How to follow up on an unpaid invoice

The hardest part of chasing an invoice is not knowing what to write. It is not knowing whether you are about to be unreasonable. Send too early and you look anxious; send too late and you have taught the customer that your terms are optional.

What follows is a sequence that works for ordinary B2B invoices on net terms. It assumes the customer is not refusing to pay — if they are disputing something, skip to the last section, because none of this applies.

Before anything is late

Two things done at invoicing time prevent most of the chasing that follows. Send the invoice to whoever actually processes it, not just to your day-to-day contact — ask directly if you do not know. And include any reference they need: a PO number, a project code, whatever their system will reject the invoice without.

Day 1–3 overdue: assume it is an oversight

Reply in the original thread rather than starting a new one, so the invoice is right there. Keep it genuinely short, and do not apologise for asking.

Hi Priya — invoice 1042 for $2,480 was due on the 22nd and I haven't seen it come through yet. Could you let me know if it needs anything from me? Happy to resend it if it's easier.

The last line matters more than it looks. It gives a person who has lost the invoice an easy way to say so without admitting anything.

Day 7–14: ask about the mechanism

If the first note got nothing, the useful move is not to repeat it more firmly. It is to ask a question that is easy to answer and gives you something concrete.

Hi Priya — following up on invoice 1042 ($2,480), now about two weeks past due. Is it with you for approval, or has it moved to finance? And do you know when the next payment run goes out?

"When is your next payment run" is the single most useful question in accounts receivable. It is not confrontational, most people know the answer, and it converts a vague silence into a date you can hold them to.

Day 21–30: name the consequence, calmly

By now the tone can be firm without being hostile. State the facts, say what happens next, and give a specific date rather than "as soon as possible".

Hi Priya — invoice 1042 for $2,480 is now 30 days past due and I haven't been able to get an update. Could you confirm a payment date by Friday? If there's a problem with the invoice, tell me what it is and I'll get it sorted.

Past 30 days: change the channel

If three emails have produced nothing, a fourth will not work either. Pick up the phone, or email a different person — the finance address rather than your contact. Escalating the channel is more effective than escalating the tone.

When they reply, actually adjust

This is where most follow-up processes fall apart. The sequence is only useful if a reply interrupts it.

• They promise a date: stop. Write the date down and do not contact them again until it has passed. Chasing inside a promise is the fastest way to sound like a machine.
• They dispute the amount: stop chasing entirely and switch to resolving. Answer the objection first; the invoice conversation resumes afterwards.
• They say they already paid: check before replying. Chasing someone who has paid costs you more credibility than being a week late to notice.
• They ask for a copy: send it immediately and treat the clock as restarted from that day.
• They go quiet after promising: that is meaningful. Reference the promise directly and specifically — "you mentioned the 17th" — rather than starting over.

Things not to do

• Do not send the same template three times. It tells the customer nobody is actually reading the thread.
• Do not threaten anything you will not do. An empty threat to involve a collections agency is worse than no threat at all.
• Do not apologise for chasing. You did the work; asking to be paid for it is not an imposition.
• Do not let it go silent for a month and then arrive angry. The tone should escalate gradually or not at all.

None of this is complicated. The difficulty is doing it consistently while also doing your actual job — which is the reason most small businesses end up either chasing nobody or chasing everybody with the same blunt template.