When you’re sending and managing smart files on the go, you can set your files to expire after a set amount of time–perfect for making sure your clients attend to their files in a timely manner. Or, if the status of a file has changed, you can manually expire or reactivate it immediately. When a file is expired, the client will still be able to view the file, but will no longer be able to take any actions (such as answering questions, signing contracts, or making payments).
This article references smart files, our newest file experience offering more power and customization than ever. Click here to learn more about smart files and add them to your account!
Setting a smart file’s expiration window in advance
On the HoneyBook mobile app, you can set a smart file's expiration window either while in the process of sending a file to a client, or after you’ve sent the smart file out. Either way, you’ll follow these steps:
1. Open your smart file and tap the three dot icon to the bottom right of your screen, OR locate your smart file in its project and tap the three dot icon to the right of its name, which will open the file settings menu.
2. Tap Configure file, then File expiration.
3. Toggle Automatically expire file ON (blue).
4. Choose when this smart file should expire. You can set the expiration to any number of hours, days, weeks, or months after a smart file is sent, or after the smart file is viewed.
5. Tap the Expiration message edit button to review or update the message your clients will see if their smart file expires—and make sure to click Save if you make any changes!
6. If you’d like, you can check off Display expiration date in file, so the client will have full visibility into how long they have to complete the process.
a. Select Preview to check out what your client will experience if the smart file expires.
7. Tap SAVE & EXIT when you’re ready!
Expiring a sent smart file manually
If you’ve already sent a smart file and need to expire it on the spot, that’s no problem either!
📚 Tip
Smart files that have already been completed cannot be marked as expired.
1. Open your smart file and tap the three dot icon to the top right of your screen, OR locate your smart file in its project and tap the three dot icon to the right of its name, which will open the file settings menu.
2. Tap Configure file, then File expiration.
3. Tap EXPIRE NOW, then EXPIRE NOW again to confirm you’d like to expire the file immediately.
What does my client see when a smart file is expired?
Once a smart file is expired, your client will be able to view it, but not take any action.
In the smart file, they’ll see:
The expiration message you configured in your smart file expiration settings
The date that the smart file expired
Expiring a smart file will also stop any automatic payments, cancel any future payments not set to autopay, and stop payment reminders. It will not, however, cancel any upcoming sessions that were scheduled through the file.
Remember that you can click Preview when setting a smart file's expiration to check out what your client will experience!
Reactivating a smart file
Reactivating a smart file will allow your clients full access again, and enable them to complete any actions that still need to be finished. It will also resume any automatic payments and payment reminders.
📣 Note
If your smart file included payments—particularly if the payments were set to autopay—please be sure to double check the payment schedule before reactivating. Invoices that included automatic payments will process any past-due autopay payments immediately upon reactivation. If you don’t require those payments to process right away, be sure to edit the payment schedule before reactivating.
1. Open your smart file and tap the three dot icon to the bottom right of your screen, OR locate your smart file in its project and tap the three dot icon to the right of its name, which will open the file settings menu.
2. Tap Configure file, then File expiration.
3. Tap REACTIVATE FILE, then YES, REACTIVATE FILE to confirm you’d like to unexpire the file immediately.
Need to adjust a smart file’s expiration from a desktop device? Check out this article to learn more!
Still have questions? Feel free to send us a message by clicking the Question Mark icon on any HoneyBook page. Our team is always happy to help!