What is your process when an invoice goes 30 days over?
Everyone has a first reminder. Fewer people have a second, a third and a point where it goes somewhere else.
What does yours look like, and at what point does the tone change? And has anyone got a decent script for the awkward phone call that does not blow up the relationship if they were genuinely just forgetful?
1 reply
I'd keep the tone professional and gradually increase the firmness rather than jumping straight from a friendly reminder to a threat.
My approach would be:
Day 1 overdue – friendly reminder, assuming it was simply missed.
Around 7–14 days – another reminder confirming the invoice number, amount and original due date, and asking if there's any issue preventing payment.
Around 30 days – a clear message saying the invoice is now significantly overdue and asking for either payment or a specific payment date.
For the awkward phone call, I'd probably keep it very simple: “Hi, I'm just following up on invoice [number]. It's now 30 days overdue and I wanted to check whether there's a problem with the invoice or when I can expect payment.”
That gives a genuine customer a chance to explain without making it confrontational, but it also makes it clear you're expecting an answer.
The biggest thing for a small business is probably having this process recorded somewhere so overdue invoices don't disappear among all the other jobs and admin.