Chasing payment without the awkward phone call

Why invoices go unpaid

The invoice landed in a busy inbox, was not queried, and was never chased because chasing it felt awkward and there was work to do. Two weeks becomes six. The money was never in doubt; the follow-up was.

A sequence that works

The wording is yours, written once and approved before anything sends. Tone matters in this trade: the aim is getting paid and keeping the customer.

• Day of invoice — a short confirmation with the job, the amount, the due date and how to pay.
• Three days before due — a friendly reminder, no implication of lateness.
• Due date — a plain notice that payment is due today, with the payment details repeated.
• Seven days over — firmer, referencing your terms, asking for a payment date.
• Fourteen days over — flagged to you for a personal call, not sent automatically.

What must stay human

• Anything where the customer has raised a defect or a variation dispute — reminders stop and it comes to you.
• Payment plans, discounts or write-offs.
• Formal notices and anything heading towards recovery.
• Long-standing customers you would rather ring than remind.

Keep the record

Every reminder is logged with its date and wording. If a payment argument does arise later, you can show exactly what was sent and when — which is usually the end of the argument.

What to measure

Average days to payment before, and after a month of running it. If that number drops by a week across your invoicing, it has paid for the whole setup several times over. Reminders are one of the tasks we most often build in the $599 incl GST First AI Win, usually alongside invoicing itself.