{"id":30784,"date":"2025-06-03T08:38:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T12:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/?p=30784"},"modified":"2025-06-03T08:38:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T12:38:14","slug":"accounting-email-best-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/accounting-email-best-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Do\u2019s and don\u2019ts of an accounting email address"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/category\/money-matters\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Money Matters<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDo\u2019s and don\u2019ts of an accounting email address\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2025-06-03T08:38:12-04:00\">June 3, 2025<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"Do\u2019s and don\u2019ts of an accounting email address\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/accounting-email-best-practices\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/header>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/author\/elizabethryan\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/lizryan-350x350.png\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"Elizabeth Ryan\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Elizabeth Ryan<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Your accounting email address is the center of your accounting cycle. It\u2019s how vendors and customers connect to you. It\u2019s the way you exchange invoice and payment information as well as resolve inquiries, disputes, and reconciliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Behind every accounting email address is a process. In a perfect world, it should be simple to understand, easy to follow, and responsive to your vendors and customers. But too often, it\u2019s a hodge-podge of one-off, hard-to-follow rules and procedures. That can cause delays, mistakes, and upset partners (and possibly your boss). So here are some essential do\u2019s and don\u2019ts to help you create the best email address for your accounting department.<\/p>\n\n\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><div class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-table-of-contents yoast-table-of-contents\"><ul><li><a href=\"#h-accounting-email-address-do-s\" data-level=\"2\">Accounting email address do&rsquo;s<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-accounting-email-address-don-ts\" data-level=\"2\">Accounting email address don&rsquo;ts<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-don-t-use-your-personal-email-address\" data-level=\"2\">Don&rsquo;t use your personal email address<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-accounting-email-address-do-s\"><strong>Accounting email address do\u2019s<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-think-process\"><strong>Think process<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>AR, AP, and payroll are different, and you should design your accounting email addresses to reflect these differences. The access rights, required actions, tracking of work, and keeping of records will vary for each. You want to be able to tailor your workflow to these differences. Having alignment between address and process makes this possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-plan-for-the-future\"><strong>Plan for the future<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re a sole proprietor, do you plan to have employees one day? If you\u2019re a one-person department, do you plan to hire more people? What will your team and operations look like in the future? By planning for the future of your operations, you\u2019ll be able to scale as the business requires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-leverage-automation\"><strong>Leverage automation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike a personal email address, which is very ad-hoc, an accounting email address has compliance and control requirements to fulfill the accounting cycle. That makes it ripe for automation. Using generic email software like Outlook or Gmail puts the burden of compliance and controls on the staff through manual routines. Automation allows the team behind the accounting email address to focus on doing work rather than managing compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-reinforce-compliance\"><strong>Reinforce compliance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you have an address setup for connecting with vendors, customers, or employees, stick to it. If a vendor sends an invoice to the purchasing department, have the purchasing department instruct the vendor of the right AP email address. The same is true for other accounting email addresses. Compliance removes exceptions and errors from the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-accounting-email-address-don-ts\"><strong>Accounting email address don\u2019ts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-don-t-use-3rd-party-email-addresses\"><strong>Don\u2019t use 3rd-party email addresses<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Outsourced services for accounting are popping up everywhere whether it\u2019s for bookkeeping or bill pay. These service providers often instruct you to have vendors or customers send emails directly to their address such as yourcompay@theircompany.com. But what if you want to change to a new service? Once you do, you will disrupt the connection between your vendors, customers, or employees and your process, and it will take multiple accounting cycles to fix it \u2013 not to mention the extra work required. The best practice is to always have emails arrive at an address you control and then forward them to any 3rd-party addresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-don-t-use-your-personal-email-address\"><strong>Don\u2019t use your personal email address<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The most frequent disruption in the accounting cycle is correspondence from a personal email address. We all know that accounting personnel change frequently. Additionally, we all need a vacation and do get ill from time to time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Between turnover and out-of-office, lots of emails get lost, because vendors and customers send critical information to someone who\u2019s not there. When that happens, it\u2019s as if part of the accounting cycle entered into a black hole and is not found until something goes overdue. Don\u2019t let your staff correspond using a personal email address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you\u2019d like to pursue these best practices, evaluate <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/products\/sage-ar-automation\/\"><strong>Sage AR automation<\/strong><\/a><strong> for your organization<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sage enables you to build a process behind each of your accounting email addresses. With a team workspace for collaboration, workflow for automation, and deep integration into accounting software, Sage AR automation makes it easy, secure, and fast to work with vendors, customers, and employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta gated-content\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Demo: Sage Intacct for Software and SaaS Companies<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Learn how Sage Intacct cloud financial software helps SaaS companies automate accounting and finance for faster growth.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-937a8c18-22cd-4881-892a-546817f56874\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Watch now<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1273\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/GettyImages-1084167640-1273x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/GettyImages-1084167640-1273x810.jpg 1273w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to our Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Get our latest business advice delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-ab515c6e-7e90-4c2f-a67e-113872516e8b\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"Working from home with tea in hand\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a serious business like accounting, your email address sets the stage for client relationships. If it\u2019s messy or mismanaged, you could be setting yourself up for costly delays or errors, not to mention reputational damage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1806,"featured_media":20209,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"sage_hide_published_date":false,"sage_hide_read_time":false,"sage_hide_share_buttons":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"business_type":[],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[],"coauthors":[584],"class_list":["post-30784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-money-matters"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-us","author_name":"Elizabeth Ryan","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/GettyImages-549776535.jpg","imagine_tags":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice US","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1806"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/20209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30784"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=30784"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=30784"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=30784"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=30784"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=30784"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=30784"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=30784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}