Guide

How to follow up on an unpaid invoice

An unpaid invoice is usually a missed email, a stuck approval, or a due date that never landed on a calendar. Follow up while the work is still easy to remember. The note works when your client can pay, or tell you when they will, without hunting for the first message.

Start on your side of the ledger. Confirm the invoice went out, that it went to the person who pays, and that the PDF or payment link still opens. Then check that the money is not already in your account under a slightly different reference.

Look up the thread before you write

Open the invoice and the message you sent it with. Note the number, the amount, the due date, and the project name. If a producer, office manager, or bookkeeper releases payment, write to that person even when your day-to-day contact is someone else. If you only have one address, ask them to forward it to whoever pays vendors.

Read the thread once more before you send anything new. A short reply such as “please resend this as a PDF” or “our terms are 30 days from receipt” should change the next email. Answer that point instead of pasting the first invoice again. If the payment link has expired, replace it before you ask anyone to click it.

Send one clear note

When a client usually pays on time, send the first follow-up two or three business days after the due date. Waiting a month feels patient and mostly teaches them the date was optional. If this client has slipped before, write on the due date or the morning after.

Use a subject they can search later. The invoice number and the word invoice are enough, for example “Invoice 1042 is still open”. Put the amount, the number, and the due date in the first two sentences. Attach the invoice again, or paste the payment link in the body. People pay the message that contains the link.

Ask for one thing: payment this week, or a date they can pay. A long menu of options is easy to postpone. If they already named a date, quote it back so the note is about that promise. Offer to fix a real blocker in the same email, such as a vendor form or a purchase order number.

Leave a gap, then change tone

Wait at least four or five business days before a second email, unless they asked you to check sooner. The second message can be shorter and a little firmer: the same facts, a day you need payment or a reply, and no speech about how hard the project was.

Keep a one-line log of the date, the address, and what you asked. The next note can then say “I wrote on Tuesday” without you reconstructing it from memory. If you schedule the sequence, keep the same gap. One note, then quiet, then a different tone. The second tone is the one in how to politely chase a late payment. Draft both versions below, or put the amount and due date into the free payment reminder and copy what it writes.

Try the channel they already answer

If two emails get nothing, use the place you already talk. A short message in the project channel, or a two-line note to the person who commissioned the work, is enough. Repeat the invoice number and the amount.

When they reply, ask what is blocking payment. A wrong company name, a bill addressed to the wrong entity, or a form their finance team still needs are ordinary problems, and you can often fix them the same day. If they offer a new date, put that date where you will see it, and write the day after it if the money is not there. A partial payment is fine when you both name the balance and the day the rest will arrive. Write those two numbers down so the next note is about the remainder.

Keep the last note specific

After that second reminder, you can say you will pause new work until the invoice is paid, if that is what you will actually do. Say it once, in a final notice, and then do it. Do not mention a lawyer, a court, or a collections agency. The notice stays narrow: please pay by this day, or reply with the day you will.

If they have gone silent, send one easy question rather than a stack of new drafts, the same shape as a follow-up for a client who ghosted you. For the wording of the earlier notes, start from a payment reminder email template.

Emails you can copy

Change the name, the invoice number, the amount, and the dates before you send anything. Select the subject and the note, then paste them into your mail.

First follow-up, a few days late

Subject: Invoice 1042 is still open

Hi Sam,

Invoice 1042 for $850 was due on Tuesday, 3 March, and it is still open. I’ve attached it again. The payment link is below.

If the payment is already on its way, you can ignore this. If not, could you send it this week, or reply with the date you can pay?

Thanks,
Alex

Second follow-up, after no reply

Subject: Checking in on invoice 1042

Hi Sam,

I’m following up on invoice 1042 for $850, due on 3 March. I wrote last Tuesday and haven’t heard back.

Please pay by Friday, or reply with the date you will send it. I can resend a PDF if your accounts team needs one.

Thanks,
Alex

Write it from the invoice

The free payment reminder builds a subject and body from the client, the amount, and the due date. Nothing is emailed from that page. Copy the note, or change the words first.

Questions

How long should I wait to follow up on an unpaid invoice?

If the client usually pays on time, wait two or three business days after the due date. If they have missed dates before, write on the due date or the next morning. Leave several business days between notes.

Should I attach the invoice again?

Yes. Put the payment link or the PDF in the follow-up itself. A reminder that only points at an older email is easy to postpone, and an expired link creates another delay.

What if I don’t have an invoice number?

Use the project name and the amount in the subject and the first sentence. Ask them to pay that bill, or to tell you the date they can. Do not invent a number.