How to Follow Up on an Unpaid Invoice (Email Templates)

Quick answer: To follow up on an unpaid invoice, send a short, friendly email that names the invoice number, amount, and original due date, re-attaches the invoice, and asks for a confirmed payment date. Assume it’s an oversight, not a refusal. Most creators send three to four follow-ups (a gentle nudge, a firmer one, a direct check-in, then a final notice), spacing them about 7 to 14 days apart. Call Me Claire can send these polite payment-reminder follow-ups for you automatically, so you always know who owes you and never have to write the awkward one yourself.

Let’s be honest about why you’re here. The work is done. It was approved. The brand was thrilled. And now you’re staring at your sent folder wondering how to say “hey, where’s my money?” without sounding desperate or rude.

You’re not bad at this. Chasing payments is just the worst part of an otherwise great job, and it’s not personal to you.

“Chasing down payments is and will always be my least favorite part of this business 😅 the work is done and approved, please 😭” (@itskaronde)

If that’s a little too real, keep reading. Below are the exact words to use, how long to wait, how many times to send, and a way to stop doing this by hand entirely.

How do I politely ask a client to pay an overdue invoice?

To politely ask a brand to pay an overdue invoice, keep it short and assume the best: most late payments are an oversight or stuck in an approval queue, not a refusal. Reference the invoice number, the original due date, and the amount owed, re-attach the invoice, and ask them to confirm when payment will go out. No apology for following up, no frustration. Just a clear, warm nudge.

The mindset shift that makes this easy: you are not asking for a favor. You delivered work they asked for, on the terms you agreed to. Following up on payment is the most normal business thing in the world, and finance teams expect it. The friendliness isn’t because you’re in the wrong. It’s because a warm, easy-to-action email is the one that gets approved and queued instead of ignored.

A few rules that keep every follow-up professional:

• Lead with the facts, not feelings: invoice number, amount, due date, days overdue.
• Re-attach the invoice every time. Make it impossible for “I can’t find it” to be the holdup.
• Ask for one specific thing: a confirmed payment date.
• Keep your tone steady as you escalate. Firmer, never angrier.
• Send to the right person. Loop in the accounts payable or finance contact if you have one, not just your brand contact.

What should I say in a payment reminder email? (Copy-paste templates)

A good payment reminder email states the invoice number, amount, and original due date, re-attaches the invoice, gives a clear way to pay, and asks for a confirmed payment date. Match the firmness to how overdue it is. Here are four templates you can copy, paste, and adjust, from the first gentle nudge to a final notice.

Template 1: the friendly reminder (on or just after the due date)

Subject: Invoice #[1024], quick payment reminder

Hi [Name],

Hope you’re doing well! Just a quick nudge that invoice #[1024] for [$850] was due on [June 1]. I’ve re-attached it here for easy reference.

Could you let me know the expected payment date? Happy to resend any details your finance team needs.

Thanks so much, [Your name]

Template 2: the firmer follow-up (1 to 2 weeks overdue)

Subject: Following up: invoice #[1024], now [10] days overdue

Hi [Name],

Following up on invoice #[1024] for [$850], which was due on [June 1] and is now [10] days overdue. The invoice is attached again here.

Could you confirm when I can expect payment, or point me to the right person on your finance team? I want to make sure this didn’t get stuck somewhere.

Appreciate it, [Your name]

Template 3: the direct check-in (around 30 days overdue)

Subject: Invoice #[1024], [30] days overdue, please advise

Hi [Name],

Invoice #[1024] for [$850] is now [30] days past its [June 1] due date. I’ve delivered everything we agreed on and would love to get this wrapped up.

Can you confirm a payment date this week? If there’s an issue with the invoice, let me know and I’ll sort it right away. Invoice re-attached.

Thank you, [Your name]

Template 4: the final notice (45 to 60 days overdue)

Subject: Final reminder: outstanding invoice #[1024]

Hi [Name],

This is a final reminder that invoice #[1024] for [$850] remains unpaid, [45] days past the [June 1] due date, despite previous reminders on [dates].

Please arrange payment by [date]. If I don’t hear back, I’ll need to follow up through [your agreed late-payment terms / a formal notice]. I’d much rather resolve this together, so let me know how I can help move it along.

Best, [Your name]

Keep the brackets as your fill-in-the-blanks. The bones stay the same every time. Only the dates, the dollar amount, and the firmness change.

How long should I wait before sending a payment reminder?

Send your first reminder the day after the invoice is due, or a few days before as a proactive heads-up. After that, a common rhythm is to follow up roughly every 7 to 14 days. The goal is never to rush the brand into paying faster; their net-30 or net-60 terms are theirs to set. The goal is to stay on the record and stay top of mind so your invoice doesn’t quietly fall to the bottom of someone’s inbox.

This is the part worth being clear-eyed about: you usually can’t make a brand pay sooner than its payment terms allow. Big brands run on net-30, net-60, sometimes net-90, and that timeline is baked into their accounts-payable process. (If those terms are new to you, here’s net-30, net-60, and net-90 payment terms explained for creators.) Following up doesn’t override it. But it does make sure your invoice is queued, approved, and not forgotten, which is the real risk for a solo creator.

If you haven’t set payment terms yet, do it on the invoice itself next time. Our guide on how to invoice a brand as a content creator walks through adding a due date, net terms, and a clear “pay by” line so the follow-up timeline is obvious from day one. And what to put on a content creator invoice covers every field that makes a late payment easier to chase.

How many times should I follow up on an unpaid invoice?

Most creators send three to four follow-ups before escalating: a gentle reminder around the due date, a firmer one a week or two later, a direct check-in at about 30 days overdue, and a final notice that names next steps. Space them roughly 7 to 14 days apart and keep a record of every message. There’s no universal legal number, and the rhythm matters more than the count.

Here’s a simple cadence you can steal:

Follow-up	When to send	Tone	The ask
1. Friendly reminder	Due date / +1 day	Warm, light	”Just a nudge, here’s the invoice again.”
2. Firmer follow-up	~10-14 days overdue	Steady, clear	”Can you confirm a payment date?“
3. Direct check-in	~30 days overdue	Professional, direct	”Please confirm payment this week.”
4. Final notice	~45-60 days overdue	Firm, factual	”Final reminder; here are next steps.”

Two things make this cadence actually work. First, keep records: every reminder, every date, every reply, so if it ever escalates you have a clean paper trail. Second, never go silent and then explode. The creator who calmly sends reminder #1, #2, and #3 on schedule gets taken more seriously than the one who says nothing for two months and then sends an angry paragraph.

If a brand goes fully dark and stops replying altogether, that’s a different situation than slow-but-responsive. We cover it in what to do when a brand ghosts you after you delivered.

Can I automate invoice follow-ups so I don’t have to send them?

Yes. You can automate payment-reminder follow-ups so they go out on a schedule without you writing them each time. Call Me Claire can send polite, professional reminders for you automatically: you set the invoice, and the “hey, did you get this?” nudges go out on their own. You always know exactly who still owes you, and you never have to draft the awkward one from scratch again.

This is the real fix. The templates above solve the what to say problem, but they don’t solve the part that actually wears creators down: having to keep doing it. Remembering which brand is at day 14 versus day 30. Switching from “friendly” to “firm.” Writing it while you’re already annoyed.

“Chasing payments has quietly become one of the most frustrating parts of the job… it’s happened to me three times in the last year.” (The Robin Edit)

It’s not a character flaw, it’s a systems problem: you’re tracking due dates in your head while you’re trying to make content. The fix isn’t trying harder. Put the follow-up on autopilot.

With Call Me Claire, every invoice lives in one place with its status, due date, and brand contact, so “wait, did they ever pay me?” stops being a question you have to answer from memory. Pro can send the scheduled reminders for you, in your professional, friendly tone, so the awkward nudge just… happens. You stay the calm creator who always knows who owes her, without ever sending the uncomfortable message yourself.

To be clear about what that does and doesn’t do: it won’t make a brand pay before its net terms (nothing can). What it does is make sure your invoice is always in front of them, always on the record, and never forgotten, while you get your time and your headspace back.

Your follow-up, handled

You don’t need to dread the chase anymore. Use the templates, follow the cadence, keep your records, and for the part you hate most, let it run itself.

Start by getting every invoice and its status into one place instead of your inbox and your memory. See how Call Me Claire keeps every invoice, brand, and payment in one place, free for your first 3 invoices a month, then let Pro send the polite follow-ups for you so you never have to write the awkward one again.

Brand new to invoicing brands at all? Start with how to send your first invoice as a UGC creator. Get the invoice right, and the follow-up gets a whole lot easier.

Call Me Claire is free for your first 3 invoices a month, no credit card needed. Pro is $19.99/mo or $149.99/yr (~37% savings).

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