Page 534 - JoFA_2022

I use < … > just to denote where I will put in
the merge fields. This is not anything special, just a
placeholder. We have two of our columns represented
in the block of text — the first name of the client and
the Q3 amount. Now, highlight the <First Name>
in the body, click More Items in the wizard, select
First Name, and click Insert. This will change the
<First Name> to <<First Name>>. The Cancel will
change to Close; click the Close button. Repeat these
steps again but for the <Q3 Estimate>. Once you
have completed this, go back to the wizard and click
Next: Preview your e-mail message (see the second
screenshot on the right)
You will now have a sample of what the email will
look like. Using the arrows in the wizard, you can flip
through the merged emails where you can see the
name and the amounts change to the information
from your list (see the third screenshot on the right).
If everything looks good, we will complete the
merge by clicking on the link in the wizard Next:
Complete the merge. This will bring you to the
final screen of the wizard. Click the link Electronic
Mail. A pop-up will appear to confirm the email
addresses and a subject line. Confirm the To: is using
the Email_Address column from your spreadsheet,
enter a subject line, and click OK. The emails will
be sent immediately. Be sure you are ready to send
before clicking that final OK (see the screenshot at
the bottom on the right)
The emails will be sent using Outlook, and you
will see them in your sent items. Additionally, the
emails look like they are coming directly from you
instead of a bulk email service.
Let’s discuss some caveats to this feature. It is
not the best for large-scale bulk emails. If you want
to send out a newsletter, it is best to use a service
that is designed for that purpose. If you want your
signature that is normally part of your regular emails,
you will need to add that to your document. The
best-use case for this feature is when you want to
send a targeted message to a specific subgroup of
clients. The information we used in the example can
be pulled from your tax software. Keeping our clients
informed on tasks they need to complete throughout
the year creates another touch point by which we can
serve them.
— By Wesley Hartman

journalofaccountancy.com December 2022 | 43