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# Ask your client about selected transactions

Use **Email a question** when you need context before categorizing one or more transactions. You write a question beside each transaction, then BooksGPT sends all of them in one email. Your client answers without creating an account.

|| Only workspace owners and bookkeepers can send questions. Teammates who can see the transaction can also see its conversation.

## 1. Choose the transactions

1. Open **All pages** in the left sidebar, then under **Daily work** click [Transactions](https://app.booksgpt.ai/go/transactions).
2. Tick up to 50 rows. A row of icons appears above the list, after **N selected**. Hover an icon to see its name.
3. Click the envelope icon, **Email a question**. The dialog that opens is titled **Ask your client**.

![Two transactions ticked, with the Email a question icon named in its tooltip above the register](https://booksgpt.ai/help/ask-client/bulk-bar-v2.png)

* With more than 50 rows ticked, the icon is dimmed. Pointing at it or clicking it says **Select 50 or fewer to ask in one email.**
* The BooksGPT mark beside it is **Chat about this**. It opens the BooksGPT chat about the rows you ticked (the first 20 when you ticked more), so you can ask BooksGPT about them. **Email a question** is the one that emails your client.

## What you see on the register

Most rows show nothing next to the amount. A chip appears only when a conversation has started.

![The Transactions register with Chat chips beside the amounts](https://booksgpt.ai/help/ask-client/chips-v2.png)

* **Awaiting client** (amber): you emailed a question and they have not answered yet.
* **Client replied** (emerald, with a bold green edge): they answered. A small dot on the chip means a workspace note is there too.
* A small circle with an emerald ring: **Internal note**. Someone in your workspace wrote in Chat, and no client email is in play. The words are for a screen reader; the row itself shows the circle.
* **Unanswered** (amber, dashed border): the client's link expired without an answer.
* **Resolved** (muted, double tick): you closed the chat.

Amber means the client owes you something. Emerald means they answered. Neutral means this is your own workspace talking. A dashed border means the link is dead.

The chips stay still. When a client's reply or a teammate's note shows up on a row while you have the register open, that chip rings once to catch your eye:

* Only **Client replied** and **Internal note** ring.
* Opening the register, or going back to it from another page, rings nothing.
* A note you wrote yourself rings nothing.
* If your device is set to reduce motion, nothing rings.

To find them, click **Filter**, then **Chat**. The list is **Any**, **Awaiting client**, **Client replied**, **Internal note**, **Unanswered**, and **Resolved**.

![The Filter panel with the Chat list open](https://booksgpt.ai/help/ask-client/chat-filter.png)

The filter matches what is actually in the thread. **Internal note** finds every row with a workspace note, even when the chip says **Client replied**. **Resolved** is a finished chat; its old notes and dead asks stay out of the other filters.

A row with no conversation has no chip. Open the transaction and use **Chat** under **Notes** to start one.

Text that is too long for its cell, such as a payee or an account name, is shortened so it cannot run under the next column. Point at it to see the full text.

If you write a new note into a resolved chat, it reopens.

## 2. Choose your client contact

Pick a contact who is ready for transaction questions. If the person is not in the list, click **Add contact**, enter their name and email, and send a confirmation. This confirmation email does not include your transaction questions. You can send the questions after the person approves.

You can manage the same people under [Settings](https://app.booksgpt.ai/go/settings) → Client contacts. Client contacts are separate from customers and workspace members.

![Ask your client compose](https://booksgpt.ai/help/ask-client/compose.png)

![Confirm bookkeeping questions](https://booksgpt.ai/help/ask-client/confirm.png)

## 3. Write and review the questions

Edit the question beside each transaction. The default is **What was this transaction for?** Choose how long the client can answer, then click **Review questions**.

The review screen shows the contact, every question, and a clear summary such as **1 email · 3 questions**. Go back if anything needs changing.

![Review before send](https://booksgpt.ai/help/ask-client/review.png)

## 4. Send one email

Click the green button with the question count, such as **Send 3 questions**. BooksGPT sends one email for the whole selection, not one email per transaction. The confirmation screen tells you who it is going to and when they can no longer answer.

![Questions sent](https://booksgpt.ai/help/ask-client/sent.png)

## 5. Follow the replies

Open the transaction. **Chat** sits under **Notes**. Click it and the conversation slides in; the arrow at the top left takes you back, and so does Escape.

![Chat under Notes](https://booksgpt.ai/help/ask-client/chat-tile.png)

Each answer returns to the matching transaction with the client's name and time, on the left. Your side of the conversation is on the right. A message that went to the client, and the answer that came back, both carry an envelope; an internal note says **workspace only** and is never emailed to the client.

![Chat pane](https://booksgpt.ai/help/ask-client/thread.png)

## What the client sees

The client receives one email and clicks **Open questions**. A privacy page asks them to continue before showing anything. They do not need a BooksGPT account or sign-in, and they see only the transactions you selected.

For privacy, the questions can be open in one browser at a time. The client should not forward the email.

![Public landing](https://booksgpt.ai/help/ask-client/landing.png)

![Public landing on a phone](https://booksgpt.ai/help/ask-client/landing-phone.png)

They answer one transaction at a time. Unsent typing is kept only in the current browser tab and may be lost if they close it. After they click **Send answer**, that answer is final and appears in BooksGPT.

![Send answer](https://booksgpt.ai/help/ask-client/answer.png)

![Every answer was sent](https://booksgpt.ai/help/ask-client/complete.png)

## Send a reminder, replace the link, or close the request

Open **Chat** on the transaction. While a client still owes you an answer the email request is already showing, with its controls:

* **Send reminder** sends another email with a new link.
* **Send new link** replaces the current link without calling it a reminder.
* **Close request** stops any remaining answers.

||| A reminder or a new link stops the client's current page from working. Answers already sent stay saved.

BooksGPT always shows this consequence before sending.

When every answer arrives, the request says **All answered** and the transaction shows **Client replied**. This does not resolve the bookkeeping chat for you; click **Resolve**, at the top of the Chat pane, after you have handled the answers.

## Nothing changes in the books automatically

Client answers provide context only.

|| Asking a question or receiving an answer does not categorize, post, approve, or change the review status of a transaction.