Polite ways to chase an unpaid invoice

Writing a payment reminder is the email I've put off longest as a freelancer. The work is done, the client was happy, and now I have to bring up money. So I'd wait, and waiting made the eventual email harder to write.

What changed it for me was realising that most late invoices aren't refusals. They're a missed email, a finance team waiting on an approval, or a payment that was scheduled and never ran. A calm reminder at the right time fixes most of them. This post covers when to send each one, what to say, and how to make the next invoice easier to pay.

#Two checks before any reminder

Before you write anything:

1. Check your records. Look at your bank, your payment provider and your inbox. Thanking someone for a payment is fine. Chasing one that already arrived is embarrassing for both of you.
2. Check the invoice. Right amount, right company name, a purchase order number if they gave you one, and sent to the person who actually pays bills. A lot of "late" invoices are sitting with someone who can't approve them.

#3 days before: a heads-up

This one is optional, but it's the friendliest message in the sequence and it catches the people who would simply have forgotten.

Subject: Invoice 114 for the Northside website is due Friday

Hi Dana,

A quick heads-up that invoice 114 ($1,200) is due this Friday. I've
attached it again so it's easy to find, and you can pay it here:
https://pay.example.com/inv/114

Thanks,
Sam

#On the due date: one calm line

Subject: Invoice 114 is due today

Hi Dana,

A friendly reminder that invoice 114 ($1,200) is due today. You can pay
it here: https://pay.example.com/inv/114

If you've already paid, thank you. If something is holding it up, reply
and let me know.

Thanks,
Sam

Each reminder is about one invoice, with its number, amount and due date, so the client can find it in seconds or forward it to whoever pays.

#After the due date: day 3 and day 7

Now it's late, but still say it as a fact. Use "was due on Friday", not "overdue". It's the same information with less accusation in it.

Day 3:

Subject: Invoice 114 ($1,200) is still open

Hi Dana,

Invoice 114 ($1,200) was due on Friday and is still open on my side.
You can pay it here: https://pay.example.com/inv/114

If something is holding it up, such as a purchase order or a missing
detail, tell me and I'll help sort it out.

Thanks,
Sam

Day 7 is the same email, made a little clearer. Say what's still open and what it's connected to:

Subject: Still open: invoice 114 for the Northside website

Hi Dana,

Following up on invoice 114 ($1,200), which was due on the 2nd. I release
the final site files and logins once the invoice is settled, so I'd like
to get this closed out for you.

Payment link: https://pay.example.com/inv/114

If there's a question about the invoice, or a payment process I should
know about, reply and we'll sort it out.

Thanks,
Sam

Only write that middle paragraph if releasing files on payment is part of your agreement. If it isn't, leave it out.

#Around day 14: the firm final note

This is the last email before you change channel. Firm here means clear, not loud. State what's open, state what happens next, and leave a door open.

Subject: Invoice 114 for the Northside website remains unpaid

Hi Dana,

Invoice 114 ($1,200) was due on the 2nd and remains unpaid. Work is
paused per our agreement until it's settled, and I'll pick it back up
as soon as payment arrives.

Payment link: https://pay.example.com/inv/114

If something has changed on your side, or you'd like to talk it through,
reply here and we'll work out a plan together.

Thanks,
Sam

What's not in it: late fees, penalties, "legal action", collections, credit or a countdown. Those words rarely speed up a payment, and they make the email harder to forward to a finance team. If you're at the point where you'd consider them, call the client first, then read your contract and get proper advice. I'm not a lawyer, and nothing here is legal advice.

After day 14, pick up the phone. If email hasn't worked three or four times, a fifth one probably won't either.

There's a shorter version of all this, plus calm, clear and firm templates you can edit, on the polite payment reminder page.

#Make paying one click

A lot of slow payments are friction, not reluctance. Make the invoice as easy as possible to pay:

• Put a payment link in every reminder. Stripe, PayPal, Wise or whatever you use. It should work on a phone, because that's where your email gets read.
• Put the invoice number and amount in the subject line. Then it's findable in a search, and it's obvious what the email is about.
• Attach the invoice again. Don't make them dig for the original.
• Accept how they pay. If their finance team only does bank transfer, include the bank details too.
• Make "I've paid" easy to say. Invite a reply with the payment date, and check it quickly. Releasing files within the hour after confirming payment builds a lot of trust.

#Take a deposit next time

The easiest unpaid invoice to deal with is the one that's small, because you were paid upfront for part of the work.

• Deposit to start. A deposit is a start condition, not an extra. Write it into the proposal: "Work is scheduled once the deposit is received." If a client hasn't paid one yet, the deposit not paid page has emails for that.
• Final payment before final files. Share previews to approve (a staging site, a watermarked image), and send the final files once the last invoice is paid. Say this at kickoff, not for the first time at the end.
• Milestones on longer projects. Smaller invoices get paid faster than one big one at the end.
• Say the reminder schedule up front. "I send a reminder 3 days before anything is due, and again if it slips." Then reminders are just the process you both agreed to.

#What not to do

• Don't apologise for asking. You did the work, and the invoice is part of the job.
• Don't use sarcasm or guilt. "As per my last three emails" won't get you paid faster.
• Don't send a reminder without checking your records first.
• Don't bury the invoice in an email about something else. One email, one invoice, one ask.

If the client has gone quiet about everything, not just the invoice, how to follow up with a client who ghosted you covers the wider problem. For a quick one-off email, the free follow-up email generator writes one in three tones.

I built Tickoff partly because of this exact sequence. The client pays through your own payment link on the same page where they send files and answer questions, the final files stay locked until the invoice is paid, and polite reminders go out by email on a schedule like the one above until it's done.