Four reasons an invoice does not get paid, and what to put on it instead

When an invoice goes unpaid, the instinct is to assume the customer is unhappy or broke. Usually they are neither. Usually the invoice was just easy to put down, and nothing about it made today the day.

Here are the four reasons we see most, and the fix for each. None of them is clever.

1. There is no way to pay it right now

An invoice with bank details at the bottom asks the reader to open their banking app, type an account number, type a reference, and get all of it right. That is four chances to stop.

An invoice with a pay button asks them to tap once.

The fix is the whole fix: put a payment button on the invoice. Everything else in this list is worth less than this one thing.

2. Nobody knows who it is for

An invoice sent to `info@` goes to nobody. An invoice addressed to "Accounts" goes to the same place.

Find out, once, who actually approves payments, and send it to that person by name with the person who ordered the work copied in. If you do not know, ask while you are still doing the work and everyone is friendly — not after the invoice is late and the question sounds like a complaint.

3. The due date is vague

"Net 30" means thirty days from a date that is not stated. "Payable on receipt" means whenever.

Write the actual date: Due Friday, October 17. A date is a thing a person can miss; a term is a thing they can interpret. You want them to be able to miss it, because a missed date is easy to chase and an interpretation is an argument.

Shorter terms are also worth asking for. Fourteen days is not rude. The worst answer is that they say no and you learn something about how they pay.

4. It does not say what it is for

"Consulting — September: $6,400" is an invoice a controller has to go and ask about. Asking takes a week.

"Site survey and drainage plan, 12–16 September, per quote #1044: $6,400" is an invoice they can approve without leaving their desk. Reference the quote, the purchase order, the job number — whatever they used to say yes in the first place.

Chasing, without losing the customer

Most late invoices need one polite nudge and they are paid. A few need three. Almost none need a threat.

• Three days before it is due: a short reminder with the invoice attached again. Not a demand — most late payments are simply forgotten, and a nudge before the date is a favor rather than a complaint.
• Three days after: "This one came due on the 17th — is there anything you need from me to get it through?" That question works because it is often true. A missing PO number or a wrong address is the actual reason more often than reluctance.
• Two weeks after: pick up the phone. Email can be ignored indefinitely and politely. A call usually ends with either the money or the truth, and you can work with both.

Set the first two to send themselves. Chasing you have to remember is chasing that does not happen, and the reason a good invoice goes unpaid for six weeks is almost never the invoice.

The one-line version

Put a button on it, address it to a person, write a real date, and reference the thing they already approved. That is most of it.