Guide to email templates for late payments

Managing debt is something that impacts on all small business owners.

No matter how robust your debt management system there are always clients who just don’t or won’t pay you on time.

If you have not already done so you should read our step by step guide to managing debts, which provides you with a step by step process and all the relevant letter templates you require to pursue late payers.

This guide provides you with a collection of email templates which we believe are the most effective to get paid on time.

You can build these templates into your debt management system so that you can automatically chase all of your customers with best-practice templates

But while these are a one-size-fits-most solution, they aren’t one-size-fits-all.

For those times when you have bad-paying customers that are a nightmare to get payment from, we’ve assembled in this guide the best practice email templates to use, and a sending schedule for you to follow.

Email sending schedule

Below is our recommended email sending schedule for payment.

This schedule is optimised for businesses that sell on 30-day payment terms.

For shorter or longer payment terms, we’ve noted adjustments below.

32 days before due – Confirm contact and invoice details

• Shorter / longer terms: Send 2 days before issuing the invoice

30 days before due – Invoice issued

• Shorter / longer terms: Send the number of days before due as per terms

21 days before due – First payment date confirmation

• Shorter terms: Send halfway between issuing invoice and due date
• Longer terms: Send a quarter of the way between issuing invoice and due date

14 days before due – Second payment date confirmation

• Shorter terms: Do not send
• Longer terms: Send halfway between issuing invoice and due date

7 days before due – Payment date not confirmed

• Shorter terms: Send 2 days before the due date
• Longer terms: Send three-quarters of the way between issuing invoice and due date

Where payment is not made within your credit terms then you should follow the following schedule:

Invoice due date

• 1 day overdue – Invoice overdue, late payment penalty reminder
• 7 days overdue – Invoice overdue, late payment penalty notice deadline set
• 14 days overdue – Late payment penalty notice issued
• 21 days overdue – Late interest and deadline set to issue Court proceedings for 7 days
• 28 days overdue – Lawyers instructed to draft Court proceedings

Email template 1: 32 days before due – Confirm contact and invoice details

SUBJECT LINE:
Your invoice <<invoice-reference-number>> – Confirming details

BODY TEXT:
Hi <<recipient-first-name>>,

How are you?

I’m drafting your upcoming invoice for next month. Can you confirm that your billing entity is <<customer-company-name>> and that the amounts and details on the attached invoice are correct?

Please note this is a DRAFT invoice. So please do check your invoices when they come in at the start of the month.

Thanks in advance.

All the best,
<<sender-first-name>>

Email template 2: 30 days before due – Invoice issued

EMAIL SUBJECT:
<<your-company-name>> invoice: <<customer-company-name>> <<invoice-reference-number>>

BODY TEXT:
Hi <<recipient-first-name>>,

I hope you’re well.

Please find attached your invoice and statement for <<customer-company-name>>. Our credit term is <<payment-terms-number-of-days>> days. You can also view and pay it online via this link: <<online-invoice-link>>.

Best regards,
<<sender-first-name>>

Email template 3: 21 days before due – First payment date confirmation

EMAIL SUBJECT:
<<your-company-name>> invoice <<invoice-reference-number>>

BODY TEXT:
Hi <<recipient-first-name>>,

How are you today?

I just wanted to check in about our invoice <<invoice-reference-number>>. I’ve resent it here as an attachment in case my previous message didn’t reach you.

I understand that this was received quite recently but could you please share the expected payment date? Once a payment date is provided (even if provisory to begin with) we can make a note to stop following up.

Thank you in advance and have a nice day.

Best regards,
<<sender-first-name>>

Email template 4: 14 days before due – Second payment date confirmation

EMAIL SUBJECT:
<<your-company-name>> invoice <<invoice-reference-number>>

BODY TEXT:
Hi <<recipient-first-name>>,

Hope you are having a great week.

Just a gentle reminder that your invoice <<invoice-reference-number>> is due in <<number-of-weeks-until-due>> weeks. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to assist with the settlement of your invoice. Furthermore, if you have scheduled a payment, please advise us on the value date and we will make a note to stop these reminders.

You can also view and pay the invoice online via this link: <<online-invoice-link>>.

All the best,
<<sender-first-name>>

Email template 5: 7 days before due – Payment date not confirmed

EMAIL SUBJECT:
<<your-company-name>> invoice <<invoice-reference-number>>

BODY TEXT:
Hi <<recipient-first-name>>,

How are you?

Just a reminder that your invoice <<invoice-reference-number>> is due on <<invoice-due-date>>. Kindly note that late payments will incur extra fees.

You can also view and pay the invoice online via this link: <<online-invoice-link>>.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Best regards,
<<sender-first-name>>

Email template 6: 1 day overdue – Invoice overdue, late payment penalty reminder

EMAIL SUBJECT:
<<your-company-name>> <<invoice-reference-number>> for <<customer-company-name>> is Now Overdue

BODY TEXT:
Hi <<recipient-first-name>>,

How are you today?

The invoice <<invoice-reference-number>> is now overdue. Kindly note that late payments can incur extra fees.

Your response on an expected payment date for this transaction is required to prevent penalty charges. We’ve reached out previously and have been unable to receive your response on an expected payment date.

You can view and pay your invoice online via this link: <<online-invoice-link>>.

We thank you for your attention on this and look forward to your reply.

Best regards,
<<sender-first-name>>

Email template 7: 7 days overdue- Invoice overdue, late payment penalty notice deadline set

EMAIL SUBJECT:
Please act now to avoid late payment penalty for <<customer-company-name>>: <<invoice-reference-number>>

BODY TEXT:
Dear <<recipient-first-name>>,

Please do take note of the following. If we don’t receive a reply, we may call to confirm.

The invoice <<invoice-reference-number>> is now <<number-of-days-overdue>> days overdue.

Should we not hear back from you within the next seven days, you will be subject to late payment interest in accordance with our terms of business.  The penalty structure is set out by the Irish government under the Late Payment of Commercial Transactions Regulations 2012. <<your-company-name>> will charge the statutory interest of 8% above the European Central Bank rate for business-to-business transactions, in addition to a fee based on the size of the invoice.

To access the invoice and the debit/credit card payment gateway, please follow this link: <<online-invoice-link>>. I’ve also attached a copy invoice to this email for your reference.

Thank you for your attention on this. I look forward to your reply.

Best regards,
<<sender-first-name>>

Email template 8: 14 days overdue – Late payment penalty notice issued

EMAIL SUBJECT:
Late Payment Penalty Notice for <<customer-company-name>>: <<invoice-reference-number>>

BODY TEXT:
Dear <<recipient-first-name>>,

Regrettably, we have not received your payment for the overdue invoice <<invoice-reference-number>>. As such, we have to charge the statutory late payment compensation and interest as set out by the Irish government under Late Payment of Commercial Transactions Regulations 2012, in addition to the outstanding amount.

The amount due as of today for <<invoice-reference-number>> is <<unpaid-invoice-amount>>.

To access the invoice and the debit/credit card payment gateway, please follow this link: <<online-invoice-link>>.

We will issue the penalty separately to this email unless the remaining balance can be cleared today.

Kind regards,
<<sender-first-name>>

Email template 9: 21 days overdue – late interest and deadline set to issue Court proceedings for 7 days

EMAIL SUBJECT:
7 days before claim submission to Courts – <<invoice-reference-number>>

BODY TEXT:
Dear <<recipient-first-name>>,

Regrettably, we have not received your payment, nor have we received a response about the overdue invoice <<invoice-reference-number>>. As such, we’ve had to charge the statutory late payment compensation and interest as set out by the Irish government under Late Payment of Commercial Transactions Regulations 2012, in addition to the outstanding amount.

The amount due as of today for <<invoice-reference-number>> is <<unpaid-invoice-total-plus-late-payment-penalty-amount>>.

To access the invoice and the debit/credit card payment gateway, please follow this link: <<online-invoice-link>>.

If the total amount due is not paid within the next seven days, this case will be submitted to the Courts. Each of the further claim stages will incur additional fees and greatly increase the balance owed.

Please act now to address this matter.

Kind regards,
<<sender-first-name>>

Email template 10: 28 days overdue – Lawyers instructed to draft Court proceedings

EMAIL SUBJECT:
Money claim submitted for <<customer-company-name>> invoice <<invoice-reference-number>>

BODY TEXT:
Dear <<recipient-first-name>>,

Regrettably, the overdue invoice <<invoice-reference-number> has not been settled despite multiple attempts to communicate a payment date with your team. Therefore, the money claim for the amount due has been submitted to our lawyers to draft Court proceedings.

The court fees have been added to your debt and the amount due is <<unpaid-invoice-total-plus-court-fees-amount>> as stated by the attached document. Every stage in a money claim process incurs extra fees. Please make the payment as soon as possible.

The next stage of this claim will result in proceedings issuing and a judgment issued against <<customer-company-name>> and this will impact your company’s credit rating. You can avoid this by settling the amount due before the case progresses. Should the claim progress beyond a judgment being issued, a warrant will then be issued and bailiffs will visit your premises to collect the outstanding amount.

Thank you for your attention.

Best regards,
<<sender-first-name>>

Have a plan for non-payment

The above email templates and sending schedule are, in a generalised sense, the best practice approach you can have to get invoices paid on time by bad-paying customers.

The unfortunate reality is that credit control is a process where you can only control the inputs.

Even if you do the best you can, it doesn’t guarantee every customer will pay on time.

How to prevent late payment in future

For bad-paying customers, stick to the templates and schedule laid out above in this guide.

In the majority of cases, payment will be collected on the invoice without having to proceed with late payment penalties or court proceedings.