The short answer
- Day 7: a friendly note with the invoice attached again.
- Day 14: a firmer reminder with the amount and how to pay.
- Day 30: a direct one, and a flag to you that this one may need a phone call.
Each reminder is checked against your books before it goes, so nobody who has paid gets chased. You approve them until you decide you would rather not.
Why it works
Late payers are rarely refusing to pay. Their invoice is under a pile, or went to someone who left, or they are waiting to see if you notice. A reminder that arrives on time, every time, without the owner having to remember, moves most of them. The few that do not are the ones worth your phone call, and you get a short list of exactly those.
What it needs to be right
- Payments recorded where the invoices live. If a customer pays and nobody marks it, the reminder goes to someone who has paid. We set up one clear place to record payments before switching reminders on.
- Open balances checked first. Before the first reminder, we go through every open invoice with you and confirm what is really owed.
- Your wording. The reminders sound like you, not like a collections agency. You approve the three templates before anything is sent.
A weekly summary of who owes what
Alongside the reminders you get a short summary each week: what is owed, by whom, how old it is, and which ones are past the point where a reminder will help.
Where we set this up
Setup is done with you, at your business, in Ontario.
Questions people ask
Will my customers find automatic reminders pushy?
Not if they are written in your voice and stop the moment the payment lands. A polite reminder at seven days is normal practice. What annoys customers is being chased for something they already paid, which is why every reminder is checked against your books first.
Can I stop reminders for a particular customer?
Yes. Some customers are on agreed terms or you would rather call them yourself. You can exclude any customer or any invoice.
Does it work with QuickBooks Online?
Yes, and with inventory systems such as SalesBinder that hold the invoices and payments. The important part is that payments are recorded in the same place the invoices are.
What about customers who still do not pay after 30 days?
You get a flag and the full history, and the call is yours. Beyond 30 days a personal call, a payment plan or a collections agency usually works better than another email.