Payment reminder email templates for contractors
Use these as-is or tweak the tone. Replace brackets with your details. One pay link per email keeps it simple.
1 — Three days before due
Subject: Payment due soon — [Business Name]Hi [Client name],
This is a friendly reminder that invoice #[ref] for $[amount] is due on [due date].
Pay here: [payment link]
Thank you,
[Your name]
[Business Name]
2 — Due today
Subject: Invoice due today — [Business Name]Hi [Client name],
Invoice #[ref] for $[amount] is due today.
Pay here: [payment link]
If you already sent payment, thank you — you can ignore this note.
[Your name]
[Business Name]
3 — Three days overdue
Subject: Following up on invoice #[ref]Hi [Client name],
I wanted to check in on invoice #[ref] for $[amount], which was due on [due date].
Pay here: [payment link]
Happy to answer any questions about the work or the invoice.
[Your name]
[Business Name]
4 — Seven days overdue
Subject: Second notice — invoice #[ref]Hi [Client name],
Invoice #[ref] for $[amount] is now [X] days past due. Please let me know when we can expect payment, or if there’s an issue I should know about.
Pay here: [payment link]
Thank you,
[Your name]
[Business Name]
5 — Fourteen days overdue (final email)
Subject: Final reminder — invoice #[ref]Hi [Client name],
This is a final reminder for invoice #[ref] ($[amount], due [due date]). If payment isn’t received within the next few days, I’ll need to pause further work / follow up by phone per our policy.
Pay here: [payment link]
[Your name]
[Business Name]
Send these automatically
Manual copy-paste works for a few invoices. When you have several open balances, a fixed schedule beats remembering. PaidPulse sends this sequence daily and stops when you mark an invoice paid — you keep QuickBooks or Wave for invoicing.
See also: How to chase unpaid invoices without being awkward.
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