Chasing a late invoice

Treat the first chase as admin, not a dispute. The most common reason an invoice is unpaid is administrative: a wrong address, a missing purchase order number, an inbox belonging to someone on leave, or a payment run that already closed. Opening with a dispute turns a filing problem into an awkward conversation.

The sequence, at a glance:

1. Day 1 past due: confirm it arrived.
2. Day 7: find out where it is stuck.
3. Day 14: telephone.
4. Day 30: escalate to your contact, as a problem to solve.
5. Day 45 and beyond: a formal reminder.

Day 1 past due: confirm it arrived

Send a short, neutral email that checks and doesn't demand: the invoice was due yesterday, here it is again attached, can you confirm it's in the system. I recommend attaching the invoice instead of referring to it, so that if the original went astray, this one message fixes it.

Send it to accounts payable and copy your contact. If you only have the contact, ask in this email for the right address. You'll need it for every invoice after this one anyway.

Day 7: find out where it is stuck

Ask a specific question instead of repeating the first email. The most useful one is "Is there anything outstanding at your end, such as a PO number or an approval, that I can supply?"

This is because it gives the recipient something easy to answer. The only replies to "your invoice is late" are an apology or a defence. "Is anything missing" can be answered with the fix, and often something is missing that you weren't told about.

If two emails get no response, switch channels. It usually means your messages are going to an inbox that isn't read, more than that you're being ignored.

Day 14: telephone

The call is the step people skip, and the one that most often works. Say you ring accounts payable and politely ask for the status of invoice 2026-041. In 2 minutes you get a definite answer: it's scheduled for the run on the 25th, or it was rejected for a missing PO, or they have no record of it at all. Each of those tells you what to do next, which the emails hadn't.

Write down what you're told, including the name of the person who told you. Then I'd send a 1-line email confirming it. The email is a record and not a threat, and it keeps the next conversation short if the date passes.

Day 30: escalate to your contact, as a problem to solve

Go back to the person who commissioned the work, not to accounts. They have influence you don't, and they usually have no idea this is happening.

Keep it factual and keep it short: the invoice, the due date, the dates you chased, and what accounts told you. Ask for help getting it unstuck, as you would ask a colleague. Don't complain about their company, which makes people defensive and slow to help.

Day 45 and beyond: a formal reminder

Send a written notice that the invoice is overdue, stating the amount, the original due date, how long it has been outstanding, and what happens next. If your agreed terms include interest or a late fee, this is where you say you intend to apply it. The late payment interest calculator works out what the debt is worth now, day by day, and the late payment fee calculator does the same for a flat or monthly charge.

Only charge what was in the terms before the work started. A fee added at this point has no agreement behind it, and raising one weakens an otherwise strong position.

If the client can pay but not all at once, a payment plan may settle it before any of what follows. What comes after this (formal demands, statutory interest, small claims, collection) depends on where you are and on what you agreed, and a general guide can't answer it. At that point, I recommend asking someone who knows your jurisdiction. Few invoices get that far. When you have decided what that step is, the final notice letter generator writes the letter that names it and sets the date.

Things that make chasing shorter

• Get the accounts payable address before you invoice, not after it's late. It removes the most common cause of delay.
• Ask whether a purchase order is needed. In organisations that use them, an invoice without one usually can't enter the payment system at all.
• Put the due date on as a date. "Net 30" has to be converted by someone with no reason to round in your favour.
• Invoice the day the work is done. Every day you delay is a day before their payment terms even start.
• Keep one line of record per invoice: sent, chased, called, promised. It takes seconds, and it's your evidence if you ever need it.