Before sending an email from AFAS, you must choose between two options:
- Sending emails from AFAS itself (the AFAS mail servers)
- Sending emails from your own server (which you link to AFAS)
Below, I will explain both options to you. Then I will also share:
- How to set up your emails in AFAS
- Important tips to ensure that your emails actually arrive
1. Sending emails from AFAS itself – The AFAS mail server
AFAS offers the option of sending emails from their servers. This is the option most commonly chosen by organisations. And that's not surprising, because it offers significant value. It saves on configuration work and reduces your monthly costs for separate email software and servers.
Although it is simple in AFAS, you also need to configure some settings outside of AFAS. This is because the AFAS mail server sends emails from your name (domain). And you do not want others to be able to use that name without permission. So you need to configure settings on your domain that allow the AFAS mail server to do so.
Before you start sending emails, these settings must be correctly configured on your domain. That is why we will start with that. What you need is an SPF, DKIM, and DMARC record. What are these records?
SPF, DKIM and DMARC explained simply
There are three essential components that need to be set up in order to send emails from AFAS.
1. SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
This prevents others from sending emails using your (domain) name. With an SPF record, you specify exactly who (= which server) is allowed to send emails using your name. You must therefore add the AFAS mail server to this.
2. DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
This ensures that the email actually comes from the sender and that the content of the email has not been altered en route. With DKIM, you add a digital signature to your email, which is linked to your domain.
3. DMARC (Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance)
DMARC allows you to specify how the email recipient should handle the email if an SPF or DKIM is missing (do nothing, mark as spam, or return). Think of it as an additional setting for SPF and DKIM.
How do you add SPF, DKIM and DMARC (for sending emails from AFAS)?
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC must be arranged by the administrator of AFAS and your domain name.
You need to be in three places to implement the changes:
- The domain settings (DNS)
- AFAS Customer Portal
- AFAS Profit
1. Add SPF record for emailing from AFAS
- Find the SPF record (it most likely already exists) or add it yourself. Your SPF record starts with “v=spf1”.
- Complete the SPF record with the value for the AFAS mail server, which is:
include:spf.afas.online
Example of an SPF record:
v=spf1 a mx include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:spf.afas.online ~all
2. Adding DKIM for emailing from AFAS
- Add two CNAME records to your domain. Replace “processbuilders.nl” by your domain name.
Name:
afasonline1._domainkey.procesbouwers.nl
Value:
afasonline1.domainkey.afas.online
Name:
afasonline2._domainkey.procesbouwers.nl
Value:
afasonline2.domainkey.afas.online - Submit your application to AFAS via the customer portal. To do so, go to this page. Click on your subscription line. Then click on “Profit – Create DKIM request”.
- Under “DKIM domain”, enter your domain name without anything in front of it, for example processbuilders.nl and then click on “Create”.
- After submitting your request, you will receive a username and password. You can set these up in Profit via “General / Environment / Management / Properties”.
Next, on the “Email” tab, tick “Apply DKIM to outgoing emails”. Enter the email address and password you received.
3. Add DMARC for emailing from AFAS
You only need to set up a DMARC record once for your entire domain. This is not specific to AFAS. However, it is essential that you add it.
With a DMARC record, you must choose how strictly you want to handle incoming emails:
- “none” – indicates that nothing needs to be done
- “quarantine” – places mail in spam if no SPF or DKIM is present
- “reject” – Return the email if there is no SPF or DKIM.
For now, my advice is to select “none”. You can always expand this if you are certain that everything else is working properly with all your software.
You add a TXT record to the domain. Fill in beheer@procesbouwers.nl your email address for management purposes. You will then receive emails when DMARC is executed.
Name:
_dmarc
Value:
v=DMARC1; p=none; pct=100; rua=mailto:youremail@example.com
Configure the settings in AFAS for the AFAS mail server
If your SPF, DKIM and DMARC settings are correct, it is time to save the settings in AFAS. To do this, go to the following location in your AFAS Profit environment:
- General / Environment / Management / Properties
- Go to the “Email” tab.”
Then enter the following here:
- Email server type: AFAS Online (code 3)
- Under “Automatic email sender,” enter the primary email address from which you wish to send emails.
All emails are sent from this sender, unless deliberately deviated from in an email. Therefore, choose a general mailbox that suits this purpose. For example, “afas@jouworganisatie.nl” or “hr@jouworganisatie.nl”.
Select an existing email address (not a noreply address), as this affects the likelihood of the email arriving. And, importantly, this also allows you to receive replies.
2. Sending emails from your own mail server (and linking to AFAS)
Another option is to send emails from your own mail server. You then link your mail server to your AFAS environment.
With this option, AFAS prepares the emails for your mail server. Your mail server then sends the emails to the recipient.
The advantage is that you have complete control over the mail server. That is also the disadvantage, because you have to configure more.
From AFAS, enter the settings in the same place as the settings for the AFAS mail server. You can do this via:
- General / Environment / Management / Properties
- Go to the tab “Email“
Then select “SMPT” or “Exchange Entra ID” for the email server type“.
Use the AFAS documentation to set up your own mail server. This will provide you with the most up-to-date information for your situation. Via this link you've come to the right place.
Important settings in AFAS for emailing
If you have configured the above settings correctly, you can now send emails with AFAS!
However, there are still a number of settings that are important to know about.
Where do you send emails from in AFAS? – Adding emails to your process
Within AFAS, you do not create emails manually. You set them up, after which AFAS sends them (automatically). You should therefore view the emails as part of your process. The options available to you in AFAS are:
- Within each step in the workflow
- From a signal
- As part of a functionality (such as sending annual statements)
Set the sender for your emails from AFAS
AFAS has three different levels for setting the sender. The main (environment) level is mandatory. If you do not set anything else, all your emails will be sent from there. You can deviate from a “higher” setting at a lower level.
- At the environmental level:
General / Surroundings / Administration / Properties and then the tab Email - At the administrative level:
General / Administration / Administration / Properties and then on the tab Provision
Or at employer level:
HRM / Organisation / Employer and then on the tab Payslip/annual statement - On the message itself (message template):
General / Administration / Message / Message template
View emails sent from AFAS
You can find the emails sent from AFAS via:
General / Management / Sent Emails
How do I ensure that my emails arrive safely?
Even if you have everything set up correctly, it is still possible that your emails will not arrive. To prevent or remedy this, you should pay attention to the following points.
The quality of your contact list
Are you emailing the wrong person? Not only is this careless, but it can also damage your server and domain reputation. This also applies if the email address does not exist.
That is why the quality of your contact list is essential. Ensure that the entries are correct, repair email addresses that bounce back, and periodically clean up your emails.
Select the appropriate sender
I often see organisations opting for a noreply email address. This has two disadvantages:
- You are more likely to end up in the spam folder.
- If the email is returned (due to a response or an error), you will not receive it.
Therefore, always choose an existing email address. For the main email address, I recommend creating a (shared) email address with “afas@jouworganisatie.nl”. This allows the recipient to immediately see that the email is from AFAS.
Please grant the AFAS administrator access to this email address. This will enable the administrator to receive any responses sent to this email address.
Sending large numbers of emails at once (from AFAS?)
Are you planning to send a large number of emails? First consider whether AFAS is the right software for the task.
For your employees, of course. But when it comes to relationships outside your organisation (with a marketing campaign, for example), there are better solutions. The recipient is not expecting an email from you, which means there is a greater chance that you will end up in their spam folder. You want to have complete control over that.
The emails I send with AFAS Secrets For example, I do not send them via AFAS (even though I could). Instead, I use specific email software (MailerLite). This gives me complete control over sending emails and provides good analysis options.
