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Invoicing & Payments
Automated invoice & payment reminders
“I spend hours every week looking through Quickbooks and emailing clients who haven't paid their invoices.”
The short answer
Turn on automated invoice reminders inside your accounting software — the software sends a polite nudge 3 days before, on the due date, and 3 days after an invoice is due, and keeps following up until it's paid. Most late payments aren't malicious; they are simply forgotten. Invoice follow-up automation removes the human element from payment collection: it saves the weekly chase hours, preserves the client relationship by making the software the 'bad guy' asking for money, and runs inside QuickBooks Online, Xero, or Stripe Billing — the invoice reminder software you already pay for.
- ~3 hours/week back (estimated)
- 15 minutes to set up
- Easy difficulty
How we estimated that: Assumes 12 open invoices and roughly 15 minutes a week each chasing payment across email and phone. This is a model, not a measurement — check it against your own numbers, because if the assumption does not match your business the figure will not either.
What you'll need
- QuickBooks Online leanest paid option
Built-in feature under Account and Settings > Sales > Reminders.
Only if you already have it. Worth knowing if this is already on your invoice. We would not suggest buying it just for this.
Watch the pricing: Advertised at $19/mo — that is 50% off for three months only. Simple Start reverts to $38/mo from month four.
Pricing checked 2026-10-28 — source.
Wall check Gates 4/5 ! Price ! Permission ✓ Gate ! Meter ! Exit what we found User counts rise with the price tier, and after you cancel the data goes read-only for a year — then it is gone. - Stripe
Available in Stripe Billing settings.
Watch the pricing: Standard card processing is 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction online. Stripe Invoicing Starter charges 0.4% per paid invoice ($2 cap per invoice; the first-25-invoices-free allowance ended for new users in 2022). Stripe Billing is 0.7% of billing volume pay-as-you-go (0.8% on the usage-based Startup plan).
Pricing checked 2026-10-28 — source.
Wall check Gates 4/5 ✓ Price ! Permission ! Gate ! Meter ! Exit what we found No subscription floor, but everything is metered per transaction and deep data export is custom-plan only. - Xero
Built-in feature under Settings > Invoice Settings > Invoice Reminders.
Watch the pricing: Advertised prices (~$2.70/$5.90/$9.70 per month) are intro rates (~90% off for the first 6 months). Regular prices revert to $27/mo (Early), $59/mo (Growing), and $97/mo (Established). Early plan locks you to 20 invoices and 5 bills per month.
Pricing checked 2026-10-28 — source.
Wall check Gates 4/5 ! Price ! Permission ✓ Gate ! Meter ! Exit what we found Entry tiers cap invoices and bills monthly; cancellation takes a month's notice and the export is DIY.
● Official Implementation Blueprint · Public Engineering Release
Download Step-by-Step Application Instructions (PDF)
Printable engineering runbook with wholesale utility configurations, step-by-step setup walkthrough, and our 5-point quality verification protocol.
- ✓ Complete step-by-step setup instructions
- ✓ Zero agency markups · wholesale utilities
- ✓ 5-point quality verification protocol
- ✓ Self-hostable · client ownership guaranteed
We are not paid by any tool listed here. If a cheaper or better option exists, that's what you'll see.
Pricing above was checked on 2026-10-28. Vendors change their terms without notice, and free tiers do get withdrawn. We take no money from any vendor listed here. If something on this page is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
How to set it up
- Locate reminder settings
Find the automated reminders section in your specific invoicing tool.
- Set the cadence
A good baseline is: 3 days before due (polite heads up), 0 days (due today), and 3 days overdue (firm reminder).
- Customize the copy
Keep it brief and neutral. 'Hi [Name], this is a quick reminder that invoice #[Number] is due on [Date]. You can pay securely online here: [Link].'
- Enable auto-pay if possible
For recurring clients, give them a checkbox to save their card and auto-charge it next time.
- Add an escalation path when reminders run out
Reminders convert forgotten invoices, not disputed ones. After the third notice, route the overdue invoice somewhere a human owns it: a webhook or saved-search alert that flags invoices past 7 days overdue into a call list. Polite automation first, personal contact last.
Common questions
- What if a client needs an extension?
- They will reply to the automated email. You can always pause reminders manually for specific invoices if needed.
- Does QuickBooks Online or Xero charge extra for automated payment reminders?
- No. Automatic unpaid invoice reminders are built directly into standard QuickBooks Online ($38/mo) and Xero ($27–$97/mo) subscriptions at no additional cost (pricing checked 2026-10-28).
- Does accounting software send automatic payment reminders?
- Yes — it's a built-in feature, not an add-on. QuickBooks Online ($38/mo) and Xero ($27–$97/mo) include automatic unpaid-invoice reminders in standard subscriptions at no extra charge (checked 2026-10-28). Stripe Billing sends automated dunning reminders on the 0.7%-of-volume plan (checked 2026-10-28).
- What is the cheapest invoice reminder software?
- The one you already pay for. QuickBooks, Xero, and Stripe all ship reminders inside subscriptions most businesses already carry (all checked 2026-10-28) — a standalone dunning tool only earns its bill when your invoicing tool genuinely lacks the feature.
Last reviewed 2026-11-10. Tools change — if something here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.
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