Case Study · Österreichische Verkehrswissenschaftliche Gesellschaft (ÖVG) · 2026
PDF invoices and automated emails for the ÖVG membership platform
Building on the existing membership platform of the Austrian Transport Science Society (ÖVG), we added the documents and the communication around them: custom email templates, PDF invoices generated from the system, and proforma invoices for payment by bank transfer.
Membership fees ran centrally — the documents around them did not
Since the migration, ÖVG memberships and fees have run on WooCommerce and MemberPress (see the first ÖVG project). What was missing on top of that was the layer a member actually sees: the emails and the documents that belong to a membership fee.
A bank transfer without a document
Anyone paying their fee by transfer needs a document stating the amount, the reference and the bank details. Without it, the payment stalls or comes back as a question.
Shop default texts for an association
Out of the box, WooCommerce and MemberPress send the order emails of an online shop. An association writes to its members differently from the way a shop writes to its buyers.
Invoices as annual manual work
Producing and sending documents individually costs the same effort again in every fee year when there are several hundred memberships.
A reminder needs the payment details
Pointing out an outstanding fee only helps if what is needed to pay it is in the same message.
Custom emails and custom documents — straight out of the running system
The extension builds on what already runs: memberships, tiers and fees stay in WooCommerce and MemberPress, unchanged. What was added is the layer above them, so every step in the fee year has the text and the document that belong to it.
Individually designed email templates
The transactional emails around membership and fees were purpose-built and written from scratch, rather than using the templates that ship with the plugins.
PDF invoices from the fee data
PDF invoices for membership fees are generated directly out of the membership platform, using the data already held there.
Proforma invoice for offline payment
When a member chooses to pay by bank transfer, a proforma invoice goes out as a PDF, carrying everything needed to make the transfer.
Automated reminder emails
Outstanding fees are reminded automatically by email — with the payment details in the message itself, rather than as a pointer to some other document.
No second island beside the system
Documents and emails draw on the same memberships and fees. No parallel invoicing system appears that has to be maintained on its own.
We extend existing membership and shop systems rather than rebuilding them.
Every step in the fee year has its document
What was a system that recorded fees became one that also communicates — with its own wording, matching PDF documents, and reminders that go out without anyone prompting them.
Transferring without a follow-up question
The proforma PDF carries the payment details a member needs, so the fee can be transferred without anyone having to ask the office first.
Documents without manual work
PDF invoices are generated by the system instead of being produced separately for each membership.
Emails that suit an association
The messages are set up as ÖVG's own communication and do not read as the default text of an online shop.
Reminders run on their own
Fees that fall due are reminded automatically, without anyone working through a list of open payments.
Still extensible
Further emails and document types can be added without touching the membership management itself.
Is your system still sending shop default emails?
We extend existing membership and shop systems with custom emails, PDF documents and automatic reminders — on the platform that already runs.
