This article covers the customers you can't email: the ones who pay from a paper invoice in an envelope. PortaPro's Print Invoices sheet pulls up the recent batch, lets you tick the ones that need to go out, prints them all as one PDF, and then keeps track of which ones were printed and which ones you've actually put in the mail.
It also covers the Print Quotes twin, which works the same way for quotes.
Delivery is tracked in three rungs for a mailed invoice: Not Sent → Printed → Mailed. Printing is recorded automatically the moment a batch reaches your print dialog. Mailing is your word, recorded when you confirm the envelopes went out. That split is what lets you answer "did I already mail this?" without guessing.
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Opening Print Invoices
Where: Financials → Invoices, then the ⋯ actions menu → Print Invoices. On a phone the same entry is in the section's actions menu.
You can also start from a single invoice: the Print button in an invoice's detail view opens the same sheet with that invoice already ticked, so a one-off print goes through the same print → record → "mark as mailed" path as a batch.
The sheet reads "Pick a date range, then print every selected invoice as one PDF." and is laid out top to bottom as: the date range, the filter row, the list.
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Choosing the Date Range
The sheet opens on Last 30 Days. Printing is a "this cycle's batch" job, so it starts on the invoices that just went out rather than the twelve-month view the Invoices tab uses for browsing.
The date control is the same pill the Invoices tab uses. Click it for the preset menu and the calendar:
| Preset | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Month to Date | The 1st of this month through today |
| Last 30 Days | The default for printing |
| Last 12 Months | The Invoices tab's browsing window |
| This Billing Period | Your company's current billing cycle (falls back to Month to Date if no cycle is configured) |
| Year to Date | January 1 through today |
| Custom Range | Whatever you pick on the calendar |
Custom dates on the calendar: click a start day, then an end day. The calendar shows two months side by side (one on a phone) and opens on the most recent part of the current range, so you are never scrolled back to last year. Once a range is complete, the next click starts a fresh one, so two clicks always give you exactly the dates you picked.
If you already narrowed the Invoices tab, the sheet respects it. A preset you chose on purpose (This Billing Period, Month to Date, custom dates) carries into the sheet. The tab's default Last 12 Months view does not; the sheet opens on Last 30 Days instead.
The range matches each invoice's invoice date. An invoice created inside the range is always listed too, even if it was backdated, so something you just made is always findable.
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Filtering the List
Two dropdowns sit beside the selection count:
Status: All invoices, Open invoices, or Paid invoices.
Delivery: the same Delivery filter the Invoices tab has, so "Printed" here means exactly the rows the list calls Printed.
| Delivery filter | Shows invoices that… |
|---|---|
| Delivery: All | Everything in the range |
| Not Sent | Were never emailed, never printed, and never marked as mailed. The ones that still need to go out. |
| Printed | Reached the print dialog but haven't been marked as mailed yet |
| Sent (Email) | Were emailed through PortaPro |
| Mailed | Were marked as mailed |
| Receipt Sent | Had a payment receipt sent |
A line under the filter row says in plain words what the current filter is showing. Changing the range or either filter clears your selection so you never print rows you can no longer see.
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Selecting and Printing
Each row shows the invoice number, its status badge, its delivery badge, the customer, the amount and the invoice date. Click a row or its checkbox to tick it. Select All ticks every listed invoice (and becomes Deselect All); the badge at the left of the filter row reads "N of M selected".
Hide email & phone on PDF is on by default. It leaves the customer's email address and phone number off the printed copies, which keeps a window envelope clean and doesn't put contact details on paper that gets passed around an office.
Click Print Selected (N). PortaPro merges the selected invoices into one PDF, newest first, and hands it to your browser's print dialog. While it works you'll see "Preparing N invoices…", then "Opening your browser's print preview…", then "Print preview ready". Large batches take 20 to 30 seconds to prepare. If the print dialog doesn't appear on its own, click Open print preview; Done closes the overlay.
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What Printing Records
The moment a batch reaches the print dialog, every invoice in it is stamped as printed:
Printed is not proof it was mailed. It means a PDF was rendered for the print dialog. Whether paper came out and went into an envelope is the next step.
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Marking Invoices as Mailed
When you close the print dialog (or click Done), PortaPro asks "Mark this invoice as mailed?" or "Mark these N invoices as mailed?"
Mailing is also a standalone action, so "Not yet" is never a dead end:
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The Delivery Ladder
The delivery badge next to every invoice tells you how far it has travelled:
| Path | Badges, in order |
|---|---|
| Printed and mailed | Not Sent → Printed → Mailed |
| Emailed through PortaPro | Not Sent → Sent (Email) → Delivered → Email Opened → Link Clicked (or Bounced if it failed) |
An invoice that already reads Sent (Email) or Mailed keeps that badge if you reprint it; the reprint still adds a Printed row to its Send history. Printed never counts as sent.
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A Simple Routine for the Mail Pile
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Print Quotes
Financials → Quotes → Print Quotes opens the quote twin: "Pick a date range, then print every selected quote as one PDF." It opens on Last 30 Days with the same preset menu and calendar, and matches each quote's created date. Its filters are All quotes / Awaiting answer / Accepted quotes and Any delivery / Not sent / Sent. Printing works the same way: tick, Print Selected (N), one merged PDF.
Quotes don't carry Printed or Mailed tracking. Their delivery badge reads Not Sent or Sent, and there is no mark-as-mailed prompt after printing.
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Troubleshooting
The list is empty. The range is the last 30 days by default; pick Last 12 Months or a custom range for older invoices. If the message says no invoices match these filters, reset Delivery to Delivery: All and Status to All invoices.
An invoice I expect isn't listed. Check the Delivery filter: an invoice you printed earlier is under Printed, not Not Sent, and one you emailed is under Sent (Email).
The print dialog didn't open. Click Open print preview on the ready screen. Very large batches can take longer than 30 seconds; the overlay stays up until the preview is ready.
It still says Sent after I reprinted it. By design. Reprinting an invoice that was already emailed or mailed doesn't move it backwards; the Send history shows the new Printed row.
The calendar started my range from the wrong date. Click once more: a completed range restarts from your next click, so pick the start day again, then the end day.
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