Please Note: This integration is no longer available. To synchronise your invoice due dates with Google Calendar please instead use the Zapier link.
Introduction
Google Calendar is a powerful cloud based calendar application available free of charge to anyone with a Gmail/Google account. You can link your Google Calendar to QuickFile and effortlessly create calendar events for clients, suppliers, invoice due dates, key filing dates, and more.Key features
Here’s a quick overview of the key features:- Diarise sales and purchase invoice due dates.
- Configure SMS and e-mail reminders to be send at a set point in time before each event.
- Create new calendar events on the fly from your Dashboard.
- Create and group client or supplier specific events.
- Automatically track key filing dates for Limited Companies, e.g. Annual Return and Annual Accounts due dates.
Linking QuickFile to your Google Calendar
To link your Google Calendar to QuickFile you will need to go into the 'Account Settings' menu and under '3rd Party Integration' select the Google Calendar option.
Click the green button to be redirected to Google so that you can authorise the link. Don’t forget to make sure that you’re logged into the correct Google account when you grant authorisation.
You will then be redirected back to QuickFile and a new Calendar Profile will automatically be created called ‘MY COMPANY NAME EVENTS’. If you are managing multiple companies with QuickFile each QuickFile account will have it’s own calendar profile.
Customising your reminder settings
Google Calendar can send reminders by email or SMS at a set period before any event. Once you have authorised QuickFile to interact with your calendar you will see a list of event types with a few options as follows.
For each event type you can specify the time period before, upon which you would like to receive a reminder.
Setting reminders to pay invoices
When you create a new purchase invoice manually you will see a check box "Add to calendar",
or within the Receipt Hub you will see a check box “Add due date to calendar”. This option will be checked by default.
When you then save your invoice, QuickFile will connect to your calendar and insert the event on the invoice due date. An e-mail or SMS reminder will be sent to you before the event, as per your default reminder settings.
Setting reminders against your sales invoice due dates
As well as setting reminders to pay your purchase invoices you can also create calendar events to chase your own sales invoices. These reminders are created when sending an invoice. When you send an invoice by e-mail or snail mail look out for a check-box “Add due date to my calendar” located above the 'Cancel' and 'Send' buttons. This is a useful feature for those clients who need a little extra encouragement to pay on time.
Setting reminders for previously issued sales or purchase invoices
You can also go back and add a calendar event for any previously issued invoice from within the 'More Options' menu on the invoice preview screen. This will be visible for both sales and purchase invoices.
A pop up will then appear so that you can ‘Create Calendar Entry’ (add the reminder).
When you preview any invoice you can use this same option to quickly see any calendar events set against the invoice. From this popup box you can jump right into Google Calendar to further edit the event.
Creating client or supplier specific calendar events
Let’s say you want to create a reminder to perform some sort of action specific to a client or supplier at some set time in the future. From the client or supplier detail screen you can now quickly create and view events only related to that one particular contact.Select the ‘New Calendar Entry’ from within the ‘More Options’ button.
The popup box will be revealed where you can schedule a new event, set a reminder, and add your own custom notes.
You can then bring up a list of all client or supplier specific events from within the view menu.
You can now see all the calendar entries:
Any invoice related events for the client or supplier will also be visible here.
Creating generic events from the Dashboard
Whenever you need to quickly add an event to your calendar and set an SMS or e-mail reminder, you can do so directly from the Dashboard. When you have linked your Google Calendar to QuickFile you will see two additional buttons on the Dashboard.
To create a new event you just need to supply an event title, date and set any reminders that you’d like to receive.
You can also view a list of all forthcoming events on your calendar from the Dashboard, all the invoice, client, supplier, and company filing related events will be visible in one place.
If you want to view historic events or obtain more information on specific events you can jump directly into your Google Calendar from here.
Annual accounts and annual return filing dates (Limited Companies)
If you have a limited company and you have input your company registration number into Quick File we will automatically track your key filing dates. With the Google Calendar integration we will log the following key filing events on your calendar. - Annual Accounts due date - Annual Return due date - Year-end date, i.e. transitioning from one accounting year to the next.Setting the active calendar QuickFile uses to create events
Quick File will automatically create a calendar profile for you whenever you link your Google Calendar to your QuickFile account. If you’d rather have QuickFile create your events in a different calendar you can change the Active Calendar ID in the Google Calendar settings. You can also set the same calendar ID on multiple QuickFile accounts so they all feed into the same calendar.
The Google Calendar ID looks like a long e-mail address, if you need help finding it take a look here.