Communications

CBSMembers has a full communications system covering email, postal letters, and per-member CRM notes. Everything is template-driven with mail merge support.

CRM notes

Every member has a CRM tab — a running log of notes, calls, correspondence, and tasks.

Adding a note

Open a member record, go to the CRM tab, and click New. Fill in:

• Type — the category of entry (types are configured in Org Settings)
• Notes — free text; press Ctrl+L to insert a dated separator line
• Due date — if this is a task with a deadline
• Assigned to — the staff member responsible

Click Save.

Snapshots

When you click New + Snapshot, CBSMembers saves a JSON snapshot of the member's full record alongside the CRM entry. This gives you a point-in-time record of the member's details at the moment the note was created — useful for compliance and dispute resolution.

The To-do panel

Click the bell icon in the toolbar to open the global To-do panel. It lists all unprocessed CRM entries that have a due date, across all members.

Use the All / Mine only toggle to filter to entries assigned to you. Click Open to jump to a member's CRM tab. Click Done to mark an entry as processed.

Email templates

Templates are the building blocks for all outgoing communications. Each template has:

• Subject line — supports merge fields
• Email body — rich text with merge fields; formatting toolbar for bold, italic, underline, alignment
• Postal body — a separate version of the letter for printing, with configurable margins, font, and size

Merge fields

Use double curly braces for merge fields in subject and body:

Dear {{salutation}},

Your dividend of {{dividend_amount}} for the period {{period_start}} to {{period_end}}
is enclosed. Your shares: {{num_shares}} at {{rate}}%.

Available fields depend on the email source (see below).

Postal letter formatting

The postal body supports simple formatting markers:

Margin, font, and font size are configured per template in the Postal tab of the template editor.

The Mail Sender

The Mail Sender brings together a template, a list of recipients, and a source of data.

Opening the Mail Sender

Access it from the toolbar Mail button, or it opens automatically when you generate dividend statements or a share certificate.

Recipient sources

Choose where the recipient list comes from:

Reviewing recipients

The recipient list shows each person's name, email address, delivery method (email or post), and status. Members without an email address are automatically flagged for postal delivery.

Previewing

Click Preview to render the template with the first pending recipient's data. Check merge fields are resolving correctly before sending.

Sending

Click Send to dispatch all pending email recipients via SMTP. CBSMembers sends through your organisation's email account (configured in Org Settings).

A confirmation dialog shows the number of recipients before sending. You cannot undo a send.

Postal list

Click Postal List PDF to generate an address list of all postal recipients — useful for printing envelopes or labels.

Click Print Letters to generate a single PDF containing one letter per postal recipient, ready for printing and posting.

Attachments

When the Mail Sender is opened from a dividend run or certificate action, relevant PDFs (statements, certificates) are attached to each email automatically.

Email jobs

Each use of the Mail Sender creates an email job — a record of what was sent, to whom, and when. Jobs are accessible from the Mail screen in the toolbar.

Open a job to see the full recipient list, delivery status, and any errors. You can delete a job if it was created in error (this does not unsend emails that have already been dispatched).

SMTP configuration

CBSMembers sends email via your own SMTP server. Configure this in Org Settings → Email.

Supported providers include Office 365, Google Workspace, and any standard SMTP server. For Office 365, use:

• Host: smtp.office365.com
• Port: 587
• Security: STARTTLS (handled automatically)