The work is done, the invoice went out, and now it is 30, 60, even 90 days past due. You keep meaning to send a follow-up, but there is always a job in front of it.
It is not that you do not care about getting paid. Chasing money is tedious, easy to forget and a little awkward, so it keeps sliding to the bottom of the list.
Free: the Get Paid Faster course. A short walkthrough from a confirmed sale to a paid invoice, no retyping. Start the course
What the silence costs you
An unpaid invoice does not look like a loss. It looks like a customer who will get to it. But each week it ages, it gets harder to collect, and meanwhile you are carrying the cost of work you have already done.
Why invoices stay unpaid
It is rarely about the customer refusing to pay. They forgot, the invoice got buried, or they are waiting for you to ask. All three are solved by asking at a regular time, in a friendly way, every time.
The process: four steps from overdue to paid
1. Look at who owes you, every Monday
Put one fixed time in the week to see every unpaid invoice and how late it is.
Example: “Monday 8:30, coffee and the overdue list.”
Pro tip: If you skip a Monday, do it Tuesday. The habit matters more than the day.
2. Group them by how late they are
Sort into 30, 60 and 90+ days so you know where to start.
Example: “Three invoices past 60 days, one past 90.”
Pro tip: Start with the oldest. They are the hardest to collect and the easiest to lose.
Free: the Get Paid Faster course. A short walkthrough from a confirmed sale to a paid invoice, no retyping. Start the course
3. Send a friendly reminder and record that you sent it
A short, polite message gets most replies. Keep a note of the date so you are not relying on memory.
Example: “Hi Dana, a quick reminder that invoice 0042 is now past due. Let me know if anything is holding it up.”
Pro tip: Ask a question: “Is there anything holding it up?” invites a real answer.
4. Pick up the phone for the oldest ones
When a reminder gets no reply, a short call usually does.
Example: “Hi, I am following up on the invoice from August. Can we set a payment date today?”
Pro tip: End the call with a date, and write that date on your list.
Where this runs
The four steps work on a spreadsheet. In the business system we set up for clients (Odoo Community), the invoice list filters to Overdue in one click and you can send a payment reminder from the invoice itself, with the reminder recorded on it. The process is the point. The tool just keeps it going when you are busy.
Your next step
Run the Monday list once this week and send the first three reminders. If you want to see the whole path from finished job to paid invoice, the free Get Paid Faster course covers it.
Free: the Get Paid Faster course. A short walkthrough from a confirmed sale to a paid invoice, no retyping. Start the course