Late payment email generator
Tell it who owes you, how much and how late it is. Get a payment reminder email you can send as it is, worded for how overdue the invoice actually is.
No account, no email wall. It runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type leaves it.
The invoice
Subject: Invoice 1042, about 1 week overdue
Hi Priya, Following up on invoice 1042 for $2,480, which was due on 22 September 2026. Is it with you for approval, or has it gone to finance? And do you know when your next payment run is? If there's a problem with the invoice, let me know and I'll sort it. Thanks, Sam Northside Studio
Why this wording. At 8 days late, the useful move is a concrete question about where the invoice is, not a firmer version of the first email.
Questions about late payment emails
- How do I write an email asking a client to pay a late invoice?
- Keep it short and specific: the invoice number, the amount and the date it was due, written in the email itself. Then ask one question that is easy to answer, usually when it is scheduled to be paid, and leave room for them to tell you if something is wrong. Get firmer as the invoice gets older, not by adding pressure to an email about an invoice that is two days late.
- How firm should a late payment email be?
- It depends on how late the invoice is. This generator follows the same ladder Collectly uses: friendly before the due date, polite in the first week, more direct at one and two weeks, and formal with a deadline from thirty days. Firmness comes from specifics and dates, not from threats.
- Is the email generated by AI?
- No. The wording comes from fixed rules based on how late the invoice is and what has happened so far, so the same facts always give the same email. Nothing you type is sent anywhere; it all runs in your browser.
- What if the customer has replied?
- Pick what they said under "What has happened so far". If they promised a date and missed it, the email quotes their own date back to them. If they say they never got the invoice, it resends it instead of chasing. For a dispute or a claim that they have already paid, use the reply templates in the template library rather than a payment request.
- Do I need an account to use this?
- No. There is no signup and no email wall. The email box further down the page is optional.
Collectly does this across every invoice, on its own
You just wrote one late payment email. Collectly does the same thing continuously for every unpaid invoice you have — reads the replies, works out why each one is unpaid, estimates when it will land, and drafts the follow-up for you to approve.
With 15 rules it cannot talk its way around
- A paid or written-off invoice is never chased again. Follow-ups are switched off permanently, not deferred.
- A disputed invoice stops automated chasing entirely and goes to a person to resolve.
- A promise to pay on a date pauses reminders until that date has passed. Collectly checks back the day after, not on the day.
- At least three days between reminders on the same invoice, so re-running the analysis cannot turn into nagging. A resent or corrected invoice the customer has just asked for is not a reminder, and still waits for your approval.
Want the next one written for you?
Two things, both free, both opt-in. You confirm by email before anything is sent.
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