Workflow
Overdue invoice emails, written for you every Monday
Every Monday, Cedric checks Stripe, QuickBooks or Xero for late invoices, drafts one reminder per customer in #finance, and sends only on your yes.
Benjamin Ben HattarNobody forgets an overdue invoice on purpose. It slips because chasing it is a small, awkward job with no deadline of its own. The invoice is 9 days late, then 23, and at month end someone notices $6,200 that has been open since August.
Stripe, QuickBooks and Xero can each send an automatic reminder, and you should turn it on. It sends the same note to every customer on a fixed day, which is fine for the first nudge. The customer who ignores it for three weeks needs a different email, from someone who knows the account. That is the one that never gets written.
This post sets up one routine. Every Monday at 9:00, Cedric checks your billing tool, posts the late invoices to #finance, and drafts a reminder for each customer. Someone in the channel approves, and the emails go out from your own Gmail. For everything else he does with unpaid invoices, see invoice follow-up.
- Keep your billing tool's own reminder for the first nudge. Cedric takes the chase after that.
- You type the routine once in Slack. It posts the late invoices to #finance every Monday.
- Each customer gets one draft covering all their open invoices, in a tone that fits how late they are.
- Nothing sends without a yes, and he checks each invoice again right before its email goes out.
Monday, 9:00
Four late invoices, two drafts, one yes.
CedricAPP9:14 AM
4 customers are late, $11,940 in total. Over 30 days, Hollis Studio owes $6,200 on INV-0142, 41 days late. 8 to 30 days, Brightline owes $3,900 on INV-0151 and INV-0155, 12 days late. Northwind and Beacon are under a week, so Stripe's own reminder covers them. Drafts for Hollis and Brightline are in the thread.
Marta Steiner9:15 AM
Send Brightline's. Hold Hollis, I'll call them first.
CedricAPP9:16 AM
Brightline's email goes to accounts@brightline.co with both invoice links. Hollis is on hold, and it will be on next Monday's list if it's still open.
Set it up
- 01
Add Cedric to Slack
Install him and invite him to #finance. Keep that channel to the people who should approve emails to customers. You start with 100,000 free credits, about $50 of work, and no card.
- 02
Connect billing and mail
From the dashboard, connect Stripe, QuickBooks or Xero, then Gmail. The reminders go out from your address, so replies land in your inbox.
- 03
Type the routine once
"Every Monday at 9:00, find overdue invoices in Stripe. Group them 1 to 7, 8 to 30 and over 30 days. Draft one reminder per customer for anything 8 days or later, post the list to #finance, and send only after approval."
He answers with the plan: source, groups, tone, channel. Nothing starts until you reply "build".
- 04
Approve on Monday
Reply in the thread: "send all", "send Brightline", "hold Hollis". Each yes sends the exact draft you read.
What the emails say
The tone moves with the age of the invoice. Here is what the drafts look like for each group.
1 to 7 days. Leave it to Stripe, QuickBooks or Xero. A short automatic note with the pay link is the right weight this early.
8 to 30 days. Make paying easy. "Hi Tom, invoices 0151 and 0155 ($3,900) were due on 30 September. Both links are below. If your accounts team needs a PO number or a different billing address, tell me and I'll send a corrected copy today."
Over 30 days. Direct, with an offer to talk. "Hi Sara, invoice 0142 for $6,200 is now 41 days past due. Is something holding it up on your side? I can do a 10-minute call this week to sort it out."
No draft threatens anyone or mentions collections. A customer with three late invoices gets one email, not three.
Before you rely on it
He chases, he doesn't charge. No card charges, refunds or edits to invoices, and no late fee the invoice terms don't already include. Money moves stay in your billing tool.
Paid this morning means no email. Approval can come hours after the drafts. He checks each invoice just before its email sends, skips any that was paid, voided or partly paid, and says so in the thread.
Reconcile first. A bank transfer that arrived but isn't matched yet still looks unpaid, mostly in QuickBooks and Xero. Match the week's payments before you approve.
FAQ
No. Keep them for the first week, and have the routine draft only for invoices 8 days or more late. That way nobody gets two reminders in the same week.
Yes. From Stripe he links the hosted invoice page and can attach the PDF. From Xero, the online invoice link and a PDF. From QuickBooks, the PDF, plus a pay link if QuickBooks Payments is on.
Anyone in the channel where he posts. You approve the schedule once when you set it up, and every email inside it still asks. How approvals work has the details.
Yes, ask in the channel. He replaces the routine with the new version and tells you when he has.
Free to start, no card.