How soon after the due date should the first reminder go out?

Three days. Earlier feels aggressive to the client and later lets the invoice settle into the pile of things that are already late. If your terms allow it, add one neutral message three days before the due date — it removes "I forgot" as an excuse without ever sounding like a chase.

Email or SMS — which works better?

Both, at different stages. Email carries detail and a payment link, so it owns everything up to about day seven. From day ten SMS starts to outperform it, because a text is harder to archive unread than an email. Sending SMS earlier than that tends to read as pressure rather than urgency.

What do I write when the client has already promised to pay?

Nothing, until the promised date passes. Log the date, stop the sequence, and let it be quiet. If the money has not arrived a day or two later, the right message references the promise directly — "you mentioned Friday, has something come up?" — rather than restarting the standard chase from the beginning.

Can I mention a late fee in a reminder?

Only if it is already in the terms your client accepted, and only in the wording you can defend. Statutory interest exists in most markets — 8% above base rate in the UK, comparable rules across the EU — but inventing a charge that was never agreed will cost you more in goodwill than it recovers. Our late-fee reference pages cover what applies where you invoice.

How many reminders is too many?

Seven over roughly thirty days is the point where extra messages stop adding recovery in our data. Past forty-five days you are no longer dealing with an oversight but with a decision, and the useful next step is a conversation or a formal route — not an eighth email.

Long read · Terms

Net 30, net 14 or on receipt: what changes behaviour

Shorter payment terms do not automatically improve cash flow. The useful change is how terms are agreed, shown, and followed up.

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Owner at the end of a working day, phone in hand, going through unpaid invoices

Paid within 7 days of a reminder ▲

83%across accounts using the full sequence

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Five things worth knowing before you read on

Shorter terms only help when the client agreed to them clearly.
Reminder timing should follow the actual terms, not a vague habit.
Terms need to be visible before the invoice is overdue.

Changing from net 30 to net 14 feels decisive. Sometimes it helps. Often it only changes the label on the same delay.

Payment terms change behaviour when they are agreed early, displayed clearly, and followed consistently.

Section 01Terms are part of the sale

If terms only appear at the bottom of an invoice, the client may treat them as admin text. Put them into the commercial conversation before work starts.

Section 02Follow up by the calendar

Reminder timing should be tied to the due date. A team that follows up on Friday because Friday is admin day will always drift.

Section 03The useful question

Do not ask only whether terms are shorter. Ask whether your client can see them, remember them, and act on them.

QuestionsFrequently asked

Not automatically. Shorter terms help only if the client accepts them and the follow-up process respects them.

Net 30, net 14 or on receipt: what changes behaviour

Five things worth knowing before you read on

Section 01Terms are part of the sale

Section 02Follow up by the calendar

Section 03The useful question

QuestionsFrequently asked

Related reading

The seven reminder emails that actually get answered

Why clients pay some suppliers first and how to become one

The next invoice doesn’t
have to be awkward.

Net 30, net 14 or on receipt: what changes behaviour

Five things worth knowing before you read on

Section 01Terms are part of the sale

Section 02Follow up by the calendar

Section 03The useful question

QuestionsFrequently asked

Related reading

The seven reminder emails that actually get answered

Why clients pay some suppliers first and how to become one

The next invoice doesn’thave to be awkward.

The next invoice doesn’t
have to be awkward.