On net 30 terms, remind 3 to 5 days before the due date, again on it, then about 5, 14 and 30 days after, getting shorter and more specific each time. Enter your invoice date below for the exact days.
General information, not legal advice.
Updated 4 November 2026
Remind early, remind plainly, and count from the due date. On net 30 or longer, a note 3 to 5 days ahead earns its keep, because an invoice nobody has opened yet is the easiest kind to fix. Then one on the day, and follow-ups about 5, 14 and 30 days later. After the third, stop sending the same email and pick up the phone. Pause the moment the client disputes the invoice or gives you a date.
Uses the defaults in the table under “change the schedule”. Nothing you enter leaves this page.
We read the advice from Stripe, Bill.com, Square, FreshBooks and Bonsai on 4 November 2026. Before the due date they range from 3 to 7 days to the week before; all say to send one on the day; after it, Stripe gives 1 to 7 days, 7 to 14, then 30 or more, and Bill.com one week, two weeks and a month. Several contradict themselves: Square's text says weekly while its FAQ says 3 to 5 days, and Bonsai's table and text disagree. All five sell invoicing software and none tests which timing collects fastest, so the numbers are convention. Ours sit in the middle.
Count from the due date on the invoice, not the day you sent it. An invoice issued March 3 on net 30 is due April 2, and that is day zero. If the due date was never clear, the invoice due date calculator settles it, and the days past due calculator tells you which stage you are in today.
| Stage | When (net 30) | What it is for | Tone | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Heads-up | 3 to 5 days beforeMar 30 | Reach whoever releases payment while a missing PO can still be fixed. | Friendly, three lines | Email with the pay link |
| 2Due date | On the dayApr 2 | Put the pay link in front of them again. Nothing is late yet. | Neutral, one or two lines | |
| 3First overdue | 3 to 7 days afterApr 7 (day 5) | Ask what is blocking it. Assume a snag, not a refusal. | Matter of fact, a question | Email, same thread |
| 4Second overdue | About 14 days afterApr 16 | State the amount and the days late, and ask for a payment date. | Firm and specific | Email plus a phone call |
| 5Final reminder | About 30 days afterMay 2 (a Saturday, so send Monday May 4) | Say what you will do next and when, and leave room for a dispute. | Plain and formal | Email, second contact copied |
Three habits matter more than the exact days. Make the first overdue message a question, since the client may be waiting on a PO number you can supply in a minute. Make each message more specific than the last. And never skip a stage to sound tougher: a final reminder at day 8 reads as hostile to someone who never had a first.
One calendar does not suit every invoice. Use the row that matches yours; the calculator above uses the same days.
| Situation | First message | Then | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Due on receipt or net 7 | Skip the heads-up | Due date, then days 2, 7 and 21 | No gap to fill before the date. |
| Net 15 | 2 days before | Due date, then days 4, 10 and 20 | Shorter gaps for a short window. |
| Net 30 | 3 to 5 days before | Due date, then days 5, 14 and 30 | The default in the table above. |
| Net 45 | 5 days before | Due date, then days 5, 14 and 30 | As net 30, with a slightly earlier heads-up. |
| Net 60 or 90 | 7 days before | Due date, then days 7, 21 and 45 | Easy to forget, so remind earlier and space the rest out. |
| Deposit before work | 2 to 3 days before the start date | Day 2 after sending, then hold the booking | Tie it to the start date, not the invoice date. |
| Recurring or retainer | None after the first invoice | Day 3, then day 10 | Nudge only when a month slips. |
| Large client with accounts payable | 5 to 7 days before, sent to AP | Ask for the payment run date | Payments go out on a cycle; a message after the cut-off waits for the next run. |
| Disputed invoice | Not applicable | Pause the schedule | A reminder on a contested invoice reads as ignoring them. |
The terms on the invoice set day zero, which is why the payment terms guide matters, and the deposit invoices guide covers the upfront case. In the UK the law fills a gap: for sales between businesses, gov.uk says an agreed payment date must usually be within 60 days, and if none is agreed, payment is late 30 days after the invoice arrives or the work is done, whichever is later.
With a company you are writing to a process: send to the accounts address, copy the person who hired you, quote their PO number, and ask about the payment run. With a person, write to them alone, keep it short, and make it easy to say what is wrong.
The law draws the same line. The FTC says the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act covers household debts and that business debts are not covered. Regulation F leaves out a creditor's own staff collecting in its own name, so your own reminders usually fall outside it. State law can reach further. California's Rosenthal Act defines a debt collector as anyone who regularly collects debts “on behalf of that person or others”, and applies to debts a person owes for personal, family or household purposes. Unlike the federal law, it reaches a creditor collecting its own debts; the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse says plainly that “the Rosenthal Act covers original creditors collecting their own debts.” The debt still has to come from a consumer credit transaction, which the act defines as one in which a person acquires property, services or money on credit for personal, family or household purposes, so whether an unpaid bill for finished work counts depends on how the job was sold and billed. A California business chasing its own homeowner clients should assume the act may apply and ask a California lawyer about its own case; this guide is not legal advice. A 2024 amendment, SB 1286 (Chapter 522), extended the act from July 1, 2025 to some commercial debts owed by individuals, but only debts owed to lenders, commercial financing providers and debt buyers. Section 1788.11 bars obscene language, making a phone ring repeatedly to annoy, and contact so frequent it amounts to harassment. Check your own state's rules.
The federal collector rules still make a sensible ceiling with individuals: the FTC says collectors may not call before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. without agreement, and Regulation F presumes too many calls past seven in seven days about one debt. In the UK, the statutory interest of 8% plus the Bank of England base rate and the fixed sums of £40, £70 or £100 by debt size apply to late payments between businesses, not to consumers, according to gov.uk.
Made-up names and amounts, written the way you write to a client you want to keep. Each asks for one thing.
SubjectInvoice 1042 from Hartwell Landscaping, due April 2
Hi Priya,
A quick note ahead of the date: invoice 1042 for $3,850 is due on April 2. The link below lets you pay by card or bank transfer. If your accounts team needs a PO number on it, tell me and I will reissue it today.
Thanks, Dan
Send it to whoever pays invoices, with the person who hired you copied.
SubjectInvoice 1042 from Hartwell Landscaping, due today
Hi Priya,
Invoice 1042 for $3,850 is due today. The pay link is below. If it is already in this week's payment run, ignore this and thank you.
Dan
SubjectInvoice 1042 from Hartwell Landscaping, past due
Hi Priya,
Invoice 1042 was due on April 2 and I have not seen the payment yet. Could you check where it sits? If something is holding it up, such as a PO number or an approval, tell me and I will fix it this week.
If it has already gone out, thank you, and please disregard this.
Dan
Reply in the same thread so the original invoice stays visible.
SubjectInvoice 1042 from Hartwell Landscaping, 14 days past due
Hi Priya,
Invoice 1042 for $3,850 is now 14 days past due and I cannot tell from here what is in the way. Can you give me a date it will be paid? A short call would also do. I am free Thursday morning.
Dan
SubjectFinal reminder: invoice 1042, 30 days past due
Hi Priya,
Invoice 1042 for $3,850 is 30 days past due, and my last two messages have had no reply. If I do not hear from you by May 9, I will pause next month's visits and send a written demand for payment.
If there is a problem with the work or the invoice, tell me what it is and we will sort it out.
Dan
Promise only steps you will really take, and give a date the client can act on.
SubjectInvoice 1042: payment received, $1,850 remaining
Hi Priya,
Thank you for the $2,000 that arrived on April 9. That leaves $1,850 on invoice 1042, which was due April 2. Could you tell me when the rest is scheduled? The pay link below shows the remaining amount.
Dan
Thank them first, then state the balance as a number, not a percentage.
ChannelText message
Hi Ana, it's Dan from Hartwell. Invoice 1043 for $480, the spring cleanup, was due Friday. You can pay here: [link]. If it's already sent, thanks!
One text, to the client only, in daytime hours. Then follow with an email.
SubjectDeposit invoice 2207 from Hartwell Landscaping, due Friday
Hi Marcus,
The deposit invoice for $1,200 is due Friday, and the crew is booked for Monday on the understanding that it is paid. The pay link is below. If your dates have changed, say so and I will move the booking, not the price.
Dan
Write only consequences you will carry out. Mention a late fee only if your agreement has one, worded as the late fee generator does. The late fee laws guide shows what states allow.
A reminder you cannot prove you sent is worth little later. Keep one line per contact: date, stage, how and to whom, and what came back. A spreadsheet is plenty. If the debt reaches a demand letter or small claims, the log is your timeline.
| Date | Stage | How and to whom | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 30 | Heads-up | Email to accounts, Priya copied | No reply |
| Apr 7 | First overdue | Email, same thread | Priya: PO number missing. Reissued with PO 7731 the same day |
| Apr 16 | Second overdue | Email and a call to Priya | Promised payment in the April 24 run. Paused until April 25 |
| Apr 24 | Paid | Bank transfer, reference 1042 | Schedule stopped |
Stop reminding when a fourth email would copy the third. First confirm the invoice reached the right address and nobody raised a problem you missed. Then climb in order:
Look up your state's time limit early with the statute of limitations table, and on construction work check lien deadlines, which are far shorter. The call, the statement and the decision to stop supplying are covered in chasing an overdue invoice, week by week, and an invoice stuck for a reason no reminder fixes belongs in the approval debugger.
When you send an invoice as a tracked link, reminders go out from InvoiceTools on your behalf, under your business name, with replies coming to your own email. The standard wording has three stages: a payment reminder, a past due notice and a final reminder. Subjects carry the invoice number, your business name and the due date or days overdue, never the amount. After a part payment the email shows what is still owed, and a late fee you have set up is announced before it applies.
Pro and Business plans set their own timing and wording: up to three reminders from the due date to 365 days after, plus an optional heads-up 1 to 14 days before. Sending by hand is limited to three per invoice and 20 a day. You can pause reminders for one invoice or one client, which is how to handle a dispute. See invoice tracking for what an opened link shows, the guide to sending the invoice for the first message, and add a payment link to remove the last excuse.
Make an invoice and send it as a linkSee what Pro adds
Our late payment cost calculator adds the cost of being short the cash to the value of your chasing time. A $10,000 invoice 30 days late at a 20% annual rate, with 45 minutes of chasing at $40 an hour, costs $164.38 plus $30.00, or $194.38. A $400 invoice costs $6.58 plus $20.00 for half an hour, $26.58, nearly all your time. Automate the small one; call about the large one.
On net 30 or longer, yes, once, 3 to 5 days ahead. It reaches whoever releases payments while a missing PO number or a wrong address can still be fixed. On due on receipt or net 7 there is no gap to fill, so skip it.
No. You agreed a date. What reads as rude is tone: a first overdue note that accuses, or a final reminder with no earlier ones.
Only one agreed in writing before the work. Name the amount and the last day to pay without it, and check the late fee laws guide, because limits differ by state.
Usually not the federal one: the FTC says business debts are outside the FDCPA, and the CFPB's rule leaves out a creditor's own staff collecting in its own name. State laws can reach further. California's Rosenthal Act is wider: its definition of a debt collector includes anyone who regularly collects on their own behalf, and consumer groups such as the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse say it covers original creditors. It applies to consumer debts that arise from credit given for personal, family or household purposes, so a California business billing homeowners should assume it may apply and ask a California lawyer. This is not legal advice.
Ask for the date and method, pause the schedule, and check your bank before you reply. Every message here allows for it with a line such as 'if it has already gone out, thank you'.
What this is. A guide written by InvoiceTools. It is general information, not legal advice. Published figures come from the sources named, read on 4 November 2026, and the schedules are our own recommendations, not a sourced standard.
Last reviewed by InvoiceTools, Houston, Texas, on 4 November 2026.
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