When you send an attachment by email, it’s easy to dash off a few sentences to the recipient in the body of the email. This lets you provide context for the document, or tell the recipient what they need to do next.
A fax cover sheet or cover page serves the same basic purpose. But it also tells the receiving company who the fax is for, who it’s from, and some additional important info.
Fax cover sheets aren’t complicated, but they are important. So here’s a quick guide to writing a fax cover sheet or cover letter.
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What Should a Fax Cover Sheet Include?
The fax cover sheet tells the person who picks up the fax who it’s meant for. Remember that in a large office, many people may share the same fax machine. So you need to make it very clear who you’re trying to reach every time you send a fax.
Here’s a comprehensive list of everything you should include on a proper fax cover sheet:
- Date/Time. This can be vital for time sensitive information. A traditional fax machine will print the date and time of transmission along the top of the fax, but if the fax machine’s calendar or clock is off, you want verification of when you hit “Send.” With online faxing through eFax, the date/time will be included automatically.
- Sender’s company info — company name, address, phone number, and fax number
- Sender’s contact information — name, email address, and direct phone number
- Recipient’s name and fax number
- Number of pages. This will let the recipient verify that they received all intended pages.
- A short message to the recipient (optional)
- A reference number or client ID to help you keep track of projects or messages (optional)
By including all of this information, you make it easier for the fax to get into the right hands.
How to Write a Fax Cover Sheet
Many companies create a cover page template that employees can use over and over. This could be a Word doc or PDF that employees can fill out in just a few minutes on their computers. It could also be a pre-printed form that staff fill out by hand. This isn’t as polished as a typed document, but it may be quicker.
When you fill out the number of pages, make sure to count your cover sheet!
With a traditional fax machine, remember that the cover sheet may be seen by anyone in the office. If the fax behind the cover sheet is sensitive, write “CONFIDENTIAL” on the cover sheet so whoever picks it up doesn’t flip through the pages. Of course, if the recipient uses an online fax service, they don’t have the same confidentiality concern. The fax will go directly to their business email or online fax portal, so there’s no risk of anyone seeing sensitive information.
eFax users can skip the step of filling out a cover sheet and printing it before sending. That’s because our service automatically attaches a cover sheet to your outbound faxes. Just fill out the fields for your name and fax number, recipient’s name and number, subject line, and a message, and eFax will automatically populate and send a cover sheet for your online faxes.
If you prefer a custom cover sheet, you can use one of eFax’s cover sheet templates or create your own. Add your company branding or logo, and attach your custom cover sheet with the document you’re faxing.
How to Write a Fax Cover Letter
If you need to add a longer message to accompany your fax, you may want to write a fax cover letter as well. Unlike a fax cover sheet, which is a simple informational form, a fax cover letter will usually be more personalized and share additional context.
Although a fax cover letter will include more information than the two to three sentences common in a cover sheet, it will often be a single page. It provides more information and context regarding the fax, but it shouldn’t repeat all the information that’s in the document being sent.
If you were sending a job application, for example, you could write a cover letter to accompany your resume, highlighting a few of your accomplishments and explaining why you’re interested in the job. But you wouldn’t rehash everything in your attached resume.
When you send your fax cover letter, it will be placed behind the cover sheet, but before the document being faxed, like this:
- Fax Cover Sheet
- Cover Letter
- Document Being Faxed
FAQs
Where can I get a fax cover sheet?
eFax users can simply fill in the contact fields for recipient name, fax number, number of pages, etc, and eFax will create the cover sheet automatically. They can also use one of our custom fax cover sheet templates, and add it as an attachment when they send their fax.
For traditional fax machines, you can create a custom cover page from a word processor like Microsoft Word, or you can search online for fax cover sheet templates. Then just add your logo to make it customized to your brand.
Why use a custom fax cover sheet?
Adding your brand or company name to the letterhead of your cover sheet will make your faxes instantly recognizable to recipients. It also looks more professional.
You can use a custom cover page with both traditional and online faxing!
Get Started with eFax
To send a fax in less than five minutes, create an account with eFax! Online faxing makes sending faxes and fax cover sheets easy and quick. Plus, you’ll be able to receive faxes right to your email. Never miss a fax!
James Lintzer - Consensus
James Lintzer develops marketing communications strategies and programs for a variety of Consensus cloud brands, with a focus on eFax. As a business and technology enthusiast, he provides valuable insight and experience across Consensus’ North American SMB services. James is also an avid paintballer and collects non-fungible tokens in his spare time.
