Payment reminders by email and text
A reminder that lands before the due date gets paid. One that lands in a shared accounts inbox three weeks later does not. Terms Due sends the right message at the right time, by email and by text.
Harbour Supply Co
Hi Sam, invoice 1047 for $8,420.00 was due on 12 Sep. You can pay in one tap here: termsdue.com/p/8KD2
Reminder: invoice 1047 is now 14 days overdue. New orders are paused until it is paid. Pay here: termsdue.com/p/8KD2
Paying this afternoon, sorry
A typical reminder schedule
Start from this and change any step: the day, the channel or the wording.
| When | Channel | Message |
|---|---|---|
| 5 days before due | Friendly heads-up with the amount, due date and pay link | |
| On the due date | Email and text | Payment due today, pay in one tap |
| 7 days overdue | Email and text | Overdue notice with the invoice attached |
| 14 days overdue | Email and text | New orders paused until paid |
| 30 days overdue | Email, text and a task for you | Final notice, with late payment interest for UK buyers if you use it |
What every reminder contains
The facts
Invoice number, amount outstanding, due date and, after the due date, how many days late it is.
A way to pay
A link to the buyer's pay-now page, so paying takes a few taps and never involves finding an old email.
What happens next
From the overdue notice onwards, the date new orders will pause, so the hold is never a surprise.
A way to reply
Emails come from your reply-to address and texts invite a reply, because a quick 'there is a problem with this order' is worth knowing early.
Email alone, and email with text
Email only
- Lands in accounts@ with forty other invoices.
- Read when the next payment run happens, which may be fortnightly.
- Easy to miss, easy to file, easy to forget.
- Nothing reaches the person who actually decides to pay.
Email and text
- The text reaches the owner's phone within seconds.
- A one-tap pay link means paying is faster than ignoring it.
- The email carries the detail and the attachment for the records.
- Replies come straight back to you, by either channel.
Why texts work for trade invoices
- Buyers at small shops, salons and cafes often run purchasing from their phone.
- A text is read within minutes; an email to accounts@ may wait weeks.
- Every text carries a short link to the buyer's pay-now page, so paying takes a few taps.
- Texts show your store name as the sender where the network allows it.
- Texts are short by nature, which keeps reminders factual rather than wordy.
Edit the wording, keep the timing
Every step in the schedule has an editable template: the email subject, the email body and the text message. Merge fields drop in the buyer's name, company, invoice number, amount, due date, days overdue, pay link and your store name, so one template serves every buyer.
The editor shows a live preview using one of your real invoices, and you can send yourself a test before saving. If you go too far, reset any step to the default wording with one click.
Add your logo and a footer line, such as your company number or bank details for buyers who prefer to transfer, and every email carries them.
Tone that changes as the invoice ages
The best reminder sequences are boring. Before the due date the message is a courtesy. On the day it is a nudge. A week later it is a clear statement of fact with the invoice attached. At two weeks it carries a consequence, and at a month it is a final notice.
None of this needs to be unfriendly. The default templates are polite throughout; what changes is how direct they are and what they say will happen next. Because the sequence runs on a schedule rather than on someone's mood, buyers learn that your invoices are chased reliably, and reliable is what gets paid.
Sending rules built in
- Reminders stop the moment an invoice is paid, by any method.
- One message per invoice per step, never a duplicate because two people clicked send.
- Texts go out in the buyer's working hours, not at 3am.
- Every text includes a way to stop further texts, and opt-outs are honoured automatically.
- If a buyer has several invoices due together, the email lists them all rather than sending five.
- You can pause reminders for any company, for example while a dispute is sorted out.
Worked example
A salon, a text and a Tuesday
Lune Street Salons has a $2,240 invoice due on Tuesday. The owner, Priya, is with clients all day and the accounts email goes to her bookkeeper, who works Fridays. On Tuesday morning the due-today text reaches Priya's phone between appointments. She taps the link, pays from her saved card in about twenty seconds and gets a receipt.
Without the text, the bookkeeper would see the email on Friday, add it to the next payment run and the money would arrive ten days late, which is where it used to arrive every month.
Questions
Can I edit the wording?
Yes. Every step has an editable template with fields for the buyer name, invoice number, amount, due date and pay link, a live preview and a send-test button.
Do buyers need to opt in to texts?
Payment reminders about an existing account are service messages, but you should tell buyers in your trade terms that you may text them about payments. Every text includes a way to stop further texts.
What happens when the invoice is paid?
Reminders for that invoice stop straight away.
Which phone number is used?
The number on the company contact in Shopify, or one you add to the company in Terms Due. Enter numbers in international format, for example +44 7700 900123, so texts reach buyers in any country.
Can reminders go to more than one person?
Yes. Add extra email addresses to a company and every reminder is copied to them, which suits buyers with a separate accounts contact.
Are text reminders included in every plan?
Starter includes 100 texts a month, Growth 500 and Scale 1,500. On the Free plan reminders go by email, and any plan can buy a text top-up. See pricing.
Related
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Read moreStop chasing wholesale invoices by hand
Install Terms Due, set a credit limit for each buyer and let the app hold, remind and collect.
Install on Shopify