Get paid faster

Most late payments are not refusals. The invoice went to the wrong person, is waiting for a signature, or nobody has looked at it yet. A steady, polite routine of reminders fixes most of these before they turn into a real problem, and keeps the relationship intact. This page gives the routine, the words to use and how to run it from easySales. When a debt is more than a month late, carry on with Long-overdue debts.

Good practice

Set payment up before the work starts. Agree the payment term and any deposit in the quotation, invoice the day you deliver, and put your payment details on the invoice. Every day you wait to invoice is a day added to when you are paid. See Invoice on time.

Send the invoice to the person who pays. In many companies the person who ordered the work does not pay the bill. Ask who handles payments, and whether they need a purchase order number on the invoice, before you send it.

Remind on a fixed schedule. A reminder that arrives on the same days for every customer feels routine, not personal, and nothing slips. A schedule that works for most small businesses:

When	What	Tone
3 days before the due date	A short note that the invoice is due, with a copy attached	Helpful
Day 1 overdue	“It may have crossed with your payment”	Friendly
Day 7 overdue	A reminder with the invoice and a statement	Polite and direct
Day 14 overdue	A phone call to the person who pays, then an email confirming what was agreed	Firm
Day 30 overdue	A written notice that new work is paused until the account is up to date	Formal

Make paying easy. Put the amount, the invoice number, the due date and how to pay in every reminder. Attach the invoice again: nobody wants to search their inbox for it.

Keep it about the invoice, not the person. Polite, factual and specific messages are paid sooner than angry ones, and you will want to work with most of these customers again.

Reward paying early, if it suits you. A small discount for prompt payment, stated on the invoice, can bring money in sooner. Offer it only if your margin allows it.

Do it in easySales

• Due dates come from the payment term. An invoice counts its due date from its payment term, such as 30 days for NET 30, or the invoice date for COD. The term is the account’s Default payment term, or the company default if the account has none. See Create an account.
• Let easySales tell you what is late. An overdue invoice you own appears in your To do in the message centre, and in the Morning to-do e-mail if you have it on. See Message centre.
• Find every late invoice at once. On the Invoices list, add the Due Date and Outstanding columns and set a Due Date filter ending yesterday. A due date before today shows in red. See Overdue and outstanding.
• Book the reminder schedule as tasks. On the invoice, post a task due three days before the due date. When you send it, select Done & schedule next to book the next step — day 1, day 7 and so on — so the schedule runs itself. See Tasks.
• Log each reminder. Record each email or call as a communication on the invoice, with Also create a next-step task ticked for the next date. Anyone who opens the invoice sees what was sent and when. See Events and communications.
• Note a payment promise. When the customer promises to pay by a date, post a task on the invoice with Waiting set to Waiting for the customer and Recheck on that date. The overdue invoice in your To do then reads Waiting on customer — recheck with the date, and the task comes back to you on that day.
• Send a statement, not a pile of invoices. On the account, Statement… gives one PDF of every invoice, payment and credit for the period. The Receivables card shows the ageing: Current, 1–30, 31–60, 61–90 and 90+.
• Record a prompt-payment discount when a customer takes one: tick the small balance left and choose Prompt-payment discount. easySales issues the credit note for it. See Payment differences.
• Ask for money up front on large jobs with a deposit in a billing plan.

Templates you can use

Replace the details in brackets. Lim & Co’s examples use SGD; your invoices use your own currency.

3 days before the due date

Subject: Invoice INV-10000319 due on 23 October

Hi [Name], a quick note that invoice INV-10000319 for SGD 2,260.00 is due on Friday, 23 October. I have attached a copy for your convenience. Payment details are on the invoice. Thank you!

Day 1 overdue

Subject: Invoice INV-10000319 — payment due yesterday

Hi [Name], our records show invoice INV-10000319 for SGD 2,260.00 was due yesterday. If you have already paid, thank you, and please ignore this note. If not, could you let me know when we can expect payment? A copy is attached.

Day 7 overdue

Subject: Reminder: invoice INV-10000319 is 7 days overdue

Dear [Name], invoice INV-10000319 for SGD 2,260.00 is now 7 days overdue. I have attached the invoice and a statement of your account. Please arrange payment this week, or tell me if there is anything about the invoice that needs to be sorted out first.

Day 14 overdue — after the call

Dear [Name], thank you for speaking with me today. As agreed, you will pay invoice INV-10000319 for SGD 2,260.00 by Wednesday, 11 November. I will check our account on that day.

Day 30 overdue

Dear [Name], invoice INV-10000319 for SGD 2,260.00 is now 30 days overdue, despite our reminders of 24 October, 30 October and 6 November. Until the account is up to date, we are unable to schedule new work. Please pay the balance by [date], or call me on [number] to agree a plan.

Common questions

• When should I send a payment reminder? A short note a few days before the due date, then on day 1, 7, 14 and 30 overdue. Keep the same schedule for every customer so nothing slips.
• How do I politely ask a customer for payment? State the invoice number, amount and due date, attach the invoice, assume it is an oversight and ask when you can expect payment. The templates above are a starting point.
• Does easySales send payment reminders to customers? No. easySales reminds you, in your To do, when an invoice you own is overdue. You send the reminder yourself, and log it on the invoice.
• How do I see all overdue invoices? On the Invoices list, filter Due Date to end yesterday and add the Outstanding column. For one customer, the account’s Receivables card shows the ageing. See Overdue and outstanding.
• Should I call or email? Email for the first reminders, so there is a written trail. Call by day 14: a conversation finds the real reason for the delay faster than another email.
• What if the customer says they never received the invoice? Send it again the same day to the person who pays, ask them to confirm receipt, and record the new date on the invoice.
• Can I offer a discount for paying early? Yes, if your margin allows it. State it on the invoice and record it with a prompt-payment discount when the payment comes in. See Payment differences.

Related

• Overdue and outstanding
• Long-overdue debts
• Invoice on time
• Sales playbook