When you send an invoice from Tribe, it is delivered to the customer by email. Rather than writing that email from scratch each time, you can set up a standard email template that is ready to use whenever an invoice is sent. This ensures every invoice goes out with a clear, consistent message in your organisation's own voice. By following this guide, you will learn how to create an invoice email template, add personalised content using merge fields, and make the template available to your team.
What Does An Invoice Email Template Do?
An invoice email template is the message that accompanies your invoice PDF when it is sent to a customer. It is separate from the invoice document itself: the invoice template defines what the PDF looks like, while the email template defines the message your customer receives in their inbox.
By creating a standard email template, you give your team a ready-made, professional starting point every time an invoice is sent. The message can include personalised details, such as the customer's name or the invoice amount, pulled automatically from Tribe using merge fields.
Why Or When Should You Use It?
You should create a standard invoice email template when you want to make sure every invoice is accompanied by a clear, consistent message. This is especially useful when multiple people in your team send invoices, since a shared template keeps communication uniform and reduces the risk of important information being left out.
You might also use this step to add a payment link to the email (if you use the Mollie integration), include payment terms, or set a default subject line so customers can easily identify the email in their inbox.
Before You Start
Before creating your invoice email template, make sure the following conditions are met:
The Invoicing Module is activated in Tribe. To activate it, click the Organisation icon in the top-right corner, select Subscriptions and Licenses, click Add/Remove Modules, and tick Invoicing Module.
You have administrator rights in Tribe. Email template settings are managed from Configuration, which requires admin access.
Note: Invoice email templates and invoice PDF templates are two separate things. This guide covers the email template — the message that delivers the invoice. If you have not yet created your invoice PDF template, refer to the article Create Your First Invoice Template.
How To Create A Standard Invoice Email Template
Click the Configuration icon in the main navigation.
Select Invoicing from the left-hand panel.
Click the E-mail Templates tab.
Click + Add.
Enter a clear name for your template, for example Standard Invoice Email.
Click Save and Open to open the template editor.
In the template editor, click the + icon to add a block.
Select Text from the block options.
Write the body of your invoice email. A typical message might greet the customer, confirm that an invoice is attached, state the due date, and include payment instructions.
(Optional) In the general settings of the email template, you can enter a default Email Subject. This subject line will be pre-filled each time the template is selected, saving time and ensuring consistency. A clear subject, such as Invoice [Invoice Number] from [Your Company Name], helps customers identify the email quickly.
Save your email template.
Did you know? You can add multiple text blocks to structure your email clearly. For example, a greeting block followed by a block with payment details and a closing line.
Tip: Use merge fields inside the subject line to include the invoice number or customer name automatically. This makes each email unique without any manual editing.
Using Merge Fields To Personalise The Email
Merge fields pull information directly from Tribe and insert it into your email automatically when the invoice is sent. This allows you to create a single template that addresses each customer by name and references the correct invoice details, without any manual input.
To add a merge field to your email template:
Click inside a Text block in the template editor.
Click Add Field.
Browse the available fields and select the one you want to insert — for example, Relation Name, Invoice Amount, or Due Date.
Tip: If you use the Mollie payment integration, you can add a payment link directly to your invoice email. Inside a text block, click Add Field, select Invoice, and choose Payment Link. This gives customers a direct link to pay their invoice online. For more information, see the article How Do I Connect Mollie With Tribe CRM?
Tips And Best Practices
Keep the email concise. Customers receiving an invoice are looking for clear information: the amount, the due date, and how to pay. Avoid long introductions.
Always include the due date as a merge field so customers know exactly when payment is expected.
If your organisation invoices customers in different languages, you can create separate email templates for each language and select the appropriate one when sending.
Consider creating a second template for payment reminders. The process is exactly the same, and having a reminder template ready saves time when following up on outstanding invoices.
Test your template before rolling it out to the team by sending a test invoice to yourself. This lets you verify that merge fields populate correctly and the email reads as intended.
Quick Summary
Creating a standard email template for sending invoices ensures every invoice leaves Tribe with a clear, consistent, and professional message. You create the template under Invoicing in Configuration, and selecting E-mail Templates, build the email body using text blocks and merge fields, and optionally set a default subject line. Once saved, the template is immediately available for your whole team to use when sending invoices.