Customisable email templates and file names

Set up a library of reusable email templates and file naming patterns for the documents your organisation sends — quotes, invoices, purchase orders, job briefs and invoice statements. This article covers how to set both up from Settings, and how the correct template or pattern is chosen when someone sends or generates a document.

In this article:

• Key terms
• Before you start
• Setting up email templates
• Setting up file naming patterns
• Overriding defaults on an individual Custom Print Template
• How templates and patterns are applied when sending
• Coming soon

Key terms

• Email Template – a reusable email subject and body for a document type (e.g. Invoice, Quote/Estimate), with variables that are replaced by real values when a document is sent.
• Custom Print Template – an existing feature: an organisation-authored template used to generate a document such as an invoice, quote, or purchase order.
• File Naming Pattern – a reusable pattern that controls the file name generated for a document type, using the same style of variables as email templates.
• Override – a setting made on an individual Custom Print Template that takes priority over the organisation-wide default for that document type.

Before you start

Email Templates and File Names are visible under Settings > General. 

• Managing the email template library and file naming patterns is restricted to staff with Administrators access.
• Any user can select an existing email template, or rely on the default, when sending a document – this doesn't require Administrator access.
• File naming patterns are part of the Custom Print Templates feature, so your organisation needs access to Custom Print Templates to use them.
• Both email templates and file naming patterns are organisation-wide settings – they apply to everyone in your organisation, not just the person who configured them.

Setting up email templates

Navigate to the template library

1. Go to Settings > General Settings.
2. Select Email Templates from the sidebar.

This opens the Custom Email Templates page, which lists your organisation's email templates for each document type: Invoice, Invoice Statement, Jobs, Purchase Order, and Quote/Estimate.

Create a template

1. From the Custom Email Templates page, select the document type tab you want to create a template for.
2. Click Create New Template.
3. Fill in:
   • Name – a descriptive label for the template, e.g., Standard Invoice Email.
   • Subject – the email subject line.
   • Body – the full email body.
4. Insert variables (placeholder fields) in the Subject or Body by clicking an entry under Available variables – this inserts the variable at your cursor position.
5. Select Set as default if this should be the default template used for this document type. Only one default template is allowed per document type – setting a new default automatically replaces the previous one.
6. Click Save.

Variables inserted into a template appear as tokens like {ClientName} while you're editing. When a document is actually sent, these are replaced with real values before anyone sees the email – see How templates and patterns are applied when sending.

Supported variables in email templates

The variables available depend on the document type:

These are email-body variables. File naming patterns use a related but different set of variables – see the next section. For example, an invoice email uses {InvoiceNumber}, while an invoice file name uses {DocumentNumber}.

Edit or delete a template

1. From the Custom Email Templates list, open a template to edit its name, subject, body, or default status.
2. To delete a template, use the delete option on the template list or edit screen. Deleting a template that's linked to a Custom Print Template's email override removes that link – the print template falls back to the document type's default.

You can also select multiple templates in the list and delete them together.

Setting up file naming patterns

Navigate to file naming settings

1. Go to Settings > General Settings > Custom Print Templates.
2. Select the File Names tab.

This shows one row per document type: Invoice, Quote/Estimate, Purchase Order, Job Brief, and Invoice Statement. Each row has a text field, a row of clickable variable chips, and a live example of the resulting file name.

Set a default file naming pattern

1. On the File Names tab, click into the field for the document type you want to customise.
2. Click a variable chip under Available variables to insert it at your cursor. Date variables (see below) can be reformatted after inserting.
3. Leave a field blank to use the system default format for that document type.
4. Click Save Changes.

Invalid file-system characters (such as / \ : * ? " < > |) aren't allowed in a saved pattern and will be rejected with a validation error when you try to save. When a file name is actually generated, any character in a substituted value that would still be invalid is automatically replaced with a hyphen.

System default patterns

If you leave a document type's pattern blank, the system uses these defaults:

Supported variables in file naming patterns

Date variables – CurrentDate, InvoiceDate, DueDate, StartDate, ValidFromDate, ValidToDate, PurchaseOrderDate – support a format, shown as {VariableName:Format}. Available formats:

• YYYYMMDD (e.g. 20260523)
• YYYY-MM-DD (e.g. 2026-05-23)
• DD-MM-YYYY (e.g. 23-05-2026)
• MM-DD-YYYY (e.g. 05-23-2026)

Each variable can only be used once per pattern, and date variables must include a format (e.g. {DueDate:YYYYMMDD}) – a pattern that omits the format won't save.

Overriding defaults on an individual Custom Print Template

Each Custom Print Template can override the organisation-wide email template and file naming pattern for its document type.

1. Go to Settings > General Settings > Custom Print Templates > Templates, and open (or create) a Custom Print Template.
2. Under Email Template Override, select an email template from the Email Template field, filtered to your template's document type. Leave it set to Please select to use the organisation-level default for that document type.
3. Under File Name Override, enter a File Name Pattern using the same variables described above. Leave this field blank to use the organisation-level default for that document type.
4. Save the Custom Print Template.

How templates and patterns are applied when sending

Email templates

When you send a document, it resolves which email template to use in this order:

1. The Custom Print Template's override, if one is set.
2. The organisation-wide default for that document type, if one is set.
3. If neither is set, the compose window opens blank, exactly as it did before this feature existed.

Variables in the resolved template are substituted with real values before the compose window opens – you'll see the finished subject and body directly, not raw tokens like {ClientName}. You can still edit the subject or body before sending, and you can manually switch to a different template from the compose window if needed.

File naming patterns

When a document is generated, it resolves the file name in this order:

1. The Custom Print Template's override pattern, if one is set.
2. The organisation-wide default pattern for that document type, if one is set.
3. If neither is set, it falls back to its existing file naming behaviour.

File name variables resolve to real values at the moment the document is generated – there's no separate preview step in the send flow (the example shown on the File Names settings page uses sample data, not your real document's data).