The Notification Template tab within the E-mail Customer feature lets you communicate directly with your Customers from a booking. Instead of writing emails by hand, you can resend any of your existing notification templates straight from the Booking Invoice, keeping every message accurate, consistent, and on-brand.
Building on the previous article, this guide covers how to use notification templates to email Customers directly from a Booking Invoice.
Learn how to send a direct email message to a Customer using notification templates, including how to use notification templates to email Customers, select a template, edit the template, preview the message, include booking invoices in the e-mail, and send the email.
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New to the Booking Invoice? Read the first article in this series for an introduction to the Booking Invoice. |
Accessing the features mentioned in this article
Where can I find this feature using the top menu?
- Click an active Booking ID anywhere in the system. For example, open the Booking Invoice from the Booking Index report (Reports > Booking Index > Booking ID > Booking Invoice > Email).
- You can also enter the Booking ID in the Search field found in the main menu to bring up the Booking Invoice.
What more do I need to use this feature?
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Admin permissions to manage inventory or restricted permissions for Reports & Booking Data and Email Customer.
Which Checkfront version supports this feature - classic items, classic products, or both?
- This feature is available in both our classic version, which uses classic items (Inventory > Items), and our classic version, which uses classic products (Inventory > Products). → Learn more about products
Accessing the email option from the booking invoice
While the previous article covered sending a quick, personalized email directly from a Booking Invoice, you may want a more consistent, branded approach using your existing notification templates.
You can send a template-based email to the Customer directly from the invoice by clicking the Email button in the sidebar while viewing a booking!
- Open the Booking Invoice.
- Select the Email option from the left-hand menu.
- The Email Customer modal opens, allowing you to choose a notification template and send it directly to the Customer.
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Invoice email button The system turns off the Email button if the Customer does not provide an email address during the booking process. If you have the email address, add it to the Customer's profile before emailing them through the system. |
Using notification templates to email Customers
Using notification templates to email Customers, you can:
- Select a template
- View and edit elements of the template message, including:
- Message recipient (To)
- Message sender (From) (View only)
- Message Subject
- CC recipient to copy
- Template Message
From the Select Template drop-down menu, select a notification template. The system groups templates by notification type.
You can filter the template list by using the search field that appears when the Select Template field is in focus.
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Only Active and applicable notification templates display Only active and applicable notification templates display as options. For example, the template displays as an option only if the applied products are part of the booking. |
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Learn more about email notification templates You can learn how to set up email notification templates via the following article series. |
Editing the template
When you select a template, the system auto-populates field values, but you can customize them under the Edit tab (default view), as described below.
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Edits saved until you send the message The system preserves edits until you send or close the modal. |
Providing the 'recipient (to)' address
You can choose the recipient (To) from the drop-down menu.
By default, the system populates the field based on the selected template. However, you can also:
- Enter a custom recipient by clicking the Edit Recipient link
- Choose one of your Staff members if you'd prefer to send an in-house notification for the booking.
Viewing the 'from' address
By default, the system populates the field based on the selected template. This value is not editable.
Entering the 'subject' of the email
By default, the system populates the field based on the selected template. You can replace this with whatever text you like. It's best to keep it short and to the point!
You can also add variables to the Subject field to personalize the subject line. See the table within the Customizing the template message section for more information.
Providing the carbon copy recipient (CC)
By default, the system populates the CC field based on the selected template.
If there's someone else you'd like to add to the notification, you can enter their email address in the field. You need to separate multiple addresses with commas.
Customizing the template message
You can customize the template message by revising any of the text in the message area and adding the following variables. The variable is replaced with the specific data once sent.
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What is a variable? An email message variable is a placeholder in an email message template that the system replaces with specific information, such as a customer's name, email address, or booking ID, when you send the message. |
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Example: Adding a payment link to your messages Include either of the following variables to add payment links to your messages:
The Pay Now button also displays in the invoice. |
| Variable | Description |
{$COMPANY_NAME} |
Name of your company. |
{$CHECKFRONT_URL} |
URL of your Checkfront account, e.g., myaccount.checkfront.com. |
{$ACCOUNT_ID} |
ID of the staff account that someone used to make the booking. |
{$CREATED_BY} |
The source of the booking, e.g., Staff or website. |
{$CUSTOMER_NAME} |
Name of the Customer. |
{$CUSTOMER_FIRST_NAME} |
First name of the Customer. |
{$CUSTOMER_LAST_NAME} |
Last name of the Customer. |
{$CUSTOMER_EMAIL} |
Email address of the Customer. |
{$BOOKING_ID} |
Unique booking ID. |
{$BOOKING_TOTAL} |
Total amount for the booking. Includes currency formatting. |
{$BOOKING_STATUS} |
Current status of the booking, such as Deposit or Paid. |
{$BOOKING_QTY} |
Quantity booked on the invoice. |
{$BOOKING_ITEMS} |
The name of the booking item(s) or product(s). Multiple items or products are comma-separated. |
{$BOOKING_DATE} |
Date of booking. May include a date range or time, depending on the booking. |
{$BOOKING_START_DATE} |
Starting date of the booking. |
{$BOOKING_END_DATE} |
Ending date of the booking. |
{$BOOKING_TIME} |
The time the person made the booking. |
{$BOOKING_START_TIME} |
Starting time of the booking. |
{$BOOKING_END_TIME} |
Ending time of the booking. |
{$BOOKING_DETAILS} |
The details of the booking item(s) or product(s). This information is from the details box provided in the item or product setup. The system separates multiple items or products by a new line and includes the item or product name. |
{$BOOKING_EXTRA_DETAILS} |
Extra details added to your items or products. |
{$BOOKING_ITEMS_URL} |
URL to the individual items or products included in the booking. |
{$BOOKING_RATES} |
List of items or products booked with their respective rates. |
{$BOOKING_DISCOUNT_CODES} |
Name of any discount code(s) applied to the booking. Multiple codes are comma-separated. |
{%BOOKING_ADMIN_URL} |
Link to the booking in the backend of your Checkfront account. |
{$BOOKING_PAYMENT_URL} |
Link to the payment page for this booking. If no balance is due, this redirects to the receipt (BOOKING_URL) page. |
{$BOOKING_PAY_FULL_URL} |
Link to the payment page for this booking. It requests the full payment from the Customer, even if they still owe you the deposit. If no balance is due, this redirects to the receipt (BOOKING_URL) page. |
{$BOOKING_CANCEL_URL} |
Direct link for the Customer to cancel their booking. |
{$BOOKING_PDF_URL} |
Direct link to a PDF of the booking. |
{$BOOKING_GUESTS_URL} |
URL to the Guest Details page of the booking. Must have the Guest Forms feature enabled to use. |
{$BOOKING_URL} |
URL to the booking receipt, along with links to PDF and Payment pages. |
{$BOOKING_URL}&view=documents |
Link to the 'Required Waiver Documents' page. |
{$BOOKING_QR_CODE} |
Inserts the QR code into the email so you can customize its placement in the notification body. |
{$BOOKING_LOCATION_LINKS} |
Displays the name of each item or product in the booking, with a hyperlinked address that opens Google Maps to the location. |
{$SINGLE_ITEM_LOCATION_LINK} |
Link to the item's or product's location in Google Maps. It displays the first item or product in the booking's location only. |
{$SINGLE_ITEM_ADDRESS} |
Hyperlinked address to the item's or product's location in Google Maps. It displays the first item or product in the booking's location only. |
{$SINGLE_ITEM_LOCATION_URL} |
Displays a clickable URL linking to the item's or product's location in Google Maps. |
{%EMBED_INVOICE} |
This macro embeds a full invoice into the email. Differs depending on Text or HTML. |
You can select the Preview button to view a read-only preview of the email as it will appear to the Customer.
You can choose between previewing an HTML or a Text version of the message by selecting the corresponding radio button option.
If you need to make further changes, you can switch back to the edit option by clicking the Edit button.
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Pay Now button display The Pay Now button does not display in a Staff or Customer PDF invoice view. Instead, the button displays when you embed the invoice in an email to a Staff member or Customer. |
Sending the email
Finally, click the Send button at the bottom of the modal to send your message!
Next Steps
In the following article in this series, we look at emailing Customers using notification templates.
< Emailing one-time messages | Viewing Customer details from booking invoices >