How to Follow Up Overdue Invoices in Australia (Without Losing the Client)

When I ran a small transport business, the work was never the hard part. The hard part came after the invoice went out: knowing when to follow up, what to write without sounding rude, and working up the nerve to make the call. Meanwhile wages, fuel and the tax bill didn't wait for anyone to pay me.

Most small business owners know that feeling, and avoiding it has a cost. In GoCardless's 2025 survey of Australian and New Zealand business owners, Australian decision-makers who had put off a conversation about money in the past year said it made things worse, not better: 38% reported more stress at work and 36% more stress personally.

Following up an overdue invoice — what most people call chasing — is much easier with a plan you decide once and then just run. Here's the one I'd use.

First, work out why it's late

The right message depends on why the invoice hasn't been paid. It's usually one of four things:

• It slipped through. Your client is busy and your invoice is one of many. This is the most common reason and the easiest to fix: a friendly reminder.
• It never arrived. Wrong email address, a spam filter, an attachment that didn't open. Resend it — and confirm the address.
• There's a problem with it. The amount, the scope or a missing order number doesn't match what they expected, and rather than raise it, they've sat on it. Reminders won't move this. A conversation will.
• They're short of cash. They may be waiting on their own customers. A payment plan in writing beats silence.

You often won't know which one it is until they reply. That's why the first few messages should be easy to answer.

The follow-up schedule

Decide this once and stick to it. Consistency is what makes it feel routine rather than personal — for you and for the client.

When	Goal	Tone	Channel
2 days before due	Put it on their radar	Friendly heads-up	Email
Day 1–3 overdue	Catch the "slipped through" ones	Light, assume the best	Email
Day 7	Get a payment date	Polite but direct	Email or text
Day 14	Find out what's wrong	Professional	Phone call, then email
Day 21	Make the situation clear	Firm, factual	Email
Day 30	Final notice, with a deadline	Calm, unmistakable	Email (and post, if you'll take it further)

The reminder before the due date isn't chasing anything — it's a courtesy, and it quietly stops a lot of invoices from going overdue at all.

What to write at each stage

Each message below has an email version and a short text version. Swap in your own details. Always include the invoice number, the amount and how to pay.

2 days before the due date

Hi Sarah, a quick heads-up that invoice #1042 for $3,200 is due on Friday. I've attached a copy, and the payment details are on it. No action needed if it's already scheduled. Thanks!

Text: Hi Sarah, just a heads-up invoice #1042 ($3,200) is due Friday. Copy's in your email. Thanks!

Day 1–3 overdue

Hi Sarah, invoice #1042 for $3,200 was due on Friday. If it's already on its way, please ignore this. If it went missing, I've attached it again — let me know if you need anything else from me to process it.

Text: Hi Sarah, invoice #1042 ($3,200) was due Friday — I've resent it in case it went astray. Thanks!

Day 7

Hi Sarah, I'm following up on invoice #1042 for $3,200, now a week overdue. Could you let me know when I can expect payment? If there's a problem with the invoice, I'd rather hear about it so I can sort it out.

Text: Hi Sarah, following up invoice #1042 ($3,200), now a week overdue. When can I expect payment? Happy to chat if there's an issue.

Asking for a date, not just payment, matters. A date is something you can follow up on.

Day 14: make the call

Two weeks overdue is the point where a two-minute phone call usually beats a fourth email. It's also the message people put off longest. A script helps:

1. Open neutrally: "Hi Sarah, it's [your name] from [business]. Have you got a minute? I'm calling about invoice 1042."
2. State the facts: "It was due on the 3rd — $3,200. I just wanted to check it reached you and there's nothing holding it up."
3. Stop talking. Let them answer. Most of the time you'll learn the real reason here.
4. Ask for a date: "When do you think it'll be paid?"
5. Confirm in writing: "Great, I'll send a quick email so we're both on the same page."

Then send that email the same day, with the date they gave you.

Day 21

Hi Sarah, invoice #1042 for $3,200 is now three weeks past our agreed terms, and I haven't been able to get a payment date. Could you arrange payment by [date], or call me so we can sort out what's holding it up?

Day 30: final notice

Hi Sarah, invoice #1042 for $3,200 is now 30 days overdue. If I haven't received payment by [date — 7 days from now], I'll need to [pause further work / take the next step to recover the debt]. I'd much rather settle this directly, so please get in touch.

Only write what you're prepared to do. A final notice you don't follow through on teaches the client that your deadlines are optional.

Handling the replies

"We're having cash flow problems."

Offer a payment plan with specific dates and amounts, and confirm it in writing. Part-payment now beats full payment never. Then follow up on each instalment date — don't wait to be reminded.

"There's an issue with the invoice."

Pause your reminders straight away and deal with the issue. Sending another reminder while someone is trying to raise a genuine problem is the fastest way to turn a slow payer into a lost client.

"I'll pay next week."

Pin it to a day — "Thursday the 12th?" — and confirm by email. If the day passes, follow up that afternoon and pick up the schedule where you left off. Holding someone to their own date isn't rude.

Silence

Keep to the schedule, and try a different channel: if emails aren't answered, call or text. Check you're writing to the person who actually pays — accounts, not the site manager.

What to avoid

• Apologising for following up. "Sorry to bother you" tells them the invoice can wait. You did the work.
• Passive-aggressive phrases. "As per my last email" puts people on the defensive and slows payment down.
• Threatening action too early. Save consequences for day 30, not day 7.
• Stopping work without warning. If you're going to pause a job, say so in writing first.
• Letting it drift. The longer an invoice goes without a follow-up, the more it looks like you don't mind.

At 30 days: your options

If there's been no payment and no plan by the deadline in your final notice, these are the usual next steps. None of this is legal advice — for larger debts, talk to a lawyer or your industry association.

• Pause further work, with written notice.
• Send a letter of demand setting out the debt and a final deadline. Many businesses write their own; a solicitor's letterhead carries more weight.
• Lodge a claim with your state's tribunal or local court. Each state sets its own limit and process. In Queensland, for example, QCAT handles debt disputes up to $25,000 (excluding interest).
• Use a licensed debt collector, usually for a share of what they recover.

In building and construction, your state's security of payment law gives you a faster route — but the requirements and deadlines differ by state, and missing one can cost you the right. Check your state regulator's guidance before you rely on it.

Stop the next one before it starts

• Put your payment terms on the quote, not just the invoice — and get the quote accepted in writing.
• Invoice the day the job finishes. The clock doesn't start until the invoice lands.
• Make paying easy: bank details and a payment link on every invoice.
• Take a deposit on big jobs. It limits your exposure and tests the client's commitment.
• Check a big client before you start. Australia's large businesses have to report how fast they pay small suppliers — here's how to look them up, or use our free client payment risk checker.

Want to see what late payment is actually costing you? The late payment cost calculator puts a number on it.

Where Unpaid fits

I built Unpaid because I wanted this schedule run for me without losing control of what my customers received. It connects to Xero, drafts each message in the sequence for each overdue invoice, and waits for you to approve every email before it sends. When a customer replies, it reads the reply: a dispute pauses that invoice's reminders for seven days, and a question pauses them for three. Customers can also set a promise-to-pay date themselves from a payment page.

Plans start from A$29 a month, with a 14-day free trial. But the schedule above works just as well with a calendar reminder and the templates on this page — the important thing is that you run it.