Payment reminder email templates for every stage

There is no fixed rule, but most businesses follow a sequence like this one. Overdue timing is counted from the invoice's due date, so if you're not sure when an invoice falls due, work it out from the invoice date and payment terms with the invoice due date calculator.

Adjust the timing to your customers and terms. A long-standing client who always pays might only need the overdue reminders; a large invoice might deserve a phone call before the final reminder. Whatever you choose, use the same sequence for every customer so nobody is chased harder than anyone else.

As the tone gets firmer, the email gets shorter and more specific, not angrier. Early reminders assume the customer simply forgot. Later ones state the amount, how overdue it is and the date you need payment by, and ask the customer to reply if something is wrong.

Each template has a subject line and an email body. Replace everything in [square brackets] before sending. [Payment instructions] is where you say how to pay, such as your bank transfer details or the payment methods you accept.

A good subject line says which invoice the email is about, so the customer can find it and their accounts team can match it. Put the invoice number in every subject line and keep it short enough to read on a phone.

Avoid capitals, exclamation marks and words like "urgent" in early reminders. They read as aggressive and can make the email look like spam.

Every reminder, at any stage, should let the customer pay without having to look anything up:

• The customer's name, so it reaches the right person.
• The invoice number.
• The amount still outstanding.
• The original due date.
• How many days overdue it is, once it is overdue.
• What you're asking for: payment, a payment date or a reply.
• How to pay.
• Who to contact with questions about the invoice.
• The invoice itself, attached or as a link, where you can include it.

A reminder is easier to write when the invoice already states its terms clearly. See how to write payment terms on an invoice.

A firm reminder works because it is clear, not because it is threatening. Avoid:

• Threats you don't intend to carry out, or don't have the right to.
• Saying legal action has started when it hasn't.
• Claiming late fees or interest that your agreement doesn't provide for, or that may not be allowed.
• Hostile, sarcastic or insulting language, even in a final reminder.
• Copying in people who don't need to see it, or chasing the customer publicly.
• Deadlines you won't stick to.
• Assuming the customer hasn't paid at all. The payment may still be processing, or it may not have been matched to the invoice yet.

Only mention a late fee if it is already part of the agreement or payment terms the customer accepted, and is permitted by the rules that apply to you. If it isn't, leave it out: a reminder can't add a fee the customer never agreed to.

Where your terms do include one, a short neutral line is enough. The firmer follow-up and the final reminder above have it as an optional extra:

If your customer agreement already includes a late fee, you can use the late fee calculatorto work out the charge at that agreed rate. It does the arithmetic for the rate you enter; it doesn't tell you whether a fee is allowed.

Reminders only work if they go out on time and nobody gets the wrong one. Keep a record of which invoices:

• are coming up to their due date,
• are overdue, and by how many days,
• have already had a reminder, and which one,
• have been partly paid,
• need a follow-up or a phone call.

The free invoice tracker spreadsheet keeps each invoice's status, amount paid and balance in one list, with a notes column for the reminders you've sent. For a view across all customers, the accounts receivable aging template groups unpaid balances by how overdue they are; its age buckets line up roughly with the reminder stages above.

RecordSplit doesn't send reminders on its own. When an issued invoice still has a balance due, an owner can open it and choose Send reminder. Each reminder is sent only when you send it, and is recorded in the invoice's activity history.

The reminder email includes:

• The balance due and the due date, with a line saying the invoice is past its due date when it is.
• A View invoice link, so the customer can open the invoice online, including any payment instructions you added to it.
• The invoice PDF as an attachment, when the invoice can be produced as a PDF.
• An optional note of up to 1,000 characters. You can paste the wording from one of the templates above.

RecordSplit sets the subject line itself ("Payment reminder: Invoice [Invoice number] from [Business name]"), so the subject lines on this page are for reminders you send from your own email. RecordSplit doesn't collect payments online, so tell customers how to pay in the invoice's payment instructions or in your note.

The workflow is: track the invoice, see what is outstanding, send the reminder, and give the customer access to the invoice.