Free template
EmailPast due invoice email (firm second notice)
Two weeks past due, the tone shifts from "no doubt an oversight" to "we need to resolve this". The changes are structural rather than emotional: say "second reminder" to establish the record, name the number of days, state what you want and by when, and keep offering the conversation. A soft deadline ("this week") beats an ultimatum, which belongs only on the final notice.
Subject: Second notice: invoice {{invoice_number}} is {{days_overdue}} days overdue
Hi {{customer_name}},
This is a second reminder about invoice {{invoice_number}} for {{amount_due}}, now {{days_overdue}} days past its {{due_date}} due date.
We'd like to get this resolved this week. If there's a problem with the invoice or you need to discuss timing, reply to this email and we'll work it out.
Pay online: {{payment_url}}
Your statement: {{portal_url}}
Regards,
{{business_name}}When to use it
- About 14 days past due, after a friendly nudge got no reply or no payment
- When a promised payment date came and went
- Copy the decision-maker if your contact has gone quiet, but say you are doing it
Getting the tone right
- Firm means specific: days overdue, amount, a date; not bold type and exclamation marks
- "We'd like to get this resolved this week" states the expectation without threatening
- Still offer the exit: a reply about timing is progress you can hold them to
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
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.