When Xero invoice reminders aren't enough
Your reminders are switched on, the schedule is sensible, and the invoice is still sitting there at 30 days. That isn't a setup problem, so changing the wording or adding a fourth reminder won't fix it. Here's how to tell what's actually going on, and what to do instead.
If you haven't turned reminders on yet, start with the Xero invoice reminders setup guide and come back here when they've been running a few weeks.
First, rule out the boring explanation
Before you decide a customer is ignoring you, check the email is reaching a human. Roughly one stuck invoice in five is a delivery problem, not a payment problem.
- Open the invoice in Xero and look at the sent history. If the reminder never sent, the invoice is likely under your minimum amount, or the contact has no email address.
- Check who the contact actually is. On business customers the invoice often goes to the person who ordered the work, not the person who pays it. They are rarely the same inbox.
- Assume the spam folder. Automated mail with a payment link in it is exactly what filters are tuned to catch.
If any of those is the answer, fix the contact and resend once. If none of them is, the email is arriving and being ignored, and that is a different problem.
Why a reminder gets ignored
An ignored reminder is nearly always one of three things, and they need different responses.
- There's a query nobody told you about. A line they dispute, a PO number missing, work they think was quoted differently. The invoice is parked pending an answer, and your reminder is not a channel they can answer on.
- You're not in the payment run. Larger customers pay on a cycle. Nothing is wrong, you're just in a queue nobody has told you about, and an email does not move you up it.
- Nothing happens if they don't pay. A customer who is late on purpose learns the pattern quickly: the emails arrive, the emails stop, no one ever rings. The reminder becomes the signal that you are not chasing.
Notice that an email cannot resolve any of the three. The first two need an answer from the customer. The third needs the pattern broken.
How long to keep emailing
A useful rule: two reminders after the due date, then change channel. The first catches the honest slip, which is most late invoices. The second catches the person who meant to pay and got busy. By the third, an email is telling the customer that email is all you do.
On 7-day or 20th-of-the-month-following terms, that puts you at a phone call somewhere around two to three weeks overdue. Sooner on a large invoice, because the cost of being wrong is higher.
What to do instead: pick up the phone
A call does the one thing a reminder cannot: it gets an answer. Two minutes on the phone usually produces a payment date you can hold someone to, a dispute you did not know existed, or "send it again, I never got it". None of those ever come back from a reminder email.
It also resets the pattern. A customer who has learned that late invoices get emails and nothing else pays differently once they learn that late invoices get a call.
Keep it short and assume good faith. Ask whether the invoice has been received and approved, ask when it's scheduled for payment, and write down what they say. The polite ways to ask for payment guide has the wording for the awkward version of this call, and the chasing overdue invoices guide has the full sequence and timings.
If you don't want to make the calls
Most people don't. The call is quick but the dread is not, and it is the step that quietly gets skipped for weeks. This is exactly what Gary does: he connects to your Xero organisation, reads which invoices are overdue, and phones the customers you approve. He tells you what they said, books the follow-up, and can resend the invoice while it's still in front of them. Every call says it is recorded, sticks to New Zealand calling hours, and no customer is called until you have approved them.
When it's past a follow-up
Some invoices are not late, they are not going to be paid. If the customer has stopped answering entirely, disputes the whole invoice, or has gone quiet after promising to pay twice, you're out of follow-up territory. The customer won't pay guide covers a final notice and the Disputes Tribunal, and invoice recovery vs debt collection explains what handing it over actually costs you.
Common questions
Why are my customers ignoring Xero invoice reminders?
Usually one of three reasons: the email isn't reaching the person who pays, there's an unspoken query holding the invoice up, or they've learned that nothing follows the emails. Only the first is fixable by email.
How many reminders should I send before calling?
Two after the due date. The first catches the honest slip, the second catches the busy payer. A third mostly signals that email is as far as you go.
Does adding more Xero reminders get invoices paid faster?
Not once a customer is already ignoring them. More of a channel that isn't working is still not working. Changing channel is what moves the invoice.
Is it rude to phone a customer about an unpaid invoice?
No, provided you assume good faith and keep it short. Most people are slightly embarrassed and pay quickly. A call also surfaces problems with your invoice that a customer would never have emailed you about.