Document Templates
Your invoices and quotes represent your firm — control the layout, variables, and branding so every document looks intentional
You’ve spent weeks building a relationship with a high-value client. Your proposal is airtight, and your pricing is calculated to protect your margin. But when you hit "send," the document that lands in their inbox looks like an unformatted spreadsheet or a generic tax form. The gap between the premium service you provide and the document the client sees isn't just a branding issue; it’s a confidence issue.
Every quote, invoice, and purchase order is a commercial touchpoint. If your documents look disorganized, clients may question your professional rigor or, worse, feel empowered to push back on your rates. Document templates in AtomicSam ensure your outward-facing brand matches your internal commercial discipline, keeping your professional image consistent from the first quote to the final invoice.
Why Document Templates Matter
In a professional services firm, documents are the formal record of your agreements. When a project scope changes and you need to issue a revised quote, that document needs to carry the same authority as the original. Using fragmented tools or manual Word docs to handle this creates "document drift"—where version control fails and billing details become murky.
By using AtomicSam’s template system, you ensure that every document is generated directly from the live job record. This eliminates the manual re-entry of data where expensive mistakes usually happen. You aren't just making documents look better; you are locking in commercial integrity by ensuring the data on the page is the single source of truth from your operating system.
How to Build Your Templates
AtomicSam templates use an HTML-based engine, giving you total control over layout, typography, and branding. You can create different templates for different regions, entities, or service lines.
- Navigate to Settings and select Document Templates.
- Choose the document type you want to create (Quote, Invoice, or Purchase Order).
- Use the Visual Editor to set your primary brand colors, upload your high-resolution logo, and select your typography.
- Insert Variable Placeholders to pull data dynamically from your account and specific jobs.
- Click Preview PDF to see how the live data renders before making the template active.
Using Variables for Commercial Accuracy
Variables are the bridges between your job data and your client’s PDF. Instead of typing names or totals, you use placeholders that AtomicSam fills at the moment of generation. This ensures that you never send an invoice with the wrong job number or a quote with outdated pricing.
| Variable Type | Use this when… |
|---|---|
{JobNumber} and {JobName} |
You need to ensure the client can easily track the document against their internal project codes. |
{TotalExTax} and {TaxTotal} |
You want to clearly break out the tax component for finance departments to process quickly. |
{LineItemsTable} |
You are invoicing for multiple phases or tasks and want to show a clean, itemized breakdown of work. |
{TermsAndConditions} |
You want to pull in specific legal language based on the billing profile or entity. |
{TotalDue} variable for the final amount on invoices. If you manually type a currency symbol next to a variable, ensure it matches your account’s base currency to avoid confusing international clients.
Managing Multiple Billing Profiles
If your firm operates across different countries or under multiple brand names, you can link specific templates to specific Billing Profiles. This means when you invoice a client from your UK entity, AtomicSam automatically selects the template with the correct VAT number, local bank details, and regional branding.
This level of control prevents the revenue leakage that occurs when payments are sent to the wrong accounts or documents are rejected by client finance teams due to missing regulatory information.
Pro Tips & Common Gotchas
- Keep your CSS simple: While the template engine supports custom HTML/CSS, keep your layouts clean. Multi-column layouts that look great on a screen can sometimes break across page flips in a PDF. Stick to a solid vertical flow for line items.
- Test your logo transparency: Use a PNG with a transparent background for your logo. If you use a white-box JPG on a template with a colored header, it will look disjointed and unprofessional.
- Watch your margins: Ensure you leave enough white space at the bottom of your templates for the footer. If your terms and conditions are long, the engine will automatically create a second page, but tight margins can cause localized overlapping.
- Use "As Quoted" vs "Actuals" layouts: Consider having one invoice template that shows detailed time entries (for Billable Actuals) and another that only shows high-level phases (for Fixed Price work). This gives you the flexibility to share only as much detail as the client needs to approve the payment.