Fax Cover Sheet Generic
A generic fax cover sheet is a first page with no letterhead and no logo. It holds the details someone at the receiving end needs to get the fax to the right desk. Anyone can use one, for any fax.
Busy offices print every incoming fax into one tray. The cover sheet is how the front desk tells yours apart.
What goes on it
Keep it to the fields people look for:
To: the person or department.
From: your name.
Fax: the recipient's fax number.
Phone: your phone number, for questions.
Date.
Pages: the total, counting the cover sheet.
Subject: one line, like "Signed lease addendum, Unit 4B."
A short message is optional. One or two sentences is enough. "Records release for Jane Doe, DOB 3/14/1980. Please call with questions."
Count the cover sheet in the pages
Write the full total, including page one. A four-page document plus a cover sheet is five pages.
The person who pulls the fax off the machine counts the pages against that number. If it's off, they'll assume pages are missing. Some offices will call you. Others will set it aside.
Leave the extras off
A generic cover sheet works because it's plain. Big graphics and shaded boxes add nothing the recipient needs.
Skip the long paragraph too. Put anything important in the document itself.
The confidentiality notice
Many cover sheets end with a short notice. It asks anyone who receives the fax by mistake to tell the sender and destroy it. Medical and legal offices often include one.
A notice is wording, not protection. It doesn't make a fax secure or compliant with any law. If your office has its own required notice, use that one.
Make one free
Cheapfax has a free fax cover sheet generator. Fill in the fields in your browser and download a PDF. Nothing is uploaded. There's also a blank version to print and fill in by hand.
Or let the app add it
If you send with Cheapfax, you don't need a separate file. Turn on Add cover sheet in Compose. Fill in the fields and a short message. The app counts the pages for you.
Pick the Modern or Traditional layout. The cover sheet counts as one page, at 50¢ per page.
