Automating overdue invoice reminders — worth it?

roarrory33

I help with admin/accounts for a small IT services business and overdue invoices are becoming a bit of a time drain.

At the moment reminders are mostly manual emails and follow-ups, which works but takes more time as client numbers grow.

I’ve recently come across systems that can automate payment requests/reminders directly through banking or payment apps, but I’m unsure whether these actually improve payment times or just add another layer of complexity/cost.

Has anyone here used this sort of setup in practice for recurring invoices, and did it genuinely reduce chasing/admin work?

flaneurs_lobster

I'd consider investing in such an automated reminder system but only if it freed up resource (ie you) to do something more interesting/productive, like sales or marketing.

I'd be surprised if the delinquency rate on invoice settlement would improve much, unfortunately many businesses have a policy of not paying until at least the first reminder is received.

SVaz

We use Freeagent software, with their invoicing, anything unpaid shows up on the app homepage and you simply click the button on the offending invoice to send a reminder email. You can set it up to auto send after whichever time period you choose but I don’t have many late payers so just use the first method.

golfplayer224

We found the biggest benefit wasn’t necessarily getting people to pay faster, it was reducing the admin around keeping track of who’d been chased already.

Before that, half the effort was spreadsheets, reminder emails and checking bank payments manually against invoices. Even simple automation cut a lot of that down.