Document Handling

  • Published on Apr 29, 2026
  • 12 minute(s) read
  • AF
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App Overview

Document Handling is an email communication app for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. It gives companies a structured, branded way to send documents to customers and vendors directly from Business Central — using configurable email templates, dynamic content, personalised signatures, and automated batch sending — all without leaving Business Central.

At the heart of the app is the Email Templates system: a flexible setup that defines the subject, body, and signature of every outgoing email, per document type and per language. Templates can include dynamic placeholders that automatically populate with data from the document at send time, so each email is relevant and personalised without manual editing.

Beyond templates, the app adds three supporting feature areas. Email Sending & Sending Profiles controls how and when each document type is sent — including whether the email preview dialog is shown, what Cc and Bcc addresses to use, and how the Post and Send action behaves. Document Handling Users maps BC users to salesperson or purchaser codes, enabling each person's outgoing emails to come from their own email address with their own signature. Batch Post and Send extends the sending capability to bulk operations via the BC Job Queue, automating the sending of invoices, shipments, credit memos, reminders, finance charge memos, and customer statements on a schedule.

Feature Map

Use this table to find the right article for your task.

Feature What it solves Who uses it
Email Templates What should the email say? Configures the subject, body, and signature for every document type — with support for multilingual templates, dynamic data fields, and HTML content. Business Manager, IT Manager
Email Sending & Sending Profiles How should each document type be sent? Controls silent sending, Cc/Bcc, Post and Send behaviour, and the standard BC send button visibility. Business Manager, IT Manager, Sales Order Processor
Email Signatures Who is this email from? Configures per-template signatures — structured fields with optional logo, or a fully custom HTML signature — that can dynamically reflect the individual sender's contact details. Business Manager, IT Manager
Document Handling Users Which email address should appear as the sender? Maps BC users to Salesperson/Purchaser codes so each person's emails come from their own address. IT Manager
Our Status & Vendor/Customer Status Where does this purchase order negotiation stand? Adds two status fields to Purchase Order lines that track the state of each vendor communication, with automatic transitions when emails are sent. Requires the Purchase Order Management app. Purchasing Agent, Business Manager
Batch Post and Send How do I send hundreds of invoices without opening each one? Automates bulk sending, posting, issuing, and dispatch of sales and finance documents via the BC Job Queue. Business Manager, Accounting Manager, IT Manager
Attachments How do I automatically attach files to outgoing emails? Enables BC document attachments and Master Data Information files to be added automatically to outgoing emails per document type. Requires the Enable Attachments feature to be activated. Business Manager, IT Manager

Common Infrastructure

Several concepts are shared across all features. Understanding them once makes the feature articles easier to follow.

Document Handling E-mail Templates (Sending Profiles)

The Document Handling E-mail Templates page is both the home of email template assignments and the central sending profile list. Each row in this list represents a specific document type (e.g. Sales Invoice, Purchase Order, Reminder) and defines which email template to use, how to send it, and what to attach. Most configuration in the app flows through this page — it is the single place where template content meets delivery behaviour.

Document Handling Setup

The Document Handling Setup record holds global settings that apply across all document types: the default language, the default sender (SMTP or Document Handling User), whether email logging is enabled, and whether the standard BC Send button should be hidden. Run Default Setup from this page when installing the app for the first time — it generates a complete starter set of templates, status values, and sending profile rows automatically.

App Feature Setup

Two features in Document Handling are disabled by default and must be activated before they become available: Dynamic Email Fields (HTML email body with data placeholders) and Enable Attachments (automatic file attachment per document type). Both are enabled through the standard App Feature Setup page. When activated for the first time, each feature runs a migration that converts any existing configuration to the new format.

Dynamic Email Fields

When the Dynamic Email Fields feature is enabled, email bodies are written as HTML with {FieldName} placeholders that resolve to real data at send time. Supported placeholder contexts include document header fields (e.g. {Document.No.}, {Document.Your Reference}), customer and vendor fields (e.g. {Customer.Name}), company information fields, and repeating line blocks (e.g. [Line:{Line.Item No.} {Line.Quantity}]). Enabling this feature automatically migrates existing plain-text templates to the new format.

Typical Workflows

Sending a Sales Invoice manually

  1. Open the Sales Invoice (posted or unposted depending on configuration).
  2. Click the Send action — Document Handling intercepts the standard send, looks up the sending profile for Sales Invoice, and assembles the email using the configured template.
  3. If Don't show E-mail Preview Dialog is off, the email preview opens. Review the recipient, subject, and body, then click Send.
  4. If silent sending is enabled, the email is dispatched immediately without a dialog.

Sending a Purchase Order to a vendor

  1. Open a Purchase Order and use the Document Handling Send action.
  2. The email is assembled using the Purchase Order template, with the vendor's email address as the recipient.
  3. If the Our Status & Vendor/Customer Status feature is active (requires Purchase Order Management), the status on each purchase line is automatically updated to reflect that the request has been sent.

Automating nightly invoice dispatch via Job Queue

  1. Open Document Handling Job Queue Setup and click Setup New Queues → Post and Send Sales Invoices.
  2. Set filters on the Request Page (e.g. invoice date = today) and configure a recurring schedule.
  3. Set the job status to Ready. Each night the job posts and sends all matching invoices using the configured sending profiles — no manual action required.

Sending personalised emails from individual salespersons

  1. In Document Handling Setup, set Default Sender to Document Handling User.
  2. In Document Handling Users, map each BC user to their Salesperson/Purchaser code.
  3. Ensure each salesperson's email address is filled in on the Salesperson/Purchaser record.
  4. Configure Exchange "Send on behalf of" permissions per user in the Exchange Admin Centre.
  5. From this point on, emails sent by each user appear to come from that person's own email address.

Integration with Other Abakion Apps

App Integration
Purchase Order Management Document Handling is required for email sending from the Purchase Management Journal. When both apps are installed, the journal gains actions to send formatted purchase documents to vendors directly from the handling workflow. Also required for the Supplier Purchase Management Journal and automatic Job Queue reminder sending.
Master Data Information When both apps are installed and the Enable Attachments feature is active, item-level files from Master Data Information (such as product data sheets, drawings, or certificates) can be attached automatically to outgoing emails per document type.

Setup

The setup user stories below cover the end-to-end configuration of Document Handling — from first activation to a fully operational sending environment. Work through the Core Setup group first. The remaining groups are independent and can be configured in any order depending on which features you need.

Core Setup

SETUP-01: Run Default Setup to generate starter configuration

As a IT Manager
I want to run the Default Setup in Document Handling Setup
So that a complete starter set of email templates, status values, and sending profile rows is generated automatically, ready to customise

Setup:

  1. Search for Document Handling Setup and open the page.
  2. Click Default Setup in the action bar.
  3. If templates already exist, you are asked whether to delete them or allow modification of duplicates. For a fresh installation, choose to delete and start clean.
  4. After the setup completes, open Document Handling E-mail Templates to review the generated sending profile rows. A row exists for every supported document type.
  5. Open individual template cards from the Template Card action to review and customise the generated body text and subject lines.

Note: Default Setup also creates the standard Our Status and Vendor/Customer Status values, and adds a Document Handling Users entry for the current user.

SETUP-02: Configure the default language and sender

As a IT Manager
I want to set the default language and default sender in Document Handling Setup
So that all outgoing emails use the correct language fallback and come from the right sender address

Setup:

  1. Open Document Handling Setup.
  2. Set Default Language to your primary language code (e.g. ENU for English, DAN for Danish). This language is used when no document-level language match is found in the template library.
  3. Set Default Sender to either:
    • SMTP Setup — all emails are sent from the address defined in BC's SMTP Mail Setup.
    • Document Handling User — emails are sent from the email address of the Salesperson/Purchaser linked to the sending user in Document Handling Users. Requires Exchange permissions to be configured.
  4. Optionally enable Enable Email Logging to record sent emails in a FactBox on posted document pages.
  5. Optionally enable Hide Standard Send Button to remove the standard BC Send/Email buttons and ensure all emails go through Document Handling.
SETUP-03: Assign email templates to document types

As a Business Manager
I want to verify and assign email templates to each document type in the sending profile list
So that every document type that should be sent through Document Handling has a configured template

Setup:

  1. Open Document Handling E-mail Templates.
  2. For each document type row, check that the Document Template column is populated. Blank rows will not produce an email when Send is triggered.
  3. For rows without a template, click Template Card to create and assign a new template, or look up an existing one.
  4. Set Don't show E-mail Preview Dialog on rows where silent sending is preferred.
  5. Enter Cc e-mail and/or Bcc e-mail for any document types that require fixed copy recipients.
SETUP-04: Write email body content for each template

As a Business Manager
I want to write the email body text for each document type template
So that outgoing emails contain a professional, consistent message appropriate for each document type

Setup:

  1. For each template, open the Template Card from Document Handling E-mail Templates.
  2. Set the Subject Text and enable Include Order Number if the document number should be appended.
  3. If Dynamic Email Fields is enabled (see SETUP-08): write HTML in the Email Body Content editor using {Document.FieldName}, {Customer.FieldName}, and [Line:...] placeholders.
  4. If Dynamic Email Fields is not enabled: add lines in the Text Lines subpage as plain text.
  5. Repeat for each document type and language you need to support.

Document Handling Users Setup

Complete this section if you want outgoing emails to come from individual users' own email addresses rather than a shared SMTP mailbox.

SETUP-05: Map BC users to Salesperson/Purchaser codes

As a IT Manager
I want to map each BC user to their Salesperson/Purchaser code in Document Handling Users
So that outgoing emails appear to come from the individual user's email address

Setup:

  1. Ensure Default Sender in Document Handling Setup is set to Document Handling User.
  2. Open Document Handling Users.
  3. For each user who sends documents, add a row: set User ID to the BC user name and Salespers./Purch. Code to their code.
  4. Open Salespersons/Purchasers and verify the E-Mail field is filled in for each code.
  5. In Exchange Admin Center (EAC), configure "Send on behalf of" or "Send as" permissions for each user against the BC SMTP account.

Signatures Setup

Complete this section to add sender signatures to outgoing emails. Signatures are configured per template.

SETUP-06: Configure a dynamic signature on email templates

As a Business Manager
I want to configure email signatures that automatically show the sending user's name, title, phone, and email
So that recipients know exactly who sent the email and can reply to the right person

Setup:

  1. Open the template card for the document type you want to configure.
  2. Enable Enable Current User — the signature will pull name, job title, phone, and email from the sending user's User Setup record.
    • Alternatively, enable Use Salespers./Purch. Code from Document Handling User to pull data from the salesperson/purchaser linked in Document Handling Users.
  3. Enable Include Name, Include Title, Include Phone, and Include Mail as needed.
  4. Optionally upload a logo image and set Placement of Logo in Signature.
  5. For fully branded signatures, enable Enable Html Signature and paste custom HTML into the signature editor instead.

Attachments Setup

Complete this section to enable automatic file attachments on outgoing emails. Requires the Enable Attachments feature to be activated first.

SETUP-07: Activate and configure the Enable Attachments feature

As a IT Manager
I want to activate the Enable Attachments feature and configure which document types should include attachments
So that relevant files are automatically included in outgoing emails without manual intervention

Setup:

  1. Open App Feature Setup and enable Enable Attachments. Read and confirm the migration prompt.
  2. Open Document Handling E-mail Templates. The Enable Attachments column is now visible.
  3. For each document type where attachments should be included, set Enable Attachments to the appropriate value.
  4. If the Master Data Information app is also installed, MDI item-level files will be included automatically for document types where attachments are enabled.

Dynamic Email Fields Setup

Complete this section to enable HTML email bodies with dynamic data placeholders. This is an optional feature upgrade from plain-text templates.

SETUP-08: Activate Dynamic Email Fields

As a IT Manager
I want to activate the Dynamic Email Fields feature so email templates can use HTML and data placeholders
So that outgoing emails automatically include document-specific data and support rich HTML formatting

Setup:

  1. Open App Feature Setup and enable Dynamic Email Fields. Read and confirm the migration prompt — existing plain-text templates are converted automatically and continue to work.
  2. Open a template card. The Email Body Content editor is now available for HTML composition.
  3. Write the email body using HTML. Use placeholders such as {Document.No.}, {Customer.Name}, {Document.Your Reference}, and [Line:{Line.Description} {Line.Quantity}] for repeating line data.
  4. The {SignatureName}, {SignatureTitle}, {SignaturePhone}, and {SignatureEmail} placeholders can be used in the HTML body for dynamic signature data.

Batch Sending Setup

Complete this section to automate high-volume document sending via the BC Job Queue.

SETUP-09: Set up a recurring batch job for a document type

As a IT Manager
I want to configure a recurring Job Queue entry for a specific batch send operation
So that documents are sent automatically on schedule without requiring manual action

Setup:

  1. Open Document Handling Job Queue Setup.
  2. Under Setup New Queues, select the batch operation relevant to your needs (e.g. Post and Send Sales Invoices, Send Issued Reminders, Send Customer Statements).
  3. A Job Queue Entry is created. Click Report Request Page to set document filters.
  4. Enable Recurring Job, configure the days of the week and starting time, and set the interval.
  5. Set the entry status to Ready to activate.
  6. After each run, review Log Entries to check for errors.
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