Q: Can I use e-mail to send a bill to a client?

A: Yes. You can easily create a PDF file of the bill, which you can attach to an e-mail message.

For a single bill, first print the bill as usual. Choose Bills > Reprint As PDF, choose One Matter, enter the matter number, and click Print.

The PDF file is created in the pdf folder, in the RTG Bills database location.  If you don't know that location, choose Setup > Database to reveal it.

You can also create PDF files for many bills at once. Once it is set up properly, it's very easy:

1. Print the bills in the usual way, so you have a copy for your records.
   
2. Choose Bills > Reprint As PDF. Choose All Matters and enter the cutoff date of the bills. Click Print.

The rest is automatic. RTG Bills creates PDF files containing the bills and, if you've chosen that option, sends them to the client.

To get to this point, however, requires some preliminary work:

1. For each matter, you have to tell RTG Bills whether to reprint its bills as PDF files.  And if you do choose to create PDF files, you have to tell RTG Bills whether to send them.  (The alternative is to send them yourself, attached to a personalized message.) These choices are on the PDF tab when you edit the matter.
   
2. You have to supply an e-mail address for the client or the matter, if you want RTG Bills to send the bills.  For a matter, that is on the Address tab.  If you enter a matter e-mail address, it will override the client e-mail address.
   
3. Also, if you want RTG Bills to send the bills automatically, you have to tell it how to send e-mail from your computer.  Those settings are found under Setup > E-mail.

Once the matters are set properly, and the e-mail settings are correct, it really is very easy to e-mail bills to your clients.

Note that you can always create a PDF file for any single bill, as described earlier, regardless of the settings on the PDF tab.