Create the Word Document
• Add Step 2 to Create the Email
• Testing and Running the Process
• Set the Status of the Process to "Active"

Create the Word Template and the Email Template

This example is sending an email with an attachment. The email and Word document that are created by the process both need a Template to be first set up.

1. Create a Word Template with the details of what will be included in the attachment. In this example, the Word Template is Change of Address.
2. Create an Email Template with the text that will be in the email that is sent. In this example, the Email Template is Please note our address has changed.

Refer to the sections Templates and Stationery and Templates and Signatures for Email.

Add the Custom Process

1. In Automation - Processes, click Add Custom Process.
   
2. Add the Name of the Process, in this example this is "Advise Booking Clients of Change of Address".
3. If required, add any additional description of the Process in the Description.
4. In this example, the Filter is set to filter clients that have the Custom Field "Services" set as "Bookkeeping - Quarterly" (refer to Client Custom Fields).
5. The Custom Process has the Trigger set to "Manual".
   
   

Add Step 1 to Create the Word Document

1. Add Step 1 as Create Word to create a Word document using the required Word Template.
2. Set any Filing as required.
   
   

Add Step 2 to Create the Email

1. Add Step 2 as Create Email using the required Email Template.
2. Select the Attachment as the "Create Word > Document" from Step 1.
3. Make sure Attachments as PDFs is set to "Yes" to attach the document in Step 1 as a PDF.
4. Select whether to send the email immediately, or to create Draft emails.
5. Set any Filing as required.
   
   

Testing and Running the Process

When setting up a Custom Process, it is very important to test it to ensure it is working as expected. Refer to Testing Custom Processes.

For details of the different ways to run a Custom Process, refer to Running Custom Processes.

Set the Status of the Process to "Active"

When you are ready, set the Status of the process to "Active".