woocommerce attach pdf invoice to email

How to Attach WooCommerce Pdf Invoice to Email

There are now anywhere from 12 million to 24 million online stores, and that number is only expected to grow. However, not even a million among these online shops make more than $1000 a year.

If you don’t have the necessary practical implementation strategies and know-how when launching your online shop, all of the thousands of hours you spent on brainstorming, innovative concepts, and marketing strategies will go in vain.

It’s not just about launching a website and running marketing campaigns. Nothing matters if your customers don’t get the products on time or are not happy with your service after they have paid in advance for your products.

Your customer’s journey may start from your ads to your store to your checkout page. But it doesn’t end there. You still need to send them the product by following all necessary order fulfillment processes.

The stage you, as a store owner, go through after a customer has completed the order with payment details is called the order fulfillment process. It’s mighty important that you excel in your order fulfillment process to earn the trust and loyalty of your customers.

As a store owner, your goal shouldn’t be just selling a product to customers but building relationships with a shopper whom you expect to return to your store for years to come and also bring their friends and family as well.

Therefore, you need to create and attach a pdf invoice WooCommerce to the order confirmation email, create packing lists and shipping labels and fulfill the order by making sure your customer receives the products on time.

Today, we will find out all about WooCommerce attach pdf invoice to email in detail. So, without further ado, let’s begin.

What is an invoice?

How to Attach WooCommerce Pdf Invoice to Email

Invoicing is the practice of keeping track of financial dealings between a company and its clients. It verifies and registers the goods purchased by the customer and the agreed-upon price.

When it comes to managing your company’s finances, inventory, and accounting, invoices are essential. In addition to being useful, they streamline the selling process by consolidating all relevant details onto one page.

Invoices may be called bills or tabs, depending on the circumstance. It can also be used as evidence in the event of a refund request due to a mistake or damaged goods. In the event that the client makes an unjustified claim, the invoice can be used as evidence.

What is an eCommerce invoice / E-invoice?

E-invoicing is a digital way to send invoices, track payments and keep track of how much money you have coming in and going out. It makes it easier to keep track of your day-to-day accounting tasks by making the processes simpler and getting rid of a lot of the manual work that was needed with traditional paper invoices.

WooCommerce invoices generally come in PDF format. As we have mentioned already, a pdf invoice WooCommerce should contain all relevant information to the order.

Here are some of the essential elements of an invoice:

  • Company logo
  • Company information
  • Customer’s information
  • Invoice number
  • Invoice date
  • Payment method
  • Products purchased
  • Price and quantity
  • Tax information
  • Subtotal and Total amount charged
  • Terms & conditions
  • Personal notes

You can further customize your invoice template by adding additional WooCommerce invoice custom fields with the help of a plugin.

What is WooCommerce auto-send invoice/automated invoicing?

With WooCommerce send invoice automatically functionality, businesses can make their billing process more efficient by using software to create and send invoices automatically. Businesses can use templates to make invoices quickly, send invoices automatically, receive payments, and reconcile statements all in the same piece of software, so they don’t have to keep stacks of paper in filing cabinets.

Digital invoicing streamlines and modernizes the whole payment process by getting rid of the time and resources needed to create, print, mail, and receive invoices. This makes billing easier, more reliable, and better for the environment.

In WooCommerce, you can save time on invoicing by using a template. With the help of a plugin, WooCommerce can automatically generate invoices using a template you design and attach them to order confirmation emails.

Now comes the question do you really need to create WooCommerce pdf invoices where your customers are paying you in advance?

Benefits of WooCommerce invoices

Let’s find out why you need a WooCommerce pdf invoice.

Keeping records

The primary function of a PDF invoice WooCommerce is to serve as documentation and record keeping. Larger companies, particularly those running on a business-to-business (B2B) model, will always need an invoice for their record database.

You, too, ought to put a significant amount of importance on invoices. If you keep a formal record of all of your sales transactions, you will be able to stay organized and be aware of exactly what was sold and to whom at all times.

Even when working with a single customer at a time, it is best practice to send out invoices so that all parties involved can easily keep tabs on the various transactions.

A legally binding agreement between you and your customers is essential if you want to avoid being sued for fraud. The invoice serves as a binding agreement between you and your client.

When you create, and WooCommerce attach pdf invoice to email to send it to a customer, they are legally obligated to follow through on the orders and transactions listed on the invoice. Nobody can deny it, not even you or your clients.

The parts of the WooCommerce invoice can be used as proof of record to defend against disputes in the event of a disagreement or discrepancy with regard to a specific order. Therefore, both the buyer and the seller are bound by the terms of an invoice.

Maintaining professionalism

A polished invoice is a powerful tool for making a good impression on clients. WooCommerce attach pdf invoice to email, and sending them out to customers is a sign of professionalism, even if you’re just a small-time WooCommerce merchant.

You can differentiate yourself from the competition and win the trust of your customers by carefully crafting your WooCommerce invoices.

The opportunity that is presented by an invoice is missed by a great number of companies, including some of your WooCommerce competitors. Since the receipt of an invoice is an integral part of the purchasing process for a customer, you should under no circumstances disregard it.

Therefore, you should send an invoice to a customer after they have made a purchase from your company.

Payment tracking

A bill or invoice is a crucial piece of financial documentation. An honest accounting of monetary transactions benefits both the buyer and the customer. As a bonus, you’ll also gain a better understanding of your financial situation.

Tax filing

For accounting and tax reasons, it is wise to keep copies of sales invoices.

When it comes time to file your GST or income tax returns, having a copy of your invoices is a must. The company can use the invoices to check for any tax discrepancies.

In order to accurately report income and guarantee that taxes are paid, it is crucial for the owner of a WooCommerce business to keep an up-to-date record of all sales invoices.

Get paid on time

Invoices can be extremely useful if you offer your products or services on a contractual basis, as they eliminate the need to chase down clients for payment. In simple words, if you use the WooCommerce invoice payment method to get paid, you will need to generate invoices in WooCommerce.

The invoice includes pertinent details to facilitate the buyer’s payment, such as the date payment is due, the accepted payment method, the seller’s contact information, and the total value of the goods or services provided.

A marketing tool that showcases your brand

You can easily add your company’s logo, a personalized thank you note, links to related or upsell products, and other promotional elements to WooCommerce invoices and billing templates.

If you want your clients to have a positive impression of your business, send them branded invoices. The specialized layout and the chosen voice should convey the image you want customers to have of your business.

If you want to grab your customers’ attention, create a WooCommerce attach pdf invoice to email that features all the usual invoice components along with additional custom fields.

The invoice’s footer is a great place to promote your most popular products or highlight limited-time offers.

Consistent experience

WooCommerce invoicing plugins like Challan allow you to create your own unique invoice designs. With a custom invoice template, you can ensure that your invoices all look the same.

With the help of WooCommerce attach pdf invoice to email feature, you can easily send out professional-looking invoices after each order is fulfilled. As a result, your clients will be able to prepare properly. Knowing exactly where to look, they can quickly verify the data that matters to them. They’ll be better able to put that time to good use.

Making your customers’ lives easier when they shop with you is a small thing that can have a big impact on their loyalty. As an analogy, having an invoice template that is tailored to WooCommerce will make it easier for your team to quickly find what they need to address any issues that may arise.

Now let’s talk about WooCommerce emails.

WooCommerce emails

When you have a WooCommerce store, you can send two types of emails from it.

  1. Marketing emails
  2. Transactional emails

Marketing emails

You can think of marketing emails as the ones you send out to customers on purpose. Promotional emails are sent to current and potential customers to inform them of sales, new products, and other noteworthy information.

Some examples of marketing emails are:

  • Abandoned cart emails
  • Welcome emails
  • Product recommendation emails
  • Special occasion emails (Christmas, Black Friday offers)
  • Newsletters
  • Upsells and cross-sells
  • Discount offers
  • Review requests
  • Birthday emails

Marketing emails are crucial to spreading the word about your store, and you’ll need the help of an email marketing service provider to do it.

Although marketing emails are not compulsory or an absolute must to run your WooCommerce store, they can bring you significant results.

Transactional emails

When a customer completes a transaction in your online shop, WooCommerce will automatically generate transactional emails.

For instance, when a customer makes a purchase, or when the status of their order changes, or when you/your team ships their products, WooCommerce generates and sends relevant emails to the customer. You can customize the content of these emails.

When it comes to keeping your customers up to date on their accounts and orders, you can’t do without transactional emails.

The great news is that the WooCommerce core plugin has the tools to create these emails automatically and send them to your customers. You can also WooCommerce attach pdf invoice to email.

Let’s first check the existing transactional emails in WooCommerce.

Go to your WordPress admin panel and jump to WooCommerce>>Settings, and click on the Emails tab.

WooCommerce offers ten transactional emails out of the box. However, if you have a subscription-based WooCommerce membership website, you will see 13 additional emails.

Existing transactional emails

Let’s take a quick look at the existing transactional emails.

New order email – triggered and sent to you and your customers when a new order is received.

Processing order – sent to customers after they complete their payment.

Completed order – this email is sent to the customers after you ship their product and mark the order as complete.

Refunded order – generated and sent to the customer when a refund happens.

Order on hold – If somehow an order is on hold, the customers will receive this email with details.

Cancelled order – If an order gets canceled, the customer will receive this email.

Failed order – sent to customers when an order has failed.

Customer note – When a customer note is added to an order in the edit order admin, this email is sent to the customer.

Reset password – When a customer requests a password reset.

New account – Customers will receive this after they create a new account in your store.

These WooCommerce order emails are immediately and automatically triggered when a customer takes a specific action on your store.

For instance, when a customer finishes placing an order by inputting their payment information, WooCommerce will automatically generate a “New Order” email and send it to that customer.

You can also make substantial changes to these emails by using a plugin or by clicking the Manage button inside WooCommerce and modifying the HTML template.

Now we need to learn how to send customer invoice in WooCommerce.

Creating invoices in WooCommerce

Despite having a plethora of features and tools to run an eCommerce store, WooCommerce doesn’t have the option to create invoices, unfortunately.

However, there are a number of third-party premium plugins to generate and perform WooCommerce attach pdf invoice to email.

The Challan is one of the best among these, and we will check how to send invoice WooCommerce using this plugin.

Challan pdf invoicing plugin

challan-free

Challan is a freemium WooCommerce attach PDF invoice plugin that lets you create and send invoices automatically after every order. You can also create shipping labels, packing lists, and credit notes along with the WooCommerce invoices.

Moreover, you don’t need to create the WooCommerce invoices manually after every order. You can set up a custom invoice template with Challan WooCommerce invoice plugin. Then the plugin will automatically generate invoices for the orders.

Additionally, it also attaches the pdf invoices to the order confirmation emails.

You can extensively personalize and customize your invoice template. You can add your brand elements such as logo, company information, paid stamps, signatures, custom footer notes, etc.

In addition to that, you can choose from a number of pre-made templates for the background. Also, you can set up a custom background image for the documents.

You can also customize your invoice template with the help of CSS codes and custom fields. You can also download the documents manually from the order pages.

The pro version of Challan comes with an abundance of unique features. You can take your invoice template personalization game to another level with the premium version of this plugin.

Moreover, the WooCommerce invoices will be available for download from the customer’s My Account page.

Key features

  • Lets you WooCommerce attach pdf invoice to email automatically.
  • Allows you to generate personalized invoices, packing lists, credit notes, and shipping labels.
  • Offers a number of pre-made templates for you to choose from.
  • Lets you upload your own background image.
  • Allows you to display paid stamps in your invoices.
  • Supports adding authorized signatures to your WooCommerce invoices.
  • Enables you to modify your invoices extensively using CSS.
  • Allows you to add a custom footer in the documents.
  • Lets you attach static files such as terms and conditions files.
  • Allows you to download packing lists and invoices in bulk.
  • Supports adding your own fonts.
  • Allows you to add custom fields in your invoices.

Price

As a freemium plugin, the free version is available in the WordPress repository. The Challan pro offers different sets of packages.

Annual cost

Single Site – $29.00

Five Sites – $59.00

Ten Sites -$129.00

Lifetime cost

Single Site – $119.00

Five Site – $229.00

Ten Site – $457.00

How WooCommerce attach pdf invoice to email?

We know by now, WooCommerce generates transactional emails automatically. However, it doesn’t create invoices. We are using the Challan plugin for that.

One great feature Challan offers out of the box is the ability to work with Woo Commerce’s transactional email system to automatically attach the pdf invoices to order confirmation emails or to the email of your choice.

Let’s check how this process works.

Let’s begin with installing Challan. Go to Plugins>>Add New from your WordPress dashboard and type in Challan in the search box.

Install and activate the plugin. Your job is pretty much done. Challan will now automatically generate invoices and attach them to the order confirmation email from the very next order.

Let’s find out if that is true by creating a custom order. Go to WooCommerce>>Orders and then click on the Add new order button.

First, change the order status to “processing.”

Now, click on the small pen icon to change the billing address and put in the information for our demo customer.

It’s time to start including some items/products in this purchase. To include products in your order, simply go to the items section and add items by clicking the Add Items button.

A new window will pop up, you need to search and add your products there. Once you add some items, it will appear on the page with the total amount.

In order to finish the process, you should now click on the Create button from the panel on the right. With the assistance of Challan, your shop will now generate a WooCommerce invoice automatically and attach it to the new order email.

Here’s how it may look in the customer’s email. You can also see an invoice attached to the email.

By the way, Challan creates a dedicated panel for you to download invoice and other documents manually, as can be seen in the image below.

Challan email settings

Even though Challan enables the necessary settings to WooCommerce attach pdf invoice to email out of the box. However, you can enable more options from the settings.

You can allocate additional emails to attach the invoices. Let’s have a look.

As soon as you install Challan, it will have its own menu in the WordPress back panel. Hover over to click the settings option.

Then jump to the general settings. There you see options for enabling invoice generation, and WooCommerce attach pdf invoice to email.

With the free version of Challan, you can enable the following transactional emails to attach your invoice.

  • New Order
  • On Hold Order
  • Processing Order
  • Refunded Order
  • Completed Order
  • Customer Invoice

However, the premium version has greater email support and the ability to include packing slips with WooCommerce invoices.

Are customers not receiving your emails?

WordPress WooCommerce uses PHP mail to send transactional emails. This means that WordPress is sending the transactional emails from your hosting server.

For the most part, WordPress hosts do not have their servers configured properly to enable email sending. This means that there is a chance that your emails will not be sent or will be delayed in transit.

In addition, email service providers like Google Mail and Yahoo are waging a never-ending war against spammers in an effort to protect their users’ inboxes. When they receive an email, one of the first things that their servers do is perform a check to determine whether or not the email actually originated from the location that it claims it did.

Lacking proper authentication may result in the email being deleted or sent to the spam folder. Therefore, your customers will not receive the WooCommerce invoice if they are not receiving the emails.

Now, then, what can you do about it?

Installing an SMTP plugin is something that we recommend. SMTP, which stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, is the standard protocol for sending emails.

By employing authentication methods that are mutually accepted by email service providers, properly configured SMTP increases the likelihood that sent messages will be received by their intended recipients. While SMTP plugins are useful, they do require some technical configuration before they can be used.

Installing the free plugin WP Mail Logging is a quick option. This plugin is great because you don’t have to change any settings.

We have tested this plugin before writing about it, and we noticed an immediate improvement in email delivery.

Wrap up

Invoices are significantly important as they serve multiple purposes, including legal protection, tax filing, etc. In addition, they can also act as a brand tool to impress your customers and earn their trust.

Moreover, invoices can increase the chance of repeat purchases if you create the templates effectively.

We have learned how WooCommerce attach pdf invoice to email and what plugin you need for the task. Hope you will start sending out invoices for your next orders using the methods we have shown here.

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