Notes and note templates
Text that rides on a statement or invoice. Write it once and reuse it, or write it for one document only.
A note is text that appears on a statement or an invoice — a payment reminder, a notice of a rate change, an explanation of an unusual line.
Three jobs, and they are different
Say something once. A note on this one statement. No reuse, no setup.
Organise what prints. Decide which notes appear on a particular lease, in what order, and switch off ones it would otherwise inherit.
Avoid retyping. Write text once and reuse it across the company, with details filled in per document.
The third is what a note template is for. The first two are ordinary notes.
Note or template?
| You want to… | Use a… |
|---|---|
| Add a one-off explanation to one statement | note |
| Put the same reminder on every statement | template |
| Say something to one scheme’s owners | template, attached at scheme level |
| Explain an odd charge this month | note |
A template is a definition. A note is an instance. If that sounds like charges and templates, it is the same idea.
Where a note attaches
Four levels, from broad to narrow:
Company — every document you issue. Scheme — every unit in one development. Unit — one property. Lease — one agreement.
A document gathers the notes from every level that applies to it. A lease in a scheme can therefore carry a company-wide note, a scheme note and its own — and you can suppress any inherited one you do not want on a particular lease.
Filling in the details
Template text can carry placeholders that resolve per document — the tenant’s name, the unit, the period, the balance. Write the sentence once and it comes out right for every recipient.
If a placeholder cannot be resolved for a particular document, the note is left off that document rather than printed with a gap in it. A note reading “Dear ,” is worse than no note.
When a note appears
Always, or only within a date range, or for the next N documents, or when something is true — a lease ending within 60 days, for instance.
A triggered note fires once by default. A renewal reminder spanning two billing periods should not reach the tenant twice.
The text is frozen when the document is issued
Once a statement or invoice is issued, the note text on it is fixed. Editing the template afterwards changes future documents and leaves issued ones exactly as the recipient received them.
Same principle as an invoice: a document you have put in front of somebody must not change afterwards.
Related
- StatementsA running account over time — everything charged, everything paid, and the balance. An invoice is one entry on it.
- InvoicesA demand for a specific period. Draft while you check it, Issued once approved — and an issued invoice is never edited.
- Charges and charge templatesA template is the reusable definition kept on the unit. A charge is a real line on one lease. Editing one never changes the other.