Generating and sending custom documents

In this article, you'll learn how to send a customer a document built from one of your templates, straight from a job, and how to see when they've opened or signed it. Use it for a work order, a waiver, a contract or anything else you've built, without leaving the job.

Your templates live in Settings › Documents. Estimates and invoices have their own send buttons on the job, so the steps below are for your Work Order template and the documents you've built from scratch.

To open the job you want to send from:

  1. In the menu, click Jobs.
  2. Click the job.

Sending a document from a job

On a computer there are two ways in. Both open the same Send document window.

  1. Click the Attachments tab. Below your files there's a Documents section.
  2. Click Send document. Or click Actions at the top of the job and pick Send document.
  3. Under Document, pick the template. Your built-in templates show by name, and anything you built yourself has (Custom) after its name. The list opens on your Work Order template.
  4. Tick or untick Ask the customer to sign it. The box starts out matching the template, so a template with a signature box asks for a signature unless you untick it.
  5. Choose how to send it:
  • Text sends the link to the phone number on the customer's record.
  • Email sends the link to their email address.
  • Copy link makes the link and copies it to your clipboard. The window shows it after Link copied: so you can paste it anywhere.

After a text or email goes out, the window closes and a message confirms the document was texted or emailed to the customer.

Sending a document from a job
Sending a document from a job
Note: Text needs a phone number on the customer's record, and Email needs an email address. If either is missing, the window shows an error and nothing is sent.
Note: On the free plan, the CRM doesn't text from its own number. On a computer the button reads Text from my phone, and it hands the message to your own texting app with the link ready to send.
Note: Using the CRM in your phone's browser? The job page there has no Attachments tab. Stay on Details and scroll down to Attachments. The Documents section and its Send document button sit right below your files, and the third button is Share link, which opens your phone's share sheet.
Note: Once a job is marked Done, the Send document button under Documents goes away and the job shows a note telling you to change the status to reopen it before editing. On a computer, Actions › Send document still works on a done job.

The customer's text or email uses the subject and message saved on the template. If the template has no message, the CRM sends a short note with your company name and the link.

What the customer sees

The text or email has one link. Opening it signs the customer into their customer portal and shows the document filled in with the job's details. Under the document's name it says Your signature is needed below when you asked for one, or For your records when you didn't.

  • If you asked for a signature, the document ends with a Sign to approve box. They draw their signature, type their full name and click Sign document. A Clear link lets them start the signature over.
  • Once it's signed, the page reads Signed with the date, and their signature and typed name are saved with the document. A document can only be signed once.
  • On a computer, the ⋮ menu has Print and Download as PDF. On a phone, Download PDF in the top bar opens Email the PDF, which sends the PDF to an address they confirm.

Keeping track of what's been sent

Every document sent from the job is listed under Documents, newest first, and each one shows how far it's got:

  • Link created means you copied or shared the link but didn't text or email it.
  • Sent by text or Sent by email, with the date.
  • Viewed, with the date the customer first opened it.
  • Signed by their name, with the date.

A document still waiting on a signature has awaiting signature after its name. Click any row to open the customer's own view of it. If nothing has been sent yet, the section says Nothing sent yet.

Getting told when a document is viewed or signed

The office can hear about the first view and the signature by text, email or app push. You set who hears and how on one page. You need an admin login to see it.

To choose who gets told:

  1. At the bottom of the menu, click the gear (Settings), then Document notifications.
  2. Under Text these numbers, add up to 10 mobile numbers. Click + Add another for each extra one.
  3. Under Email these addresses, add up to 10 email addresses.
  4. Under What to send for each event, tick Text, Email or Push on the Document viewed and Document signed rows.
  5. Click Save. Saved shows beside the button.
Who hears when a document is viewed or signed
Who hears when a document is viewed or signed
Note: These numbers and addresses are the same lists Settings › Notifications uses for every office alert, and the Text and Email ticks are shared too. Change them on either page and the other one updates.
Tip: Leave both lists empty and alerts go to the owner's own phone and email, so a new account never misses one. The page tells you so under each list. By default, a view sends an email and a push, and a signature sends a text, an email and a push.
Note: On the free plan this page has no number list and no Text column. Views and signatures reach the office by email and push.

On the phone app

The app sends documents the same way. Open the job, stay on the Details tab and scroll past Attachments to Documents. Tap Send document, pick the template under Document, switch Ask the customer to sign it on or off, then tap Text or Email. The third button is Share link, which opens your phone's share sheet instead of copying to the clipboard. The sent list and its statuses match the web, and tapping a row opens the customer's view. A done job hides the Send document button in the app too. The app also has its own Document notifications screen under Settings, with the same lists and ticks.

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