Past due invoice email: three templates that get an answer

A past due invoice is usually not a refusal. The invoice went to someone who left, it is sitting in an approval queue, the purchase order number was missing, or it simply slid down an accounts payable clerk's list. A good past due invoice email gets the invoice back to the top of that list and, just as important, gets you an answer: when they will pay, or what is in the way.

This guide covers what every reminder should contain, how the tone should change as an invoice gets older, and three templates you can copy for the first, second and final email. It is written for invoices from one business to another. Consumer debts have their own rules, which this guide does not cover.

What every past due invoice email needs

Whoever opens your email may not be the person who approved the work. Write it so a stranger in accounts payable can act on it without asking you a single question:

• The invoice number, date, amount and due date. If several invoices are late, list each one and give the total.
• Your company name in the subject line. "Invoice 1048 from Northgate Facility Services" gets opened; "Following up" does not.
• How to pay. Your ACH details or the payment link on the invoice, and who to make a check out to. Do not make them dig up the original email.
• A way to answer. Ask directly when they expect to pay, and invite them to tell you if something is wrong with the invoice.
• A person to contact. A name, an email that reaches a human, and a phone number.

Attach the invoice again, or link to it. Many reminders stall because the original PDF is buried in someone else's inbox.

Escalate in steps, and keep every step polite

One email rarely does the whole job, and a final notice as the first contact damages a relationship you probably want to keep. The usual pattern is three emails, each a little firmer:

1. The friendly reminder, about a week after the due date. Assume it was missed.
2. The firmer note, around three weeks late. State that payment has not arrived, ask for a date, and ask whether anything is holding it up.
3. The final notice, around six weeks late. Give a specific date, and say that you will follow up personally after it.

The exact days matter less than doing it every time. Space the emails at least a week apart so a customer who answers the first one is not chased by the second before you have read their reply.

What changes between steps is the directness of the ask, not the courtesy. Avoid sarcasm, capital letters and anything that reads as a threat. If you are thinking about stopping work, adding late fees or handing the account to someone else, check what your contract or terms actually allow and decide that separately; the email is not the place to improvise it.

Template 1: the friendly reminder

Subject: Reminder: invoice [number] from [Your company] is past due

Hello [Customer name],

This is a friendly reminder that this invoice is past due:

  Invoice [number]: [amount], due [due date] ([days] days past due)

If payment is already on its way, thank you, and please ignore this note.

How to pay: [ACH details, or "by card from the link on your invoice"]

If something is wrong with the invoice, or I should be sending these to someone else, just reply and let me know.

[Your name], [Your company]
[Phone]

Template 2: the firmer note

Subject: Second notice: invoice [number] from [Your company] still unpaid

Hello [Customer name],

We haven't received payment yet for this invoice, and it is now well past due:

  Invoice [number]: [amount], due [due date] ([days] days past due)

Please send payment this week, or let us know when we can expect it. If the invoice is held up on your side (a missing PO number, an approval, a question about the work), tell me what you need and I'll sort it out.

How to pay: [payment instructions]

[Your name], [Your company]
[Phone]

Template 3: the final notice

Subject: Final notice: invoice [number] from [Your company], [amount] past due

Hello [Customer name],

This is our final reminder about this invoice:

  Invoice [number]: [amount], due [due date] ([days] days past due)

Please arrange payment by [date, about a week out], or reply to this email so we can sort it out together. After this, [Your company] will follow up with you directly.

How to pay: [payment instructions]

[Your name], [Your company]
[Phone]

"Follow up with you directly" usually means a phone call from the owner. It is honest, it is a real next step, and it does not commit you to anything you have not decided.

Several invoices to the same customer

When one customer has more than one late invoice, send one email that lists them all with a total, rather than one email per invoice. Use the tone of the oldest invoice. Three separate emails in a morning look like a system misfiring, and they are easy for the customer to answer in pieces.

Sorting the answers you get back

The point of the email is the reply. Most fall into four kinds, and each needs something different from you:

Whatever the answer, write it down next to the invoice. The worst reminder is the one that goes to a customer who told you last week they had paid.

Before you hit send

• Check that the invoice is still open. Payments that arrived yesterday are the most common reason a reminder annoys a good customer.
• Confirm the email address is a person or an accounts payable inbox, not a generic "info@" address that nobody reads.
• Send from an address that receives replies, and read them.

Doing this every week

Writing three good emails is easy. Sending the right one to every late customer, every week, and keeping track of who promised what, is the part that slips. Past Due Nudge does that from your QuickBooks Online open-invoice export: it sends reminders signed with your company's name at 7, 21 and 45 days past due, lets customers answer in one click (paying by a date, already paid, disputing, or wrong contact), and shows you which accounts need a call.