How to follow up on an overdue invoice without losing the client
Mike Demo, Founder · 17 October 2026
Most overdue invoices are not refusals. They are invoices nobody has looked at yet. A steady, polite follow up gets most of them paid. Here is the schedule we built Retriever on, with wording you can use today.
Start before it is late
- Send it to the person who pays it. The person who signed the contract is rarely the person who releases payment. Ask once, at the start, who handles accounts payable and what they need on an invoice: a PO number, a cost center, a supplier portal.
- Say the due date in plain words. "Due 3 September, net 30" beats a terms code nobody reads.
- Check it arrived. A one line note a few days after sending catches the invoice stuck in someone's inbox before it becomes late.
A schedule that works
Count the days from the due date, not the invoice date.
- Day 1
- A friendly reminder.
- Day 7
- Ask for a payment date.
- Day 14
- A short follow up.
- Day 21
- A statement of account to accounts payable.
- Day 30
- A final notice, sent only after a person approves it.
Spacing matters as much as wording. Several emails a week to the same person starts to feel like pressure. Nothing for two weeks and the invoice slides down their list.
Wording you can use
Day 1 · Subject: Invoice 1042 is now due
Hi Jordan,
A quick note that invoice 1042 for $12,400 was due yesterday. I've attached a copy in case it got buried. Let me know if anything is needed on your side to process it.
Thanks,
Sam
Day 7 · Subject: Payment date for invoice 1042?
Hi Jordan,
Following up on invoice 1042 for $12,400, now a week past due. Could you let me know when we should expect payment? A rough date is fine.
Thanks,
Sam
Day 21, to accounts payable · Subject: Statement of account
Hello,
Attached is a statement of account showing invoice 1042 ($12,400, due 3 September) as open. Could you confirm it is in your next payment run, or tell us what is holding it?
Thank you,
Sam
Day 30 · Subject: Invoice 1042, 30 days past due
Hi Jordan,
Invoice 1042 for $12,400 is now 30 days past due and we haven't been able to confirm a payment date. Could we get this settled this week? If something about the invoice is wrong, tell me and I'll fix it right away.
Thanks,
Sam
Read every reply
The reply is where the money is. Each kind needs a different next step.
- "We'll pay on the 15th." Stop following up until a couple of days after that date, then check your books.
- "This invoice is wrong." Stop, thank them, and fix it. Chasing a disputed invoice burns goodwill and rarely gets it paid.
- "We already paid." Check your books before you reply. Payments get applied to the wrong invoice more often than people think.
- "Please stop emailing me." Stop. Ask who should hear about it instead.
What not to do
- Don't threaten fees or collections in the first month. It changes the relationship and rarely speeds payment.
- Don't copy everyone. Write to the one person who can act.
- Don't send from a no reply address. The reply is where the payment date comes from.
- Don't leave your rep out. The person who sold the work should never be the last to know a client is paying late.