Can I send invoices thru Text Message?

[Imaginethat]

I see that we can send invoices via email, but is there a way to send them via text messgae?

[#2]

Hey! 👋 I've got an update on this feature. 

Take a look at this Community post for more information about sending an invoice without entering a customer email address. 

[#3]

I've got you @jj22 🙂

@JVHovey - here's a visual of what @jj22 is talking about. You can select Share Invoice Manually and it will give you the option to Share once the invoice is created.

If you missed that step, you can Share the link after an invoice is sent. Simply locate the invoice, click, and select Share. Depending on where you are sharing from and whether the invoice has been paid, you may need to select More > Share.

This post was edited in December 2020 by a moderator to include an updated screenshot and steps.

[Valentina]

Great news for anyone looking for this feature: it's here! As of late July 2020, it is no longer required to include an email address when creating an invoice. Keep in mind that reminders cannot be sent if a customer's email is not on file.

I wanted to make sure everyone in this thread knew about the change, if you hadn't already discovered it yourself yet ✨

[ascroutwill]

I want to make an invoice, which I can only send to a customer. I do not even care about sending the invoice. I just want to process an order, and have them PAY AFTER the service, which as far as I know, the only way to do this is to create an invoice. I can't create an invoice if the customer doesn't have an email. my customers dont want to send emails all the time, we don't care. phone number should let us create the invoice, but invoices require a customer with email. It saids: "UNABLE TO ADD CUSTOMER ONLY CUSTOMERS WITH NAMES AND EMAIL ADDRESSES MAY BE ADDED TO INVOICES". 

So is there another way I can allow someone to pay after the service WITHOUT HAVING TO USE INVOICES WHICH REQUIRE AN EMAIL OF CUSTOMER, I just want to create the sale and they pay in a day or two via cash or something. I want to know if someone has paid or not, so I wont just create a regular order which only states that they paid

[Tom]

Welcome to the seller community, @ascroutwill, and thanks for taking the time to share your experience with this—I'll make sure our Invoices Team sees your post.

The ability to create an invoice without an email address is not available at this time. If your client is unable to provide an email, you may need to create the invoice outside of the Point of Sale app. Depending on your business needs, Square Appointments might help you manage your services as your customer can make their selection ahead of time. Then, they can pay after the job is complete. For more information, have a look here: Square Appointments.

Please do keep in touch as we are constantly iterating based on seller feedback. Let me know if you have any further questions.

[Marcohere]

trying to enter a new customer but he's a 90 year old senior citizen he doesn't have email.  Square keeps insisting that I put in an email address for him.  What to do?

[Helen]

@Marcohere If you're creating a customer from the app or from your Customers Directory online you can add all their information without adding an email address.

However, if you want to send this customer an Invoice you do need to include an email address for them. Do you need to invoice this customer or are you seeing an error somewhere else. I'll keep an eye out for your reply! 

[Marcohere]

Create Customer

Please enter a valid email for your customer

Basic Information

First Name

Last Name

E-mail

Optional Information

Company Name

Phone Number

I went to Invoices --> Create a New Invoice ---> on the first line I entered the customer's name --> it asks if I want to create a new customer, I said "yes" -->>> as you can see from my copy & paste above, it requires an email address.  I have not yet tried to create a new customer from Directory, maybe that avoids the problem not sure.  Anyway, I put in a fake email address, literally fake@fake.com; and then I chose "deliver invoice manually" and that seemed to solve the problem.  However, it would be better if email address was not mandatory.  Here in Scottsdale AZ we have 50% senior citizens, they don't all have email.  

[Marcohere]

fyi, I went to Customers -->>> Directory -->>> and Create New Customer, and you are correct in this place there is no email required.  I suppose that is the solution then.  However, if possible, maybe this is a small minor bug that could be fixed, allowing us to set up new customers from the Invoice Screen without requiring email.  

Marco

[Helen]

Thanks for your patience and your feedback Marco! 

[kiiri]

A lot of our customers don't have email addresses. For those customers, it is difficult for us to send them an invoice even though invoices have an option to share by URL. Our workaround has been to use our own store email address for any customers that don't have email addresses.

[hifiguy]

I've just had two different customers that prefer SMS text communication, yet it seems that the only way to create an invoice is with an email address.  Even if I choose "share invoice manually" an email address is required.  I do wish there was a way to override this and just get a link to share.  Or am I missing something?  

[RGVDMERepCtrII]

Using Square Retail, what if a customer has no email, many of my customers are in their '80's and '90's.  How can I invoice ?

[VanKalkerFarms]

What I do is use an email address at my domain so JimJ@v....s.com.  OR you can use a Gmail address if you register one for invoicesmybusinesname@gmail.com

[Kassi_]

Welcome back, @hifiguy - 

You're correct - an email address needs to be added for the Invoice to be sent. Currently, texting an invoice isn't possible. This is great feedback for our Invoices product. I will go ahead and tag this as a Feature Request for the team. 

I appreciate you reaching out in the Community! 

[Joel3]

@Tom I have the same problem, some of my clients doesn't have email address and it's impossible to create invoices for them unless I enter a fake email address on their customer profile.  A fix would be appreciated for that! Thanks!

[parbakedbreads]

This reply was created from merging an existing thread: How to create an Invoice for a customer with no email address?

HOW TO CREATE A CUSTOMER FOR AN INVOICE WITH NO EMAIL ADDRESS? 

I NEED TO MAKE AN INVOICE FOR CUSTOMER.

I CAN NOT BY PASS SEND BECAUSE I DO NOT HAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS SOME CUSTOMERS WILL NOT SUPPLY ME WITH EMAIL ADDRESS (as they do not use them AND PAY CASH ONLY. 

I have created customer.....

once in customer account I go to create invoice put all the information for sale of product BUT unable to send or create due to NO EMAIL address! 

Also I have past due invoices BEFORE I got the SQUARE App how do I generate those invoices to new ones so I can have PAST DUE INVOICES on statements?   Thank you

[Helen]

At this time with Square Invoices an email address is required to create an Invoice @parbakedbreads — even if you plan on marking the Invoice as paid after a customer pays you in cash.

Also keep in mind if you recorded a cash transcation using the Point of Sale app and create an Invoice for the same transaction ll it'll be as if you recorded the payment twice. Instead, you could send your customer an itemized receipt after the first cash transaction.

As to your second question, there isn't an option to set an invoices as 'past due'. The closest option would be 'Due on Receipt'.

I've added your post to this thread where other sellers are interested in the same features. If we have any updates to share we'll let you know in this thread! 

[Horsefeathers]

Here is another example where we need to create an invoice without adding an email address. As we reopen during the pandemic, we are taking phone orders. We do not want to deal with taking credit card numbers on the phone, and some people do not use email. So we are using Paypal, which does not integrated with Square, to request payment.  We want to be able to give the customer the Paypal link so they can enter their credit card data, thus need to create an invoice that we can show as paid later.

[Joe]

Thanks for adding your voice to this feature thread, @Horsefeathers.

In regards to your request to give your customers an option to pay without using an emailed invoice, have you taken a look into Checkout Links? With checkout links, you can create a shareable customized link that your customers can visit to make purchases, and the link can be shared outside of email.

I hope this is helpful! Let me know if you have any questions.

[Horsefeathers]

HI again Joe! I did not know about this functionality. I looked at this and I don't see a way for this to work for us. We sell hundreds of different items, each one with many options and variations; even with us constraining this initially during our reopening, I don't see a way to send a customer a link that shows them all the items they want to purchase. Am I not understanding the process to create a "sell items" checkout link? We're a pretty large business, and I think this is more designed for small businesses that have limited inventory. Thanks.

[MarkAlbert1219]

My situation is that I clean properties for older folks at a seasonal campground. Many of them do not have an email address, and I understand I can just put my own in there, but it is really inconvenient. I think Square needs to look into the ability to be able to create an invoice from items already in your store or list of services (or create new items) without needing an email address. 

Currently, I am creating an invoice to the customer with my email, and then I print it and leave it at their door or in their mailbox. Because they are older, most pay with cash or a check, which I take straight to my banking institution. Then I have to go back through all of my invoices and either cancel them, or add a the payment if they choose to pay with card. 

It blows my mind that I can create a customer account with their name and address, but I can't pull them up into an invoice without their email. Now I find myself with duplicate customers because of this. 

Long story short, I give every customer a printed invoice at the end of the job, which I also use as the receipt. There needs to be a way to do this without having to use my own email address, or for that matter, no email at all. 

[sayra]

Hello @MarkAlbert1219. 

Thanks for posting in our Seller Community. I understand the inconvenience you face with our invoice settings. Especially if you can't send an invoice via email. The ability to create an invoice directly from your Items Library or an Invoice without an email is a feature request. We are happy to take your feedback to our Products Team for consideration on future updates. I suggest creating a customer profile and adding a credit card on file that you can charge recurringly or as needed. I know that you mentioned that your customers pay with checks and other methods of payment. However, this may be a good workaround as you can still create an invoice and provide that as a receipt. 
 

Let me know if you have any other questions.