Invoice Messenger handles the first touch with your customer when an invoice goes out: emailing the invoice, mailing the invoice on paper if you've enabled paper mail, and updating the customer if the invoice changes. It's the front half of Biller Genie's customer-communication system; Reminders handles the follow-up cadence after that first touch.
What Invoice Messenger sends
Invoice Messenger is organized as a matrix — six message types, two channels (Email and Paper Mail). Each cell is independently toggleable, so you can choose exactly which communications go through which channel.
- Upcoming Payment — heads-up sent before the invoice is due. Especially useful when the customer is on autopay so they know a charge is about to hit.
- Payment Due — sent on the invoice's due date.
- Invoice Updated — sent when an existing invoice is changed (line item edited, amount adjusted, due date moved). Email only — paper mail isn't offered because it would arrive after the next update.
- Statement — periodic statement listing all of the customer's open invoices.
- Payment Overdue — sent once the invoice is past due.
- Upcoming Late Fee — sent before a late fee posts.
Email vs paper mail
Email is always available — Biller Genie ships invoices from your sender address (or your custom email domain if you've set one up). Paper mail requires the Paper Mail add-on — when enabled, Biller Genie hands the invoice off to a print-and-mail vendor that puts it in the customer's physical mailbox within a few business days.
When both Email and Paper Mail are on for the same message type, the customer gets both. This is useful for customers who don't reliably check email — a "belt and suspenders" approach.
How Invoice Messenger differs from Reminders
The two systems use the same matrix structure but serve different purposes:
- Invoice Messenger — the FIRST touch. Sends the invoice when it first goes out, and sends updates if it changes. Each invoice triggers Invoice Messenger once.
- Reminders — the FOLLOW-UP cadence. Repeats on a schedule until the invoice is paid. Each invoice may trigger many reminders over time.
In practice, you usually turn on Invoice Messenger for every message type your customers should ever see, and then use Reminders to repeat the pressure on overdue invoices.
Where to find Invoice Messenger
Invoice Messenger is configured in the same layered model used everywhere in Biller Genie:
- Global Customer Defaults — the baseline applied to every customer. Open Control Panel > Customer Defaults > Invoice Messenger tab.
- Customer Type Defaults — overrides per QuickBooks customer type.
- Per-Customer Overrides — overrides for specific customers.
The most-specific layer wins. Configure your global baseline first, then add overrides for the exceptions.
A starter Invoice Messenger setup
For most service and B2B businesses, this baseline works well:
- Upcoming Payment — Email on, Paper Mail off.
- Payment Due — Email on, Paper Mail off (turn paper on if you have customers who insist on paper).
- Invoice Updated — Email on (paper mail isn't an option here).
- Statement — Email on, Paper Mail off (turn paper on for B2B accounts that want a hardcopy month-end statement).
- Payment Overdue — Email on, Paper Mail off (enable paper at the per-customer level for stubborn invoices).
- Upcoming Late Fee — Email on, Paper Mail off.
When Bill With Parent is on
If a sub-customer is configured to Bill With Parent, Invoice Messenger settings on the sub-customer's record are grayed out — the parent's Invoice Messenger settings drive what gets sent. This keeps the messaging consistent for the parent customer who's actually paying.
Customizing the content of what gets sent
The wording, branding, and footer on Invoice Messenger emails comes from your Invoice Defaults — that's where you set the template (Classic / Modern / Simple), the footer text, the columns shown, and whether the PDF includes a payment QR code. For paper mail specifically, see Customize Paper Mail Reminders.
Merge tags — personalizing each message
Invoice Messenger templates support merge tags — placeholders like {CustomerFirstName} or {AmountDue} that Biller Genie replaces with real data when the message goes out. They let one template render correctly for every customer and every invoice. Merge tags work the same in email and paper mail. The merge tag system is shared with Reminders — the same tags work in both contexts.
Customer information tags
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{CustomerFirstName}— the customer's first name. Renders to "Sir/Ma'am" if blank (useful for businesses). -
{CustomerBusinessName}— the customer's business name. Renders to "Sir/Ma'am" if blank. -
{CustomerDisplayName}— the customer's preferred display name (combines first name + business name based on what's set). -
{JobName}— the customer's job title (for QuickBooks sub-customer setups). -
{Other}— the value of the customer's Other custom field.
Invoice information tags
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{InvoiceNumber}— the invoice number. -
{InvoiceDate}— the invoice date (MM/DD/YYYY). -
{DueDate}— the invoice due date (MM/DD/YYYY). -
{AmountDue}— the invoice balance remaining, formatted as currency (for example, $1,234.56). On Statements, this is the total of all open invoices instead of one specific invoice. -
{PONumber}— the PO number on the invoice (empty if none). -
{InvoiceDaysLate}— how many days past due the invoice is. Renders as a plain number (negative if the invoice isn't due yet — useful for Upcoming Payment messages where you might want "due in 5 days" phrasing).
Late fee tags (conditional)
These render only when late fees are enabled for the merchant and the invoice qualifies. Otherwise they render as empty strings, so you can safely include them in templates that double as "with late fee" and "without late fee" variants. Particularly useful in the Upcoming Late Fee Invoice Messenger template.
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{LateFee}— the late fee amount that will be applied (currency formatted). -
{LateFeeDate}— the date the next late fee is scheduled to post (MM/DD/YYYY).
Link and merchant tags
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{CustomerPortalLink}— full URL to the customer's payment portal for this specific invoice. The most important tag in any Invoice Messenger template — this is the one-click pay-now link your customer needs. -
{CustomerStatementLink}— direct URL for the customer to download/view their statement. -
{DBAName}— your business's DBA (the name your customers know you by).
Merge tag rules
Tags are case-sensitive — {CustomerFirstName} works; {customerfirstname} won't replace and will render literally. Use only single curly braces — double braces ({{...}}) and square brackets ([...]) are not supported. Dates are hardcoded to MM/DD/YYYY format and currency uses your locale's symbol and formatting.
A merge-tag example for the first invoice send
A simple Invoice Messenger template for when an invoice first goes out:
Hi {CustomerFirstName},
Your invoice {InvoiceNumber} for {AmountDue} is ready. It's due on {DueDate}.
You can pay online in one click: {CustomerPortalLink}
If you have any questions, just reply to this email.
Thanks,
{DBAName}
When the email goes out to ABC Plumbing Co., that template renders as a personalized message with their name, the invoice number, the exact amount, the due date, and a working payment link — no manual editing per customer.
Frequently asked questions
A customer says they didn't receive the invoice. What should I check?
Open the invoice in Biller Genie and look at the activity history — it shows whether Invoice Messenger sent the invoice, the timestamp, and the delivery channel used. If the send went out but the customer didn't receive it, check (1) the email address on file is correct, (2) the customer's email server didn't bounce it (check the invoice activity for bounce records), (3) it's not in their spam folder. Worst case, click Send Invoice on the invoice to fire a manual resend (see How to Send an Invoice Manually).
Can I disable Invoice Messenger for a single customer who insists on doing payment another way?
Yes — open their record and turn off the Invoice Messenger message types you want suppressed. See Per-Customer Overrides.
If I change Invoice Messenger settings, will already-sent invoices be re-sent?
No — Invoice Messenger fires once per event (invoice created, invoice updated). Changing the settings affects future invoices and future updates, not invoices that have already gone out. To send an already-issued invoice through Invoice Messenger again, use the manual Send Invoice action.
What if I want a customer to get the invoice by paper only, no email?
On that customer's record, turn off Email for the Invoice Messenger message types you don't want emailed, and turn on Paper Mail for the ones they should get on paper. Paper mail requires the Paper Mail add-on to be active.