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Getting paid

How to get a client to pay an overdue invoice

Send a short email that states the invoice number, the amount, the date it was due, and one clear next step. Do not apologise for asking. Do not explain your cash flow. The invoice was due, it has not been paid, and a plain request is the professional thing to send.

Most late invoices are not disputes. They are an invoice sitting in an inbox that somebody meant to deal with and did not. In the US, 59% of small businesses are carrying invoices more than 30 days overdue, with an average of $17.7K owed (QuickBooks Small Business Late Payments Report, 2026). You are not being difficult. You are doing the ordinary part of the job that comes after the work.

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Before you send anything, check three things

  1. It was actually delivered. Sent to the right person, not to a general address nobody reads, and not sitting in a spam folder.
  2. The due date is on the invoice. "Due on receipt" is not a date. If the invoice never named a day, the first email is a request, not a chase.
  3. You know who pays. In anything bigger than a two-person shop, the person who hired you and the person who releases the money are different people. The fastest email you can send is often the one asking your contact for the name of the second person.

The four emails

Each one is shorter than the last. That is deliberate. Length reads as negotiation, and by the fourth message you are not negotiating.

Day 3 after the due date: the nudge

Subject: Invoice 1043, $2,400, due 1 August
Hi Dana,
Invoice 1043 for $2,400 was due on 1 August and I do not have it marked as paid yet. It may well be sitting with accounts.
The invoice and the pay link are here: [link]
If it has already gone out, ignore this and thanks.
Ron

Day 14: the direct ask

Subject: Invoice 1043 is two weeks overdue
Hi Dana,
Invoice 1043 for $2,400 was due on 1 August and is now two weeks overdue. I followed up on the 4th and have not heard back.
Can you let me know when it is scheduled for payment? If it needs to go to somebody else in accounts, send me the name and I will chase it there instead.
Pay link: [link]
Ron

Day 30: the consequence

Subject: Invoice 1043, 30 days overdue
Dana,
Invoice 1043 for $2,400 is now 30 days overdue. I have followed up twice with no reply.
The invoice terms carry a 1.5% monthly late fee, which applies from today unless payment arrives this week.
I would rather sort this out with an email than escalate it. Pay link: [link]
Ron

Day 45: the final notice

Subject: Final notice, invoice 1043
Dana,
Invoice 1043 for $2,400 was due on 1 August and remains unpaid after three follow-ups.
Please pay in full by 30 September. If it has not arrived by then I will pursue the options available to me.
Pay link: [link]
Ron

What to change each time you send one

  • Get shorter. The first email gives them an excuse. The last one does not offer any.
  • Drop the greeting. "Hi Dana" becomes "Dana" by the third message. It is a small signal and it registers.
  • Name a date, not a feeling. "As soon as possible" is not a deadline. "By 30 September" is.
  • Never threaten something you will not do. If you are not going to file, do not say you will. One empty threat and every future email from you is noise.
  • Keep the pay link in every single one. The most common reason an overdue invoice stays overdue is that paying it takes more than one click.

Send it and track it

Attach nothing. A PDF in an attachment has to be opened, saved, and taken to whoever pays. A hosted link opens on a phone, shows the amount and has a pay button under it.

Every invoice you make here gets one, on the free plan, with card payment attached when you connect a payment account. Make an invoice.

The part Pro does for you

The four emails above are a sequence you have to remember to send while you are working. Pro sends them for you: reminder sequences before and after the due date, read receipts so you can see when an invoice was opened, and late fees applied automatically with a grace period and a cap.

Pro is $9 a month. See what is in it.

Common questions

How long should I wait before chasing an invoice?

Three days after the due date for the first nudge. Waiting a fortnight to say anything trains the client that your due dates are suggestions, and the longer an invoice sits the harder it is to raise without it feeling like a confrontation.

Is it rude to chase an invoice?

No. You delivered work and sent an invoice with a due date on it. Asking about a payment that is late is the ordinary administration of a business, and most of the time the person on the other end simply missed it.

Should I charge a late fee?

Only if the client agreed to it before the work started, which means the terms were on the estimate and on the invoice. A fee that appears for the first time in an angry email is a number you made up.

What if they still do not reply?

Stop emailing and change the kind of contact: phone the person who signs the cheques, then send a dated formal demand. Four ignored emails are not five emails away from working.

Related

All of the getting paid guides