Payment reminder emails: what to say at each stage

Updated October 31, 2026

Copy-ready reminder emails and text messages for every stage of an overdue invoice, from the polite nudge to the final notice. Plus what the law says and when to stop chasing.

A payment reminder email should do four things in under 80 words: name the invoice, state the amount, state the due date, and give one easy way to pay. Send the first one the day after the due date. Assume they forgot, because most of the time that's all it is.

After that, get shorter and firmer on a fixed schedule, move from email to the phone, and finish with one final notice that says exactly what happens next. All the wording is below, and it comes with text versions. The hard part of chasing money isn't the words. It's doing it on time when you'd rather be working.

The schedule

No law sets these dates. This is a working rhythm you can adjust. What matters is that you pick one and keep to it, because customers learn how seriously you take a due date from what you do on the first late day.

The wording, stage by stage

Before it's due

Save this for new customers and large invoices. It catches a lost invoice or a wrong email address while there's still time to fix it.

Subject: Invoice INV-0207 due Thursday

Hi Priya, a quick heads-up that invoice INV-0207 for $1,240 is due this Thursday, October 1. Here's the link in case you need it again: [link]. If you need anything from me to get it paid, let me know.

One day late

Subject: Invoice INV-0207: did this reach you?

Hi Priya, invoice INV-0207 for $1,240 was due yesterday and I can't see a payment yet. It may just have slipped by. You can pay here in a minute: [link]. If it's already on its way, thank you, and please ignore this.

Text: Hi Priya, it's Sam from Harbor Tile. Invoice INV-0207 for $1,240 was due yesterday. Pay here: [link]. If it's already sent, thanks and ignore this.

A week late

Now ask a question. A question needs an answer, and a date from them is worth more than another reminder from you.

Subject: Invoice INV-0207 is 7 days overdue

Hi Priya, invoice INV-0207 for $1,240 is now 7 days overdue. Can you tell me when you expect to pay it? If something's wrong with the work or the invoice, tell me and I'll sort it out. Link to pay: [link].

Text: Hi Priya, invoice INV-0207 ($1,240) is now a week overdue. When can you pay it? If there's a problem, let me know. [link]

Two weeks late: pick up the phone

Emails are easy to ignore. Calls usually aren't. Keep it short and ask what's holding it up. Three things tend to come out: the invoice is stuck in someone's approval queue, they have a complaint they haven't voiced, or they're short of money. Each needs a different answer. Then put what you agreed in writing the same day.

Subject: Following up on our call about INV-0207

Hi Priya, thanks for talking today. As agreed, you'll pay $620 by October 23 and the remaining $620 by November 6. I'll send a new link for each. Please tell me straight away if either date changes.

Final notice

Send this once. Name a date and one next step. Only write a step you're prepared to take, since an empty threat costs you more than saying nothing.

Subject: Final notice: invoice INV-0207, payment needed by November 7

Hi Priya, invoice INV-0207 for $1,240, dated September 17, is now 30 days overdue. I've written on October 2 and October 8 and called on October 15. Please pay in full or agree a payment plan with me by November 7. If I hear nothing by then, I will file a small claims case for the balance. Pay here: [link].

Text: Hi Priya, I've emailed a final notice for invoice INV-0207, $1,240. I need payment or a plan by Nov 7, or I'll file a small claim. Please call me.

A worked example

Sam runs a small tiling business. He tiles a café floor and invoices $1,240 on September 17 with 14-day terms, so it's due October 1.

Sam gave way on timing and got half his money in. He also now has a written promise, which is a better position than a silent invoice. For the next job with this customer, he'd take a deposit up front.

What you can add, and what you can't

This part depends heavily on where you are and who owes you. It isn't legal advice.

• UK, business customers. You can claim statutory interest of 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, unless your contract sets a different rate. There's also a fixed sum of £40, £70 or £100 depending on the size of the debt, chargeable once per payment. On a £1,240 debt with an assumed base rate of 4%, annual interest is £148.80, about 41p a day. Use the current rate, not the 4%.
• US. A late fee generally has to be something you agreed with the customer first. State law decides what's allowed, so put it in the quote and check.
• Household customers. Don't assume the business rules apply. Those UK late payment rules are for commercial debts.

On conduct, you have more freedom than a collection agency but not unlimited freedom. The CFPB says the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act doesn't cover business debts and generally doesn't cover the original creditor collecting its own debt. It also says some state laws do cover original creditors, so being the original business isn't a free pass. In the UK, section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 makes it an offence to harass someone over a contract debt with demands meant to cause alarm, distress or humiliation, or to falsely claim that criminal proceedings could follow. Different rules can apply where the debtor is a consumer.

Practical rules that keep you safe nearly everywhere: tell no one else about the debt, don't threaten anything you can't do, don't hint at police or jail, and call at normal hours.

Texts need more care than email

In the US, the FCC treats the Telephone Consumer Protection Act as covering text messages as well as calls. The Act restricts autodialed calls to mobile numbers without prior express consent, and people can sue for $500 per violation or more. A personal text from your own phone to a customer who gave you their number for the job is a very different thing from software sending them in bulk, but the safe habit is the same: get a clear yes to texts when you take the job, and if someone says stop, stop. Use email and the phone instead.

When to stop chasing

• They dispute the work. Stop sending reminders and deal with the complaint. Fix it, credit part of it, or get it in writing and decide.
• They've agreed a plan and are keeping to it. Leave them alone until a date is missed.
• They file for bankruptcy. In the US, the automatic stay stops acts to collect a debt from before the case. Stop contact and take advice.
• The debt is too old. In England and Wales, a claim on a simple contract generally has to be brought within six years. US limits vary by state.
• It costs more to chase than it's worth. Add up court fees and your unpaid hours. If the number is bigger than the debt, write it off and stop working for them.

Before you write it off, ask your accountant about the tax. The IRS says a business on the cash method generally can't deduct unpaid fees as a bad debt, because they were never counted as income in the first place. If you use the accrual method, the answer may differ.

For court, the claim itself is simpler than people expect. In England and Wales you can make a money claim online or by post. In the US, small claims limits and procedures are set by each state, so your county court's website is the place to look.

Common mistakes

• Apologising for asking. You did the work. Be polite, but don't say sorry.
• Leaving out the link. Every message should let them pay from where they're reading it.
• Getting angry in writing. A cross email can end up in front of a judge. Write as if it will.
• Starting late. Waiting three weeks to send the first reminder tells them the due date didn't mean much.
• Doing more work for them. Don't start a new job with a customer who hasn't paid for the last one.

The first two stages are the ones that get skipped when you're busy. In Programmable Page you can turn on payment reminders so an unpaid invoice gets a nudge on the days you pick, up to two of them, and they stop once it's paid. The calls and the final notice are still yours to do.

Questions

How soon should I send a payment reminder?

The day after the due date. A short, friendly note at that point usually catches a simple oversight. Waiting weeks teaches the customer that your due date is flexible.

How many payment reminders should I send?

There is no set number. A sensible run is a friendly reminder, a direct one a week later, a phone call at two weeks and one final notice at about 30 days. After that, take the next step or write it off.

Can I text a customer about an overdue invoice?

Often, but take care. Ask for agreement to texts when you take the job, and stop if they ask you to. In the US, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act covers texts, especially automated ones. Rules vary by country.

Can I charge interest on a late invoice?

UK businesses can charge other businesses statutory interest of 8% plus base rate unless the contract says otherwise. In the US, a late fee generally has to be agreed in advance and allowed by your state. This isn't legal advice.