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Duebay

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Email

Overdue invoice email (first nudge)

Three days past due, assume good faith, because it is usually warranted: payments cross in the mail and AP departments run weekly cycles. "Looks unpaid on our side" leaves room for the possibility that the mistake is yours, which costs nothing and lets a customer who forgot pay without losing face. Most collectible invoices get paid at this step.

Send 3 days after the due date

Subject: Overdue: invoice {{invoice_number}} ({{amount_due}})

Hi {{customer_name}},

Invoice {{invoice_number}} for {{amount_due}} was due on {{due_date}} and looks unpaid on our side.
You can settle it in a couple of minutes here: {{payment_url}}
If payment is already on its way, or if something about the invoice doesn't look right, just reply and we'll sort it out.

Thanks,
{{business_name}}

When to use it

  • 3 to 5 days after the due date, as the first overdue contact
  • Any time you would rather get a reply ("processing Friday") than silence
  • Not for disputed invoices; resolve the dispute before any reminder

Getting the tone right

  • Warm, factual, unbothered; the relationship is fine and the email should sound like it
  • Invite a reply about problems with the invoice; a dispute surfaced now is cheap
  • Never apologize for asking; politeness and apology are different things
The merge fields, explained

Placeholders in double braces fill from the invoice when Duebay sends this template; replace them by hand if you are pasting it into your own email client.

{{customer_name}}
The billing contact's name
{{business_name}}
Your business name (the sender)
{{invoice_number}}
The invoice reference
{{amount_due}}
Outstanding balance, formatted (e.g. $1,250.00)
{{due_date}}
The invoice due date
{{days_overdue}}
Whole days past the due date
{{payment_url}}
Online payment link, if you have one
{{portal_url}}
The customer's statement page

In Duebay the payment line is conditional: it renders only when the invoice has a payment link, so an invoice without one never says "pay online here:" followed by nothing. The copies below have that line included and the conditional markers removed, so they paste straight into an email client.

Adjacent rungs of the ladder

Past due invoice email (firm second notice)EmailFriendly payment reminderEmailDunning email sequence (all four steps)Sequence

Put this template on autopilot

This is a live Duebay template: sequences send the ladder on schedule, log every send, and stop when the invoice is paid.

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