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 · Clients

Why clients pay some suppliers first and how to become one

Accounts teams pay from a queue. This article explains what moves an invoice up that queue without damaging the client relationship.

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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

Fast payment usually comes from clarity, not pressure.
Missing invoice details push good suppliers down the queue.
A clean reminder gives accounts teams less work to do.

Accounts teams work through a queue. The queue has rules, even when nobody writes them down.

An invoice moves faster when the amount, invoice number, purchase order, due date, and payment route are obvious.

Section 01The queue is not emotional

Late payment feels personal to the supplier, but inside the customer it is often administrative. A clean reminder removes friction instead of adding drama.

Section 02Make the next action obvious

Every follow-up should answer one question: what should the recipient do now?

Section 03Become easy to pay

Good invoice follow-up is not louder. It is clearer, earlier, and easier to act on.

QuestionsFrequently asked

No. Many delays are process delays: missing details, unclear terms, or no obvious next action.

Why clients pay some suppliers first and how to become one

Five things worth knowing before you read on

Section 01The queue is not emotional

Section 02Make the next action obvious

Section 03Become easy to pay

QuestionsFrequently asked

Related reading

The seven reminder emails that actually get answered

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

The next invoice doesn’t
have to be awkward.

Why clients pay some suppliers first and how to become one

Five things worth knowing before you read on

Section 01The queue is not emotional

Section 02Make the next action obvious

Section 03Become easy to pay

QuestionsFrequently asked

Related reading

The seven reminder emails that actually get answered

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

The next invoice doesn’thave to be awkward.

The next invoice doesn’t
have to be awkward.