Getting paid on time is key to running your agency or freelance life and gaining success. If you are a freelancer and not getting paid on time, you can lose your motivation and incentive to work.
If you are an agency owner and not getting paid on time, you may not be able to pay your employees’ salary and get frustrated. On the other hand, if you get paid on time, you have motivation and spirit that grow your productivity largely.
However, our clients are human. To err is human. They make mistakes, procrastinate and forget. Both positive and negative things happen in our lives. It’s common and normal.
You, like others, may have a client who is a great procrastinator or forgetful. In this case, you have to be resourceful and try some effective ways to keep things on track.
If you’re struggling with keeping up with unpaid invoices, this blog is for you. Keep reading and and explore how you can remind your clients to pay your overdue invoices soon:
How to Remind Clients About Unpaid Invoices
Understand Your Clients Typical Pay Schedules
First of all, you should know about your clients pay schedules well. It means knowing after how many days your client typically pays a bill and following the process.
For instance, some of your clients may prefer Net 30 policy which means your client usually pays after 30 days of the invoice date. Some of your clients may prefer Net 15, Net 30, and many of them may even pay you immediately once they receive your invoice.
Before kicking off a project, you had better make sure of a clear contract signing with explicit payment terms and conditions. It will help you get paid on time or face an unexpected situation.
Send Overdue Emails
Sending overdue emails is the most common and effective way to remind your client to pay your overdue invoice. Your tone should be polite and friendly as you should never get angry with your clients. You can try this sample overdue email
Subject: Invoice invoice number is unpaid
Hi client name,
How are you? Is everything going well?
Our record indicates that invoice invoice number was due one week ago. It is still unpaid. The outstanding amount is……. It would be greatly appreciated if you could look into it and make the payment at your earliest convenience.
If there’s anything we can do to facilitate payment, please let us know. Please let us know if you need another copy of the invoice or have any questions.
Kind regards,
Your name
This reminder alone is enough to spur your client to pay the overdue invoice. If you don’t get any response from your client you should send it two or three times within two weeks. If your client is still aloof, you can take more serious action.
Make a Phone Call
If your client is blind to your overdue letters, making a phone call would be better to remind him or her of the unpaid invoices.
Talk to him politely and ask about their health first. And let your client know that you’ve been trying to reach them and that you would like for the invoice to be resolved right away.
Remind them of the unpaid invoice and ask them to let you know if your client has an issue with it. If you can perceive any lame excuse or procrastination from your client, your tone should be firm but not rude. If you see
Let him know that you would be happy to assist if he or she needs it.
If All Fails, Take Legal Action
After all these attempts, if your client doesn’t respond to your email and phone calls, you can think of the final step. If the amount is huge, you can take legal action.
Before your final action, you can send your client an email as the last warning after describing how earnestly and for how long you tried to reach him out and solve this issue.
Keep Track of Your Invoices with Propovoice
Many freelancers and agency owners suffer from payment issues because of lacking of proper tracking of their invoices. You can get rid of these hassles with the help of Propovoice. It helps you track your invoices properly, send reminders timely as per your setting, and get paid on time.
