Client ghosting you on an unpaid invoice? What to do

The short answer: after two unanswered emails, stop sending the same email and change the channel or the person. Call, write to their accounts team or a more senior contact, and check your emails are actually arriving. If that gets nothing, send one final notice with a date and a consequence you will genuinely follow through on.

First, rule out the boring reasons

• Your emails are going to spam. Ask someone else at the company, or call, before assuming silence is deliberate.
• Your contact has left, or is on leave. An out-of-office reply or a bounced email tells you this; silence can too.
• The invoice went to someone who doesn't pay invoices, and they don't know who does.

Change the channel

Phone the company and ask for accounts payable. Ask whether they have the invoice and when it's scheduled. It's a short call, nobody is accused of anything, and you often get an answer in two minutes that three emails didn't get.

Change the person

Hi, I've been trying to reach Sam about invoice 1042 for $2,480, now 30 days overdue, and haven't been able to. Could you point me to whoever handles supplier payments, or let me know when it's scheduled?

Write to a general accounts address, the person who signed the contract, or someone more senior. Keep it factual. You're asking for help finding the right person, not complaining about your contact.

The final notice

If two weeks of trying other routes gets nothing, send one final notice: the invoice, the amount, a specific date, and what you will do if it isn't paid by then, such as referring it to a collections agency or small claims. Only name a step you will actually take. An empty threat makes everything after it weaker.

Keep a record

Save every email, call date and reply. If it goes further, a clear record of reasonable attempts to get paid is what you'll need, and it takes far less effort to keep as you go than to rebuild later.