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How to track unpaid invoices and send payment reminders

For a small business, an unpaid invoice isn't just a row in a spreadsheet: it's next month's payroll. Most customers don't refuse to pay — they forget, put it off or wait to be asked. If nobody asks, a 30-day invoice becomes a 90-day one.

Why invoices stay unpaid

• Nobody watches the due dates. Invoices go out, but nobody looks at them until the bank balance runs low.
• Asking feels awkward. Especially when the customer is also a friend and a reminder looks like distrust.
• The invoice never reached whoever pays. It went to the director, while the bookkeeper makes the payments.
• Partial payments muddle the numbers. The customer paid half, and the spreadsheet shows the invoice as either paid or unpaid.

Before the invoice: clear terms

Most delays can be prevented before they happen:

• Payment terms belong in the quote, not the invoice. "Payment within 10 days of the invoice" should be in the quote the customer accepted.
• Invoice straight away after delivery or when the work is done. An invoice sent three weeks late gets paid three weeks later still.
• Send it to whoever pays. Ask at the start who handles payments and what their email is.
• For new customers or large amounts, ask for a deposit. It's common practice, not a sign of distrust.

Tracking: four states

Every issued invoice should be in one of these states:

• Unpaid — still within its terms.
• Partially paid — the customer paid part, and the rest is shown separately.
• Paid.
• Overdue — the due date has passed and the balance isn't zero.

In Intrawebix CRM the state is worked out automatically from the due date and the payments recorded. In the Invoices list, filter by Payment to see only the overdue ones. When an invoice becomes overdue, its owner gets a notification.

Payments are recorded on the invoice, under Payments: the amount, the date and the method. You can record as many partial payments as you like, and the Balance due is recalculated.

Reminders: automatic first, then personal

A sequence that works for most businesses:

1. The due date. You do nothing, but you know what falls due today.
2. The day after: an automatic email. Polite, short, with a link to the invoice: "Just a reminder that invoice no. … fell due yesterday."
3. Seven days later: a second automatic reminder.
4. A few days after that: a phone call. The owner calls. Most cases get sorted out here: the invoice never arrived, a signature is missing, the money goes out on Friday.
5. More than 30 days late: pause new deliveries or ask for payment upfront until the debt is cleared.

In Intrawebix CRM steps 2 and 3 go out on their own: the customer gets the email the day after the due date and again 7 days later, at the invoice's contact (otherwise the company), and replies come to your company email. The Automatic payment reminders to the customer option is in Company details. If you have connected an SMS provider, the customer can get a text as well. For a reminder outside this schedule, click Send reminder on the invoice.

An automatic reminder takes the awkwardness away: you are not "chasing money", the system is sending a routine notice.

The invoice as a link, not just a PDF

An attached PDF gets lost among emails. A link to the invoice (Client link) opens on a phone, has the payment details and the PDF, and shows you when the customer opened it. When you call about an overdue invoice, you know whether they have even seen it.

Subscriptions and monthly services

If you bill the same amount every month (maintenance, rent, a subscription), don't make the invoice by hand. With Repeat on an invoice, the CRM issues it monthly, quarterly or yearly on its own and can email it to the customer with the PDF. Reminders work as for any other invoice.

If your tax invoices are made in other software

Many businesses already use accounting software or have a bookkeeper with their own tools. The CRM doesn't have to replace them:

• with Xero, QuickBooks, Zoho Books, Odoo, SmartBill, Oblio or FGO connected, the invoice is issued straight there, and payments recorded in the CRM reach it too;
• for Saga or 1C, the Export for accountant button in the invoice list gives a file your bookkeeper can import.

Overdue invoices and reminders are still tracked in the CRM.

What to check once a week

• The list of Overdue invoices, sorted by amount.
• For each overdue invoice older than two weeks: who called and what the customer promised. Note it on the customer's record.
• Customers who are often late: switch them to payment upfront.

Invoices, payments and reminders are included in every plan, including the free one (see pricing); try them in the free 30-day trial.

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