The short answer
Collection is not a persuasion skill; it is a rhythm. Start from a receivables ageing, set fixed moments to remind before and after the due date, and check before every message that the invoice really is unpaid. Most lateness is forgetfulness or an invoice lost in an inbox, not refusal to pay — and the first reminder clears more than half of it.
The steps
Start from the ageing report, not memory
A receivables ageing sorts what customers owe you by how late it is: not yet due, under thirty days, over sixty, over ninety. That ordering is your plan for the day: start with the oldest and largest, not with whichever customer came to mind.
Remind before the due date, not only after
A friendly note three days before the due date prevents most lateness and carries no awkwardness at all: it reads as a service, not a demand. A customer who processes invoices in weekly batches needs exactly that nudge to land in this week’s run instead of next week’s.
Fix the rhythm of the follow-up
A reminder on the due date, another after seven days, a third after twenty, then a phone call. The exact gaps matter less than that they are known and applied to everyone equally: erratic chasing teaches a customer that being late costs nothing.
Check the figure before you send it
A reminder about an invoice paid yesterday costs more than it collects: it undermines the customer’s trust in all your figures. Drive the chase from the invoice’s own status rather than a side spreadsheet, and include the number, the date and the amount so the customer can match it at a glance.
Make paying easier than postponing
Attach the invoice itself to the message and state the payment details in full. Every extra step you ask of the customer — find the invoice, ask for the bank details — is another day of delay. In many markets a WhatsApp message also reaches somebody faster than any email.
Common mistakes
- Escalating to threats in the first message. An invoice late by forgetfulness is solved by one note, and a threat loses a customer who was about to pay.
- Cutting off service before confirming the invoices arrived. A customer who never received the invoice is not late.
Common questions
- When should I stop chasing?
- When chasing costs more than the amount, or when it becomes clear the problem is a dispute about the work rather than the payment — in which case you resolve the dispute instead of chasing the money. Past that it is a commercial decision: settle at a discount, pass it to a collections agent, or write it off.
- Should I charge late fees?
- Unless it was written into the agreement and on the invoice from the start, it is a weak claim. Even when it is written, its real effect is to make lateness feel costly to the customer rather than to earn you income. Some jurisdictions also cap the rate.
Terms used in this guide
More guides
- How to issue a correct tax invoiceWhat has to appear on a tax invoice, why an incomplete one gets refused, and how to correct one after it has gone out.
- How to read an income statementWhat each line of an income statement tells you, what it never tells you, and why profit does not mean there is cash.