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Payments & finance

Automated overdue invoice reminders

Invoice chasing automation watches for invoices that pass their due date and sends a short sequence of reminders. It checks for payment before every message and hands the invoice to a person when the sequence ends.

An example of how the studio would build it. No live services are connected.

Overdue invoices chased politely, and only while they’re unpaid.

  1. Step 01

    Invoice overdue

    Xero or QuickBooks shows an invoice past its due date with a balance still outstanding.

  2. Step 02

    Friendly reminder

    Send a polite reminder from Gmail with the invoice number, the amount and a link to pay.

  3. Step 03

    Payment checked

    Before every message, check for a payment, a credit note or a reply that needs a person.

  4. Step 04

    Firmer follow-up

    After two weeks, send a clearer reminder that restates the amount, the due date and your terms.

  5. Step 05

    Owner alerted

    If it is still unpaid after the final reminder, post the details to the owner in Slack.

The result

Paid faster, without the awkward emails.

A full payment stops the sequence. A part-payment, reply or dispute pauses it until a person has looked.

Before we connect it.

Where this is useful

Useful when chasing depends on someone noticing overdue invoices and finding time to write an awkward email. A sensible first version sends one friendly reminder and posts a weekly overdue list to Slack, then adds firmer steps once the wording is agreed.

What we need to connect

  1. 01Invoice status, due dates and payments from Xero or QuickBooks, with each customer’s billing contact.
  2. 02Approved wording for each reminder stage, your payment terms and a payment link if you offer one.
  3. 03The Gmail account to send from, the Slack channel or owner for alerts and any customers to exclude.

What needs careful handling

Bank transfers can take a day or two to be matched in the accounts, so a reminder could cross with money already sent. Check the balance immediately before sending and word reminders to allow for that. Replies land in Gmail rather than the accounting system, so they need to pause the sequence until someone has read them.

Questions people ask.

Will it chase customers who have already paid?

It checks the invoice balance before every message and stops as soon as the invoice is paid. A payment that is sent but not yet matched can still cross with a reminder, so the wording can acknowledge that.

My accounting software already sends reminders. Why add this?

The built-in reminders may be all you need. A custom flow helps when you want replies to pause chasing, an owner alerted in Slack, different rules for different customers or one process across more than one accounting tool.

Quote sent → Owner notified
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