FREE TOOL
A past due invoice email asks a customer to pay an invoice that has passed its due date. It works best as a sequence: a courtesy reminder before the due date, then emails at 1, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 90 days late, each one firmer. Enter your invoices and the tool writes all seven with subject lines and the date each one goes out, ready to copy. Morsa sends the sequence for you from your AR mailbox; this is the free version you run by hand.
Updated October 21, 2026
The payment reminder email sequence
| Stage | When | What it does | Credit hold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Courtesy reminder | 3 days before due | States the amount and due date; nothing is late yet | No |
| First reminder | 1 to 14 days late | Assumes it slipped; asks for the payment date or check number | No |
| Second notice | 15 to 29 days late | Notes there was no reply; asks for a date | No |
| Past due notice | 30 to 44 days late | Sets a pay-by date; states late charges your terms allow; warns of a hold | Warned |
| Credit hold notice | 45 to 59 days late | New orders wait until the past due balance is paid | On |
| Final demand | 60 to 89 days late | Last notice before referral; offers a call or a plan | On |
| Final notice before collections | 90+ days late | Names the referral date to an agency or attorney | Account closed to new orders |
The stages the tool writes. Day ranges are a common B2B schedule on net 30 terms; shift them if your terms are longer.
Subject lines that get opened
Put the invoice number and the amount in the subject. AP clerks search their inbox by invoice number, and an amount tells them it is not a newsletter.
| Stage | Subject line |
|---|---|
| Courtesy reminder | Reminder: invoice INV-20418 for $4,812.50 is due September 13, 2026 |
| First reminder | Invoice INV-20418 is past due: $4,812.50 |
| Second notice | Second notice: invoice INV-20418, $4,812.50 past due |
| Past due notice | Past due notice: invoice INV-20418, $4,812.50, 30 days past due |
| Credit hold notice | Credit hold notice: Hollis Fabrication, $4,812.50 past due |
| Final demand | Final demand for payment: $4,812.50 past due |
| Final notice | Final notice before collections: Hollis Fabrication, $4,812.50 |
Template: polite payment reminder (1 to 14 days late)
Dear Dana Ruiz, Our records show invoice INV-20418 (PO 7702) for $4,812.50 is 1 day past due. It may simply have slipped through, so I wanted to check that you received it. If payment is already on its way, thank you, and please send me the payment date or check number so I can match it. If anything on it is wrong, such as a short shipment, a price or a missing credit, tell me which line and I will get it fixed right away.
Template: second notice (15 to 29 days late)
Dear Dana Ruiz, I wrote earlier about invoice INV-20418 (PO 7702) for $4,812.50, which is now 15 days past due, and I have not seen payment or heard back. Please reply with the date payment will be sent.
Template: past due notice with a pay-by date (30 days late)
Dear Dana Ruiz, Invoice INV-20418 (PO 7702) for $4,812.50 is now 30 days past due, and we have not received payment or a reply to our earlier reminders. Please pay the full balance by the date given, or reply with the date it will be paid. If we do not receive payment by then, new orders for Hollis Fabrication will be placed on credit hold until the account is current.
Template: final notice before collections (90 days late)
Dear Dana Ruiz, $4,812.50 on invoice INV-20418 (PO 7702) is now 90 days past due. We have written several times without payment or a plan to pay. Unless the full balance is paid by the date given, we will refer the account to a collection agency or our attorney, which may add collection costs as allowed by our terms and the law. We would much rather settle this directly. Call me before that date.
Rules for past due emails that get paid
Send from a person, not a no-reply address. Customers answer a name; replies carry payment dates and disputes.
One invoice list, one total, one ask. List every open invoice with its PO number so AP can approve them together.
Make disputes easy. Many unpaid B2B invoices are waiting on a credit for a short shipment or a price. Ask which line is wrong.
Log every promise to pay with the date and who said it, and follow up the day after it passes.
Only threaten what you will do. A credit hold you never apply teaches the customer to wait.
Stop the sequence when they pay or promise. Nothing loses goodwill faster than a reminder for an invoice paid yesterday.
The modern way: let Morsa do the chasing
Most distributors and manufacturers still collect the old way: someone exports the aging on Monday, sorts it in a spreadsheet, writes a dozen emails, and calls the big ones when there is time. The ones that get chased are the ones somebody remembered.
Morsa does that job every morning. It reads the open invoices straight from your ERP, picks who to chase and at which stage, and sends each reminder from your AR person’s own mailbox, so a customer hears from Nina in accounts receivable, not from a no-reply address. When Hollis Fabrication replies that they will pay Friday, Morsa logs it as a promise to pay, sets the reminder, and asks the owner whether to release their credit hold once the money lands. Disputes (a short shipment, an old price) go to the person who can fix them, with the invoice and the PO attached. Your people approve; Morsa does the typing and the remembering.
Frequently asked questions
How do you politely say an invoice is overdue?
State the facts and assume good faith: “Our records show invoice INV-20418 for $4,812.50 is 9 days past due. It may simply have slipped through, so I wanted to check that you received it.” Then ask for the payment date.
When should I send the first payment reminder?
A courtesy reminder 3 days before the due date, then the first past due email 1 day after it. Most of the money comes in at those two touches.
How often should I send past due reminders?
About every two weeks while the invoice is under 30 days late, then at 30, 45, 60 and 90 days, with a phone call to the largest balances from 30 days on.
What is the difference between a payment reminder and a past due notice?
A payment reminder is the friendly early email, often before or just after the due date. A past due notice comes later, sets a pay-by date and states the consequences.
Should the email include the invoice as an attachment?
Yes. Attach the invoice PDF to every email from the first reminder on, so the AP clerk can approve it without asking for a copy.
Is anything I type uploaded?
No. The emails are written in your browser and your details are saved only in this browser.
Related tools
WHERE MORSA FITS
Your past-due list, chased every morning without anyone opening a spreadsheet.
Morsa reads the aging from your ERP, sends each customer the right reminder from your AR person’s own mailbox, logs every promise to pay with a reminder, and asks the owner before a credit hold is released. It works in email, Teams, WhatsApp, text or whatever your team already runs on.
