Can I style the PDF template used for statements? I'd like this to look more like the invoices that I send out (in terms of colors etc).

Hello Katja QS, 

Welcome to the Community page, 

There is no way to style the template that is used for statements. It should look similar to the one you use for invoices. The top half of the invoice layout should be similar in the statement print/preview. 

Is yours showing completely different?  

The statement does show my company logo and email, but the color used for headings is different to what I have set up on my invoice template, and the layout of the statement is quite different from the "Airy New" theme I have chosen for invoices.

If I could at least get the color on the statement to match what is used on invoices, this would be a great improvement.

Thank you, this has at least allowed me to set the correct colour.

It would be great if the statement still looked a bit more like the "Airy New" theme selected, but this is an improvement, thanks.

Great, Pleased you have managed to add the colour Katja, Any further queries please do not hesitate to reach out. Thanks ☺️

Is it not possible to upload my own template for a statement, in the same way that we can upload our own estimate and invoice templates? Just that the invoice and Estimate forms I use on QBO look nothing like any of the statement forms available as standard? While it's not a simple task uploading a file and getting all the fields mapped out correctly, the results are really worth the effort as you can get exactly the information you want displayed exactly as you want it displayed and would love to have that ability with a Statement, all of the standard templates look almost amateur by comparrison?

Hope you can help... :)

Unfortunately Intuit in their great quest at making this product as dumb as possible actually removed the ability to upload your own template. We are now stuck with this badly implemented variations of template styles within QBO. At great frustration to their customers.
Don’t expect it to be fixed at all, they can’t even fix problems dating back years such as the missing company logo on Statements and Purchase orders.

What you will have though is, one of the Intuit reps reply to this thread with a copy and paste answer asking you to send feedback and it will be passed onto their ‘dev team’

OMG, I never realised that had been removed! :(

So not only can I not upload my own template for a statement, but I can't update my invoices in future unless I choose one of the QB Templates? :-0 That could well be a deal breaker for me, I hate with a passion all the templates when my accountant asked me to switch over from excel to QB or similar, I refused to use them until we had worked out how to upload my own template with all of the details I need on my invoices and Estimates. If that ability goes, I'm outa here! :(

Hi Woodpecker UK Ltd, the Import Style function was removed in product earlier this year as this was found to be a particular pain-point for customers, who were spending extended time mapping their template with QuickBooks. If you already have a template imported, you can continue to access and use this as before. There is currently no option to import a template for customer statements, and a default template will be applied when creating these. 

Hi @GeorgiaC , so it appears @Mark Armistead was right?!!!

Thats not what I wanted to hear TBH. While I concede that importing and mapping fields wasn't exactly the easiest thing I've done on QB, once I'd learned the names QB used for the various "Easy Map Fields", it wasn't exactly rocket science and the work involved was more than worth it, as without it I simply couldn't show the detail I need on my invoices. The standard styles and level of customisation you offer doesn't come even close to what I need. 

I don't often need a statement, my customers are generally good payers and don't often need a reminder, but this one customer has asked for a statement and if I can't change the template to my own design or at the very least get some way of moving the columns so that the date column takes up no more space than it needs to display the date and the description column is wide enough to show a reasonable number of charachters on one line, I'm going to have to create one in Excel as the way yours prints out and the details it offers don't do what I need it to do. By a long way!

Is there no plan to reintroduce the ability to upload your own template in the near future?

If your reason for removing the ability is that some people spent too long messing around with it, then perhaps there should be a little side section where people that are willing to put a bit of effort in to getto a better result can actually achieve that rather than penalising everyone due to some users that can't get their heads around it?

My gut feeling is that if I ever have to change either of my invoice templates, I'm going to have to find another accounts package or use bridging software or something as the forms I send to customers to ask for payment isn't something I  will compromise on. They have to be spot on first time or they don't go out!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, Woodpecker UK Ltd. We don't currently have any plans to re-introduce this feature, but we are looking to expand on the existing template options in QuickBooks in the future. We do appreciate that for some customers who have specific invoicing requirements, this may mean that they will look to use alternate software. The customer statements are non-customisable; as a workaround, you can screenshot required information from the statement into a document, or instead run a statement list report (from the reports tab) which will produce a balance-forward summary that can be sent to the customer. 

You see Georgia that sort of reply gets my back up and plainly shows how lacking Intuit generally has of customer requirements. By offering a solution which is almost going back 30 years by doing things manually is just terrible. As with this never ending email issue, asking companies to download invoice as PDF's and then send them out via a normal email client. People who are sending out 1000's per month or even per week this is totally impractical.
 
If you think they'll expand on anything these days to introduce new features then you'll be disappointed. They should take a leaf out of their outgoing product, the Desktop version and have a long, hard think about the direction they are taking QBO. Their roadmap web site page hasn't been updated since last year, nothing in the pipeline. I now know 3 of my customers who have moved away from Intuit because of this whole debacle. That's 3 companies which were knee deep 20+ years knee deep in Quickbooks Desktop. They've found alternatives, sad state of affairs.

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@GeorgiaC wrote:

... as this was found to be a particular pain-point for customers, who were spending extended time mapping their template with QuickBooks. 

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Please allow me to fix that sentence for you...

... as this was found to be a particular pain-point for customers, who were wasting the valuable time of QB customer support staff who (it turns out) had never been trained on this QB Labs feature.

I have said on other threads that .docx import for invoices was/is the only reason I use QBO over its competitors.  Having used QB Desktop since the late 1990s, it was QBO's only stand-out feature when we decided to switch.

Everything else (that I need at least) can be worked around but the QBO standard invoice templates are amateurish & should have been brought up to date years ago.

We have heard "... but we are looking to expand on the existing template options in QuickBooks in the future" so many times on here before, that I worry these new templates (if/when they are introduced) will be already out of date.

PS - for Statements, I'm lucky in that almost all of my customers are large businesses that ask for xsl/csv files to reconcile to their systems - the QBO pdf versions are laughable.

Paul, do you know why they are dropping Desktop. I just mentioned in another thread that no valid reason has been givien?

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@Woodpecker UK Ltd wrote:

Hi @GeorgiaC , so it appears @Mark Armistead was right?!!!

 

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Fortunately, not 100%.

I can't remember the date that .docx import was removed from QBLabs (it was sometime mid-2021) but the current position is this:

- if you already had Import Styles as an option (via QBLabs) then you retain it - you can still use the previously imported templates & you can import new ones (for now at least).

- if you didn't (or if you signed up after the date that I can't be bothered to check) then you're stuck with amateur-hour QBO templates until Intuit become so ashamed by their offering that they immediately jump into action & offer a full function - all singing, all dancing - WYSIWYG editor.

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@Mark Armistead wrote:

Paul, do you know why they are dropping Desktop. I just mentioned in another thread that no valid reason has been givien?

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Hi @Mark Armistead 

Sorry - no.  (you're crediting me with much higher level insight than I actually have!)

But I'm going to guess that it begins with M & ends with ONEY.

In terms of investment versus return the Online software is probably miles more profitable than Desktop.  Think of all those lovely monthly subscriptions pouring in.

QBD was seen as a bit scary by (what is today) the average user.  It was a bit 'there be dragons' so would only sell to established companies - with users that actually knew what they were doing when it came to accounting.  Many (including me) bought a version & stuck with it for years.  That is not an exciting business model.

(I know that later versions of QBD tried the subscription model - but the admin for it was probably much more costly than Online.)

QBO is (according to the adverts) customer friendly & full of butterflies.

It is targeted at micro/small businesses - a far, far larger market than the mid-size businesses that QBD was aimed at.

I was pee'd off when they introduced the sub version of Desktop, but at the times it was what it was. They'd have been better dropping support for all the older versions of Desktop and push everyone onto the subscription version, and per compnay file too.

Still don't get why they have done this in the UK only. Zero reason for it if they are offering Desktop in other countries.

Seems like a sorry state of affairs QBO when they cannot get the basics correct. Looks like more companies will move over to Xero or alike that can actually implement some of the fundamental items of running a business like brand identity on a statement. 

Its almost like QB are trying to reinvent the wheel but forgot the principle that it needs to roll...! 

I tied Xero. Has a whole set of issues on it's own. If you have stock and purchase orders it's also terrible.

New Update: A template I uploaded with the help of my accountant and have been using since I joined QB some time ago and worked perfectly well and did EXACTLY what I needed it to do seems to have stopped working properly in the last month or so. Not sure how long it's been out of sync, but I noticed yesterday that a column of my invoices is no longer being populated by the information I am inputting into QBO. It previously did so perfectly well and it presented all the information I needed on my invoices to my customers exactly as I wanted it displaying. I've not changed anything, but now there are different columns on QBO that weren't there before and one of my invoice columns is no longer getting the information I give it. What have you changed recently? My invoice column is for "Service Provided", the QBO box that should populate this column is "Product/Service" and the column which has now appeared on QBO that was previously not there is "Service Date". I populate all the information as I always have on QBO, but it doesn't reach the printed or emailed Invoice, just leaves the column blank. So what have you changed?

This is getting beyond a joke, I need to present invoices to my customers that actually look like we are the cutting edge, world class service we are, not a back street fly by night operating from his mums attic! Come on! Get this template thing sorted, it's just not good enough! Photo is one invoice showing the blank column. I did take a photo of the corresponding QBO screen, showing all the columns populated and I can show you older invoices where the service column is correct as stated. Please, Fix This - Quickly! 

I understand that the last thing you have to worry about is getting an invoice format problem when you should be on your way to presenting these invoices to your customers, @Woodpecker UK Ltd.

I checked here on my end, and there were no changes in our system that could modify the displayed template of your invoice. 

Let's ensure that the templates and form settings are set up correctly. This way, the descriptions, columns, and headers would be displayed in the right place.

If issue persists, we can perform some troubleshooting steps to fix this. There are times that the browser is full of frequently accessed page resources, which causes some errors or unusual responses. Let's start accessing your account using a different or a private browser. You can use either of these shortcut keys:

• Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
• Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Microsoft Edge: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Safari: Command + Shift + N

Once the template is already accurate, go back to your regular browser and clear its cache. This is done to speed up the process next time you do a transaction in QuickBooks Online. Also, an alternative way is to use other compatible browsers.

Additionally, I've attached some relevant articles you can utilize to help manage your invoices and other sales forms in QuickBooks:

• Customise invoices, estimates, and sales receipts in QuickBooks Online
• Record invoice payments in QuickBooks Online

Feel free to get back in here if you have further concerns with fixing your invoice template. I'll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Stay safe!

I’ve come to the conclusion that Intuits customer support consists of ignoring the problem until people get tired of complaining. I’ve been trying a new channel of complaints on theirOfficial UK Facebook group. There’s a social media manager, Jack, who ignores all the post for help and request. He then posts a typical, ‘we are where to help’ type reply to one post, then he doesn’t post again for months. No idea what he is managing but it ain’t social media.

They have zero intention of fixing issues or making QBO a respectable product such as they have with the Desktop version. And this is a multi-billion dollar company. 

Hi @Rubielyn_J, thank you for your response. I've opened QBO on a private browser and tried opening an existing invoice, I've even tried writing a new invoice and it makes no difference. I've tried it on google chrome, I've tried it on Microsoft Edge, even on my android phone with the same result: No difference. The Invoice template that I uploaded a couple of years ago is still displaying as it always has, it's the information that QBO is supposed to populate it with that is missing. The information I want it to display is still being filled out in the QBO invoice input window, I save the invoice in the same way I always have and when you go to "Print Preview" or if you email the invoice and open it from a different programme, you get the same result: Invoice looks awesome, except one of the columns where it should tell the customer which type of service I am charging for is missing. All other fields are being populated exactly as they always have, just the field taken from the "Service/Product" box on the invoice input window in QBO is missing.

There is no way that any of your templates can display all of the information I need to be displayed on my invoices. I need this template to work the same way it always has or I need to go back to using my spreadsheets that I've used for more than 20 years without a single hitch (prior to MTD) or you need to fix this. Thankfully, I've found an alternative should you not be able to fix this, there are now firms that have designed bridging software that can connect my spreadsheets with HMRC so I can go back to what I know works well for my business and still remain compliant. I just don't want to go through the whole process of changing all of my processes with my customers again. Please tell your bosses to fix your template issues or I take my business elsewhere. Litterally!

HI @Woodpecker UK Ltd 

Is this a .docx import template?

If so, you might try re-importing it & setting up the <tag> mappings again.

(use a new template name so you're not overwriting the old one)

A post yesterday seems to suggest that the mapping names might have been changed.

(obviously, this shouldn't have broken your template - but, ours is not to reason why!)

Hope this helps.