What every payment reminder should include
A good reminder answers every question before your customer has to ask it. Make sure yours has:
- Their first name and your business name, so it reads like a message from a person, not a system.
- The amount and the due date, written out in full.
- Their reference, so the payment finds the right invoice when it reaches your account.
- A way to pay: your bank details, or a link to the invoice that has them.
- A thank you if they've already paid. "If you've already paid, thank you, please ignore this." Payments cross with reminders all the time, and this line keeps it friendly when they do.
- A way to reply. A customer who can't pay this week will often tell you, if you ask.
When to send payment reminders
Timing matters more than wording. These five reminders are spaced out so that each one feels reasonable:
- Two days before the due date. Most late payments are simply forgotten. A heads-up gets paid on time without anyone feeling chased.
- One day after. Light and short. It was due yesterday, here's how to pay.
- Seven days after. Checks in, and opens the door to a reply if something is wrong with the invoice.
- Fourteen days after. Asks for payment this week, and invites them to say if something isn't right.
- Thirty days after. Still polite, and offers to find a way that works.
Send reminders at a decent hour, between 06:00 and 21:00, and leave Sundays and public holidays alone. Give each reminder at least three days before the next.
Friendly or firm: which tone to use
Start friendly. Most customers want to pay and simply need a nudge, and a friendly tone keeps them coming back. Firm messages are shorter and more direct: "Please pay today with reference OL104." They work for customers who are used to paying late, and for amounts that matter to your cash flow.
Firm never means threatening. Leave out words like "final demand", "legal action" or "blacklist" unless you really mean to follow through. They rarely get you paid faster, and they cost you the customer.
Check your bank before you send a reminder
The most awkward reminder is the one that goes to someone who paid yesterday. Before you send one, check your bank for their payment, using their reference and their name.
How leke handles thisleke only suggests a reminder when your bank info is less than three days old. If it's older, it asks you to upload a fresh statement first, so a customer who has already paid never gets chased.
When a customer sends proof of payment
Thank them, pause their reminders, and wait for the money to show in your account before you mark the invoice paid. A screenshot is easy to fake, and a payment from another bank can take a day or two to reflect. A simple reply:
Thanks [name], we've got your proof of payment. We'll confirm once it reflects.
[your business]
How to spot a fake proof of payment
After the fifth reminder, call
If a month has passed and five messages haven't worked, another message won't either. Pick up the phone. A short, friendly call often sorts out what messages can't: a lost invoice, a dispute about the work, or a customer who needs to pay in two parts.
Send these reminders without writing them
leke writes each of these reminders for you, at the right time, with the customer's own amount, due date, reference and invoice link already filled in. It only suggests them when your bank info is up to date, and nothing goes out until you tap Approve.
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