On this page, Ruth runs Your Agency Studio, a small design studio. Her client, Gloria Szabo at Halvorsen Dental, hasn’t paid invoice INV-2035 for $15,200.00. Each email below is what Ruth sends at that step: plain text, written the way she’d write any other email.
Plain text matters. A reminder that looks like a newsletter gets skimmed. One that looks like Ruth typed it gets a reply.
Day 1 overdue
The friendly reminder
Send it the morning after the due date. Assume they forgot. Write it that way and paying is the easy thing to do.
Hi Gloria,
Just a quick note that invoice INV-2035 for $15,200.00 was due on October 1. It may have slipped through, so here’s the link to pay it in a minute: invoice.stripe.com/i/…
Thanks, Ruth
Why it works: No blame and no fees, just the link. It gives them an easy, face-saving way to pay.
Day 5
The firmer follow-up
Now say how late it is and ask for a date. Still polite, but no longer assuming it was missed.
Hi Gloria,
Invoice INV-2035 for $15,200.00 is now five days past due. Could you pay it this week? The link is here: invoice.stripe.com/i/…
If something’s holding it up, just reply and we’ll sort it out.
Ruth
Why it works: A specific number of days and a specific ask. The last line gives them room to tell you what’s actually wrong.
Day 10
The final notice
Give a deadline and say plainly what happens after it. Only promise what your contract allows.
Hi Gloria,
This is a final notice for invoice INV-2035 ($15,200.00), now ten days overdue.
If it isn’t paid by Thursday, October 15, work on your account will pause until it is, as our agreement allows. You can pay here: invoice.stripe.com/i/…
Ruth
Why it works: A date and a consequence, said calmly. Most people skip this step, and it’s the one that gets invoices paid.
Day 14
Work is paused
Confirm the pause, and make the way back obvious. The goal is still to get paid, not to win.
Hi Gloria,
As mentioned in the final notice, work on your account is paused because invoice INV-2035 ($15,200.00) is still unpaid.
Everything picks up again as soon as it’s paid: invoice.stripe.com/i/…
Ruth
Why it works: It points back to the final notice, so nothing comes as a surprise, and it ends on how to fix it.
Any day SMS in UntilPaid: coming soon
A text you can send by hand today
If your emails go unanswered, a short text is harder to miss than a fourth email. Keep it to one line and the pay link, and send it to whoever pays the bills. That’s often not the person you work with day to day.
To the client’s billing contact
How to use them
- Send each one once, on its day. The ladder works because it’s predictable. Jump straight to the final notice and it reads as a threat. Send the friendly one for a month and it reads as permission to wait.
- Stop the moment they pay. A final notice that lands after the money has cleared does more harm than sending nothing. Check before every send.
- Only promise what your contract allows. The Day 10 and Day 14 emails pause work. If your agreement doesn’t say you can, use our contract clause on the next project and keep this one to reminders.
- Send in business hours, in their timezone. A reminder at 9 a.m. on a Tuesday gets read. One at 11 p.m. on a Saturday gets resented.