diff --git a/src/jobs/sendEmailTask.ts b/src/jobs/sendEmailTask.ts
index 0c808af..eac8344 100644
--- a/src/jobs/sendEmailTask.ts
+++ b/src/jobs/sendEmailTask.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { sendEmail } from '../sendEmail.js'
-import { Email } from '../payload-types.js'
+import {Email, EmailTemplate} from '../payload-types.js'
 import {BaseEmail} from "../types/index.js"
 
 export interface SendEmailTaskInput {
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ export const sendEmailJob = {
       })
 
       // Use the sendEmail helper to create the email
-      const email = await sendEmail<BaseEmail>(payload, sendEmailOptions)
+      const email = await sendEmail<Email, EmailTemplate>(payload, sendEmailOptions)
 
       return {
         output: {
diff --git a/src/sendEmail.ts b/src/sendEmail.ts
index e83052f..a14b1cc 100644
--- a/src/sendEmail.ts
+++ b/src/sendEmail.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { Payload } from 'payload'
 import { getMailing, renderTemplate, parseAndValidateEmails } from './utils/helpers.js'
-import {Email} from "./payload-types.js"
+import {Email, EmailTemplate} from "./payload-types.js"
 import {BaseEmail} from "./types/index.js"
 
 // Options for sending emails
@@ -36,14 +36,14 @@ export interface SendEmailOptions<T extends BaseEmail = BaseEmail> {
  * })
  * ```
  */
-export const sendEmail = async <T extends BaseEmail = BaseEmail, ID = string | number>(
+export const sendEmail = async <TEmail extends Email = Email, TEmailTemplate extends EmailTemplate = EmailTemplate>(
   payload: Payload,
-  options: SendEmailOptions<T>
-): Promise<T & {id: ID}> => {
+  options: SendEmailOptions<BaseEmail<TEmail, TEmailTemplate>>
+): Promise<TEmail> => {
   const mailing = getMailing(payload)
   const collectionSlug = options.collectionSlug || mailing.collections.emails || 'emails'
 
-  let emailData: Partial<T> = { ...options.data } as Partial<T>
+  let emailData: Partial<TEmail> = { ...options.data } as Partial<TEmail>
 
   // If using a template, render it first
   if (options.template) {
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ export const sendEmail = async <T extends BaseEmail = BaseEmail, ID = string | n
       subject,
       html,
       text,
-    } as Partial<T>
+    } as Partial<TEmail>
   }
 
   // Validate required fields
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ export const sendEmail = async <T extends BaseEmail = BaseEmail, ID = string | n
     data: emailData
   })
 
-  return email as T & {id: ID}
+  return email as TEmail
 }
 
 export default sendEmail
diff --git a/src/services/MailingService.ts b/src/services/MailingService.ts
index a849f5f..e7f4f0e 100644
--- a/src/services/MailingService.ts
+++ b/src/services/MailingService.ts
@@ -5,10 +5,8 @@ import {
   MailingPluginConfig,
   TemplateVariables,
   MailingService as IMailingService,
-  EmailTemplate,
-  QueuedEmail,
   MailingTransportConfig,
-  BaseEmail
+  BaseEmail, BaseEmailTemplate
 } from '../types/index.js'
 import { serializeRichTextToHTML, serializeRichTextToText } from '../utils/richTextSerializer.js'
 
@@ -287,7 +285,7 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
     const email = await this.payload.findByID({
       collection: this.emailsCollection as any,
       id: emailId,
-    }) as QueuedEmail
+    }) as BaseEmail
 
     const newAttempts = (email.attempts || 0) + 1
 
@@ -302,7 +300,7 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
     return newAttempts
   }
 
-  private async getTemplateBySlug(templateSlug: string): Promise<EmailTemplate | null> {
+  private async getTemplateBySlug(templateSlug: string): Promise<BaseEmailTemplate | null> {
     try {
       const { docs } = await this.payload.find({
         collection: this.templatesCollection as any,
@@ -314,7 +312,7 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
         limit: 1,
       })
 
-      return docs.length > 0 ? docs[0] as EmailTemplate : null
+      return docs.length > 0 ? docs[0] as BaseEmailTemplate : null
     } catch (error) {
       console.error(`Template with slug '${templateSlug}' not found:`, error)
       return null
@@ -379,7 +377,7 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
     })
   }
 
-  private async renderEmailTemplate(template: EmailTemplate, variables: Record<string, any> = {}): Promise<{ html: string; text: string }> {
+  private async renderEmailTemplate(template: BaseEmailTemplate, variables: Record<string, any> = {}): Promise<{ html: string; text: string }> {
     if (!template.content) {
       return { html: '', text: '' }
     }
diff --git a/src/types/index.ts b/src/types/index.ts
index c8a997c..d14d8d7 100644
--- a/src/types/index.ts
+++ b/src/types/index.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 import { Payload } from 'payload'
 import type { CollectionConfig, RichTextField } from 'payload'
 import { Transporter } from 'nodemailer'
-import {Email} from "../payload-types.js"
+import {Email, EmailTemplate} from "../payload-types.js"
 
-export type BaseEmail<TEmail = Email, TEmailTemplate = EmailTemplate> = Omit<TEmail, 'id' | 'template'> & {template: Omit<TEmailTemplate, 'id'>}
+export type BaseEmail<TEmail extends Email = Email, TEmailTemplate extends EmailTemplate = EmailTemplate> = Omit<TEmail, 'id' | 'template'> & {template: Omit<TEmailTemplate, 'id'> | TEmailTemplate['id'] | undefined | null}
+
+export type BaseEmailTemplate<TEmailTemplate extends EmailTemplate = EmailTemplate> = Omit<TEmailTemplate, 'id'>
 
 export type TemplateRendererHook = (template: string, variables: Record<string, any>) => string | Promise<string>
 
@@ -37,16 +39,6 @@ export interface MailingTransportConfig {
   }
 }
 
-export interface EmailTemplate {
-  id: string
-  name: string
-  slug: string
-  subject: string
-  content: any // Lexical editor state
-  createdAt: string
-  updatedAt: string
-}
-
 
 export interface QueuedEmail {
   id: string