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Invoice emails going to spam? Fixes for every tool

Invoices are among the emails spam filters watch most closely, because fake invoices are one of the most common scams. Here's why yours get caught, and what to change depending on how you send them.

Why invoices get filtered

A typical invoice email asks for money, has a PDF or a payment link, and often comes from a different system than your normal email. That's also exactly what an invoice scam looks like. So filters look harder at who really sent it.

How you fix it depends on which of two ways your invoices go out.

1. Sent by your accounting tool, from its address

Many accounting tools send invoices from their own shared address, with your business name as the display name and your email as the reply-to. Your domain's DNS records don't affect these at all, because the email isn't sent as your domain. The filter judges the tool's sender and the mismatch between the name and the address.

• QuickBooks Online sends from an Intuit address by default, and can connect a Gmail address for invoices. See our QuickBooks guide.
• Xero sends from its post.xero.com address; own-domain sending is in development. See our Xero guide.
• Zoho Books users have reported a wave of system emails, such as invoices and estimates, landing in spam since November 2025, first at Gmail and then at Outlook, while manually sent emails often arrived fine. Check whether Zoho Books is sending from your own domain and, if so, that your domain's SPF and DKIM include Zoho. Our Zoho Mail guide covers the records.

What helps for all of them: ask regular customers to add the sender to their safe senders, keep the message short with a plain subject like "Invoice 1042 from Your Company", and for large or overdue invoices, send the PDF yourself from your own mailbox.

2. Sent as your own domain

If invoices go out as accounts@yourcompany.com, whether from your own mailbox, from a tool connected to your Google or Microsoft account, or from a tool you've authorised to send for your domain, then your domain's setup decides whether they arrive.

1. SPF: one record listing every service that sends as your domain, under 10 DNS lookups.
2. DKIM: turned on for your domain in each service that sends as you. It's often off by default.
3. DMARC: a _dmarc record, starting at p=none. See our DMARC guide.

Run the free check to see where you stand.

Small changes that help either way

• Send from an address customers already know, ideally in an existing email thread.
• Use one payment link, not several, and avoid URL shorteners.
• Keep attachments to a single PDF.
• Don't change bank details by email. Filters and customers both treat that as a red flag, and rightly so.

Questions

Why are my invoice emails going to spam?

Invoices look like a common scam: a request for money with an attachment or link, often from a different system than your normal email. If your accounting tool sends from its own address, filters judge that sender. If invoices go out as your domain, missing SPF, DKIM or DMARC is the usual cause.

Will fixing my DNS stop my invoices going to spam?

Only for invoices sent as your own domain. Tools that send from their own address, such as QuickBooks Online by default or Xero, aren't affected by your SPF, DKIM or DMARC.

Why are Zoho Books invoices going to spam?

Many Zoho Books users reported system emails landing in spam from November 2025, first at Gmail and then Outlook, while manual emails often arrived. Check which domain Zoho Books sends from and that your SPF and DKIM cover it, and send important invoices from your own mailbox in the meantime.

How do I stop customers missing my invoices?

Ask regular customers to add your invoicing sender to their safe senders, keep invoice emails short with a plain subject, and send important invoices from your own mailbox with your domain properly authenticated.

Related: QuickBooks invoices going to spam · Xero invoices going to spam · Zoho Mail going to spam.