Payment reminders and who to chase

Before you start

This guide is for when invoices are going unpaid. Who to chase puts every overdue invoice in one list, with how late it is, what's owed and when the client was last reminded. From there you can remind everyone at once. Then you can switch on automatic reminders, so new invoices are chased for you without you having to think about it.

What you need to know first:

• Only issued invoices past their due date, with money still owed, are listed. Drafts and written-off invoices aren't.
• A client needs an email address to be reminded.
• Automatic reminders are off until you switch them on. Until then, nothing goes out unless you send it.
• Switching reminders on is done in Business settings, so it needs a role that can manage settings.

In the video, two of Karim's invoices are about a month late: Leïla Mansour's bathroom fan and Amir Saleh's basement door. Nobody has reminded them yet.

Step by step

1. 1Open Invoices

   Select Invoices in the sidebar.

2. 2Open Who to chase

   Select the Who to chase tab, beside All invoices. At the top, a summary gives the number of overdue invoices and what's owed in all, for example "2 overdue invoices" with the total.

3. 3Read each row

   Each overdue invoice has a row with:

   • Overdue: how late it is, such as "30 days overdue".
   • Owed: the balance still due.
   • Last reminded: the date of the last reminder, or Not reminded yet.
   • Next reminder: the next automatic reminder still to come, or None scheduled.

   Invoices not reminded in the last few days come first, then the most overdue. A client without an email address shows No email address on the row.

4. 4Reminders are off

   When no automatic reminder is switched on, the page says so: "Automatic reminders are off, so nothing goes out unless you send it." That's the case for a new business, which is why Leïla's and Amir's invoices were never reminded.

5. 5Remind everyone at once

   Select Remind everyone not reminded this week; the button shows how many invoices that is. NextiaInvoices asks you to confirm before anything goes out: select Send the reminders. A message then says how many were sent and how many couldn't be.

   To remind just one client, select Remind now on their row. You can also tick several rows and select Remind selected.

6. 6See them marked as reminded

   Last reminded now shows today's date on both invoices, and each is marked Reminded recently. Invoices reminded in the last week are listed after the rest, so the top of the list is always who you haven't chased yet.

   A reminder you send by hand doesn't use up the automatic ones: if automatic reminders are on, they still go out on their days.

7. 7What your client receives

   Each client gets a polite reminder by email, written in the invoice's own language, with what's owed, the due date, a link to view the invoice online and the invoice PDF attached. Amir gets his in English; Leïla gets hers in French.

8. 8Open Set up reminders

   To chase future invoices automatically, select Set up reminders on the Who to chase tab. It opens Business settings → Payment reminders, where you can also go directly.

9. 9Choose your reminders

   Payment reminders has three reminders, one per row:

   • 3 days before due
   • On the due date
   • 7 days after due

   Each is sent once per invoice, on its day. An invoice that's already been paid is skipped, and an invoice with no due date gets no reminders. Each row shows whether that reminder is Active or Inactive.

10. 10Quiet hours

    Each row also shows its Quiet hours: 21:00 to 8:00, in your business's time zone. No reminder goes out during them. A reminder that falls due then waits for the next run after 8:00, so it's sent that morning instead of being skipped. The time zone is the one set in Business settings → Profile.

11. 11Switch on the reminders you want

    Select Resume on each reminder you want. It then reads Active, and Pause switches it off again. From now on, every issued invoice with a due date gets that reminder on its day.

    An invoice already past every reminder day, like Leïla's and Amir's, won't get an automatic one: remind it by hand from Who to chase.

What happens next

With reminders on, NextiaInvoices regularly checks your invoices and sends the reminders that fall due, outside quiet hours. Each invoice's page shows its Reminders: what's scheduled, what was sent, and any that were skipped because the invoice was paid. When a client pays, record the payment: the invoice leaves Who to chase and no more reminders go out for it.

If something goes wrong

Questions

Related guides

• Record a payment, part or full record the payment when the client pays, so reminders stop
• Create and send your first invoice set the client's language and email address before you invoice
• Set up your business: taxes, logo, numbering your business's time zone decides when reminders go out