Batch Generation
Batch generation produces many documents in one go — every open invoice for the month, or a statement for each customer who owes you. You pick the records, pick a template, and Missing Toolkit: Templates generates them in the background while you get on with something else.
Batch generation is part of the Advanced plan. Generating one document at a time is included on every plan.
Starting a run
- Browse to any entity list — invoices, estimates, purchase orders, and so on
- Tick the records you want
- Click Generate together in the bar at the top of the list
- Choose the template, the output format, and how you want the files delivered
- Click Start run
The run is limited to 100 documents. If you have selected more than that, the bar tells you so and the button stays disabled until you narrow the selection. This is a per-run limit rather than a monthly or plan allowance — there is no cap on how many runs you start.
Selecting more than one page
Ticking the checkbox in the table header selects everything on the current page. Where a list offers Select all matching, that reaches past the current page and selects every record your filters return, up to the limit of 100.
Filter first, then select. It is quicker than paging through, and it is the only way to be sure you have not missed a record on page four.
Customer statements
Statements are not tied to a single record, so they are generated from the customer list rather than from an entity detail page.
- Click Connections in the sidebar, click your QuickBooks connection, and choose Statements
- Fill in Statement settings and choose a template
- Narrow the list with the filters below it, then click Search
- Select the customers and click Generate together
The statement settings apply to every document in the run. That is deliberate: a month-end statement run uses one statement date for everybody.
To produce a single statement, click Generate on that customer's row instead. That works on any plan.
Statement settings
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Type | Open Item lists every invoice still unpaid, whatever its date. Balance Forward opens with what was owed before the period, lists everything that happened during it, and runs a balance down the page. |
| Statement date | The date the statement is made up to. Balance Forward asks for a Period from as well. |
| Only items past due | Leave it as Any for a full statement. Enter a number of days to list only what is overdue by more than that — enter 30 and you get invoices 31 days and older. Open Item only. |
| One statement per | Job gives every customer and sub-customer their own statement. Customer puts a sub-customer's invoices on the parent's statement, for sub-customers set to be billed with their parent. |
Credits and unapplied payments are always listed, whatever you set Only items past due to. A statement never asks a customer for more than they owe.
Switching One statement per to Customer also takes those sub-customers out of the list below, so the same invoices do not go out in two envelopes.
Choosing who gets one
| Filter | What it matches |
|---|---|
| Customer | Name or company name |
| Only those with a QuickBooks balance | Customers who owe you something today |
| Type | The customer type set in QuickBooks — commercial, residential, and so on |
| Sent by | The customer's preferred send method in QuickBooks: email, print, or no preference set |
Filter first, then select. It is quicker than paging through, and it is the only way to be sure you have not missed a customer on page four.
If a filter matches more customers than can be read at once, the list says so. Narrow it further before starting a run — a run will not start on a list that cannot be shown to be complete.
Statements not worth sending
Under Don't create statements, choose what to leave out of the run:
- with nothing on them — nothing to list and no balance carried in
- with a zero balance — the customer owes exactly nothing
- with a balance less than — an amount you set, for balances not worth the postage
A customer in credit is below any minimum, so they are left out along with everyone else. Clear the rule if you want to tell them they are in credit.
These are on the Advanced plan, alongside batch generation.
What each statement comes to
Two columns sit beside each customer, and they are different figures on purpose.
Balance is QuickBooks' own number: everything unpaid, whatever its date. On statement is what the statement you have set up actually comes to. An invoice dated for the end of the month is in the first and not the second, so they often disagree without anything being wrong.
Customers the run would leave out are faded and marked Not in a run. You can still select them.
Where a row is marked Off by, the statement total does not match the customer's QuickBooks balance. This should not happen — a statement lists everything posted to accounts receivable, including journal entries, deposits, and refunds. Check the balance in QuickBooks before sending, and get in touch if it looks right there.
The order they come out in
In the Generate together panel, Order decides what order the documents sit in the ZIP and the merged PDF.
- By name — alphabetical
- By billing ZIP code — cheaper to mail in bulk, and the order to stuff envelopes in. Customers with no ZIP code come last.
Output formats and delivery
Choose Word (.docx) or PDF for the documents themselves, then choose how they arrive:
- A ZIP of separate files — one document per record, which is what you want if each one is going to a different person.
- One merged PDF — every document in a single file, in the order you chose. This is the one to print and post.
- Both a ZIP and a merged PDF — available when the output format is PDF.
Merging is only possible for PDFs, so a Word run is always delivered as a ZIP.
While the run is going
The run continues whether or not you stay on the page — close the tab, and it keeps going. You can follow its progress at Batch runs in the sidebar, which shows each run with how many documents are done.
If a run takes longer than a minute, you are emailed when it finishes. Short runs do not send an email; you are still looking at the page when they complete.
Results
Each run ends in one of three states:
- Completed — every document was generated.
- Partial — some documents were generated and some failed. The ones that succeeded are still yours to download.
- Failed — nothing was generated. The reason is shown against the run.
Open a run to see every document in it, and the reason against any that failed. A document usually fails for a reason particular to that one record — a placeholder the record cannot fill, or a record that has been deleted in QuickBooks since you selected it.
Where some failed, Retry failed re-runs just those documents and adds them to the same bundle. The ones that already succeeded are not generated again.
Downloads
Use Download all for the ZIP, or Merged PDF for the single file, from the run's page.
The bundled download is available for 7 days, after which it is removed and the run's page says so. The documents themselves are not deleted — every one appears in your Documents history and can be downloaded individually for as long as you keep it.
Running it every month
A run you start yourself covers the records you picked today. If the same run happens every month — statements on the first, for everyone who owes you — set it up once as a schedule instead. See Scheduled Runs.