Reply to vendor conversations

Review suggested replies, reply, start, or forward email from one composer, and undo a send within 10 seconds.

Before you start

Suggested replies, the reply box, New email, and Forward email appear when vendor email is turned on for your company. Contact support to turn it on. You also need permission to send vendor email; without it, you can still read and copy suggestions.

Sending needs an AP inbox that is connected under Settings > Company > Email > AP inboxes. See Set up AP inboxes and email ingestion. When sending isn’t possible yet, the reply box says why, for example No AP inbox is ready to send or This AP inbox can’t send yet, and Send stays unavailable.

Review a suggested reply

Clark can suggest a reply to a supplier message. A suggestion is read-only: it doesn’t send anything, and it doesn’t create a task.

1. Read the reviewer note first. The yellow note at the top is Clark’s private caution: what to check or do before sending. Select Show more for the risks, checks, or commitments behind it. It is not part of the reply, and Copy as text and Use suggestion leave it out.

2. Choose the scenario that matches the facts. When more than one reply could fit, select each scenario to compare them.

3. Check the sources. Select the source count, for example 3 sources, to see the records, emails, attachments, or memories Clark used for the selected scenario.

4. Use or copy the suggestion. Use suggestion fills your reply with the selected scenario. If your reply already has text, choose Replace or Keep my reply. Copy as text copies the suggestion for use elsewhere. Replace every highlighted placeholder before sending.

5. Dismiss it if it’s wrong. Choose Dismiss beside Use suggestion, select a reason, add an optional note, and select Dismiss suggestion. The reason is recorded with the suggestion.

A suggestion leaves Suggested replies when you dismiss it or when a reply is sent in the conversation, from Clerked or copied from your AP mailbox. When the supplier writes again, the old suggestion is withdrawn because it no longer answers the latest message; Clark may suggest a new one.

Write a reply

The reply box at the bottom of the conversation is where you send from a conversation. Your unsent reply is private to you and saves as you type.

1. Check the recipients. Clerked fills in the To line from the latest message. A Cc line opens below it while you work in the recipient lines and stays once it has an address. Type an address and press Enter, Tab, comma, or semicolon to add it. Select an added address to edit it, or use its remove button. Fix any address marked invalid; sending stays unavailable until you do.

2. Check the sending inbox. From shows the address your reply is sent from. When more than one connected AP inbox received mail in this conversation, From lists each inbox by its name and AP address; choose another if needed.

3. Write your reply and add files. A reply keeps the conversation’s subject. Select Attach file to upload a file or to pick one From this conversation, or drag files onto the conversation. Wait for uploads to finish.

4. Select Send. If Send is unavailable, the reason appears under it once you start writing, or in the notice above the reply box. Before you write anything, hover over Send to see it. Reasons include a missing sending inbox, an invalid address, a placeholder, an unfinished upload, or a file that couldn’t be attached; select Retry upload when it’s offered, or remove the file to send without it.

Undo within 10 seconds

After you select Send, your email waits 10 seconds before it leaves. Your reply area shows Sending in with a countdown and Undo, and a notification also offers Undo. Only you, the person who sent it, can undo it. Undo puts your text back in the editor. When the countdown ends, it can no longer be undone.

While your email waits, teammates see Queued by and your name in the conversation instead of your text. They can’t send a reply there until yours has gone.

If the supplier writes again during the countdown, Clerked cancels your queued reply so it doesn’t ignore their newest message. Your text returns to the editor, and New message received asks you to review the latest message. Select Review to jump to it, or Continue editing.

Check the result

The sent email appears in the conversation once the email provider accepts it. Labels such as Recipient delivered, AP copy delivered, delayed, bounced, or rejected report what the provider sees. If your email wasn’t sent, your text is back in the editor. That notice goes away once you send the reply.

A supplier email labelled Sent to Clerked’s sending address was sent to the address Clerked sends from instead of your AP mailbox, so your AP mailbox doesn’t have a copy. Clerked keeps it in the conversation like any other email.

If Clerked can’t confirm whether an email was delivered, the conversation says it is being checked, and no one can send another reply there until the check is resolved. Don’t send another copy from your own mailbox in the meantime.

Start a new email or forward a message

New emails and forwards use the same composer, with a Subject and a From choice of connected AP inboxes.

1. Start a new email. Select New email, the pencil button at the top of the Inbox. Choose the sending inbox, add recipients and a subject, write your message, and attach any files.

2. Forward a message. Hover over the message, open its three-dot menu, and choose Forward email. Review the Forwarded message, the recipients, and the files before sending. Forwarding starts a separate conversation, and links at the top of each conversation lead to the Original conversation or the forward.

3. Continue or discard unfinished work. You keep one unfinished new email or forward at a time. Closing the dialog keeps it, and Discard deletes it. If you start a different one, Clerked asks whether to continue the unfinished one, for example Continue email, or discard it and start the new one.

Sending and undo work the same way as for replies. After a new email is sent, choose Start another email or Open conversation.

Clark can also draft a reply, a new email, or a forward for you to review. Sending a draft from Clark uses this same composer, so the same sending checks and Undo apply. See Ask Clark about AP work.

Keep each kind of work in its workspace

Use the conversation for communication and the invoice for coding, validation, approval, and export. Do not put mailbox credentials or access tokens in a reply or comment.