A customer balance statement is a one-page document that shows what a customer owes. It includes open invoices, unused credits, and the balance aged by how overdue it is. This article explains how to create a statement when you need one and send it to the customer. Invoice numbers appear only when the statement template includes the invoice-number merge field, so they do not show automatically on every statement.
When to Use This
Use this when a customer needs an account statement now, instead of waiting for an automatic statement from a billing run. You generate the statement from the customer’s record, whether the customer is a contact or an organization.
Prerequisites
- The Generate/Email Statement option must be available on the customer’s record. If statements are not turned on for your Rhythm account, the option and the Statements tab do not appear.
Generate a Statement
- Open the customer’s record — a contact or an organization.
- Open the record’s options menu and select Generate/Email Statement.
- Choose a statement template, or leave the field blank to use your account’s default template. After you choose a template in this browser, Rhythm remembers that choice the next time you open the dialog, so leaving the field blank uses the default only the first time.
- Leave Email this statement to the customer checked to send the statement, or uncheck it to generate the statement without emailing anyone.
- To send the statement somewhere other than the customer’s own contacts, enter an address in Override Email Address:.
- Leave Save the statement on the customer record checked to keep a copy on the Statements tab.
- Select Generate Statement.
Result
Rhythm builds the statement and shows a success message with a link when it is ready. Select the link to open the statement in a new tab.
Warning
Entering any address in Override Email Address: sends the statement there instead of to the customer’s own contacts. Use this intentionally, because it replaces every recipient instead of adding one.
Warning
The statement is always stored at a link anyone can open, whether or not you check Save the statement on the customer record. Treat that link the same way you would treat a printed statement you are handing to someone.
Tip
To review the exact email and statement a customer would receive without contacting a real customer, create a test record with an open event-registration order. From that record’s Finance 360 view, use Contact Options › Generate/Email Statement. Review the resulting email and the saved statement on the record’s Statements tab to confirm the wording and merge fields look right before you rely on them.
Why Sending the Statement Doesn't Always Mean It Arrived
Rhythm reports success after it sends every email it planned to send, but it does not confirm that the email reached an inbox. If the customer has no email address on file, or the address bounces, the statement still shows as generated successfully. To follow up, check with the customer directly, or review the saved copy on the customer’s Statements tab.
Why Generating a Statement Might Fail
- The customer has more than 500 open invoices. Rhythm cannot build a statement for a customer with that many open invoices at once, so it refuses the request.
- A chosen template no longer exists. If the template you chose, or the last person using this browser chose, has been deleted, statement generation fails until you choose another template.
- A specific custom template consistently fails, even for customers with a normal number of invoices. The problem can be with the template itself rather than the customer’s data. Try generating a statement with a template built from your account’s defaults. If that works, the original custom template is the cause, and you’ll need to correct or recreate it.
Related Reading
To review a customer’s balances, open invoices, and credits before you generate a statement, open the customer’s own account record first.