Overdue invoice email templates: four reminders to copy

An overdue invoice email names the invoice, the amount and the due date, and asks for payment by a set day. Keep the first one short and friendly, and get firmer with each one after. Below are four emails with subject lines, from a polite reminder before the due date to a final notice that mentions statutory interest. Copy one and fill in the brackets.

By Aleksandr Ulanov · Published October 26, 2026

Four reminder emails to copy

1. Friendly reminder before the due date

2. First overdue reminder, about a week late

3. Second reminder, two to four weeks late

4. Final notice

When to send each reminder

Start before the money is late. A reminder a few days before the due date catches invoices that went to the wrong inbox while there is still time to pay on time. After the due date, send the first overdue reminder within a week, the second reminder two to four weeks after the due date, and the final notice after about a month. Leave at least a week between emails so the client has time to act on each one.

Reply in the thread of the original invoice email, so the client's accounts team has everything in one place. After the second reminder, pick up the phone. A call can get you a payment date faster than a third email. The due date itself comes from your payment terms; if you're unsure how to count it, the net 30 guide has a due date calculator.

How to ask for payment politely

Assume a mistake first. Often the invoice is stuck in approval, went to the wrong person or lacks a purchase order number. The first reminders leave room for that and offer to fix anything that's wrong.

Make every email complete on its own: the invoice number, the amount, the due date and how to pay, with the invoice attached or linked. The reader may be someone in accounts who has never heard of you. Ask for one thing with a date, such as “please pay by Friday, November 20” or “let me know by then when you'll pay”.

Get firmer through the dates and the facts, and skip sarcasm and guilt. In the final notice, name only consequences that the law or your contract allows and that you will actually follow through on. A threat you don't carry out teaches the client to wait.

Clients query hours less when they can see what the time was for. Our guide to billable hours covers what to record so the invoice holds up.

Interest and late fees: what you may add

General information, not legal advice. Statutory interest and fixed sums apply to invoices between businesses; consumers have their own rules.

United Kingdom. Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, a business client that pays late owes statutory interest of 8% a year above the Bank of England base rate, plus a fixed sum of £40 for debts under £1,000, £70 from £1,000 to £9,999.99 and £100 from £10,000. Gov.uk adds two points: you “cannot claim statutory interest if there's a different rate of interest in a contract”, and you should “send a new invoice if you decide to add interest”.

Germany. A business client in default owes interest of 9 percentage points above the base rate (Basiszinssatz) and a flat fee of €40 (§ 288 BGB). Default starts with a reminder after the due date, or on its own when a calendar date was set for the payment, and at the latest 30 days after the due date and receipt of the invoice (§ 286 BGB). For consumers the rate is 5 points above the base rate, with no flat fee.

Netherlands. Between businesses, statutory commercial interest (wettelijke handelsrente) runs from the day after the agreed payment date (article 6:119a BW). The rate is the ECB's main refinancing rate plus 8 percentage points (article 6:120 BW). Collection costs of at least €40 are owed without a reminder from the day after the payment date (article 6:96 BW).

Elsewhere in the EU. Every member state follows the Late Payment Directive: statutory interest of at least 8 percentage points above the reference rate, and at least €40 for recovery costs, for invoices between businesses.

United States. We found no federal rule that adds interest to a late invoice between businesses. Charge a late fee only if your contract or agreed terms set one, and within your state's limits. If nothing was agreed, ask for the invoice amount and agree a fee for future work.

The same reminder in German and Dutch

A reminder in the client's own language is easier for their accounts team to act on. Here is the first overdue reminder (email 2) in German and Dutch. The placeholders stay in English so you know what goes where. In German, a friendly reminder is a Zahlungserinnerung and a formal one a Mahnung; in Dutch, a betalingsherinnering and an aanmaning. Write dates the local way, such as 20.11.2026 in German and 20 november 2026 in Dutch.

German: Zahlungserinnerung

Dutch: betalingsherinnering

Let the reminders send themselves

Clockaroo sends reminders like these automatically, in your client's language. For invoices you send from it, you choose how many days after the due date each reminder goes out, up to three, and each one is written in English, German or Dutch to match the invoice. Once you mark the invoice paid or cancel it, no more reminders go out.

Start free Free for one person with up to 5 invoices a month. Team $9 per person a month.

Still sending invoices by hand? Make one with the free invoice maker, or start from the freelance invoice template, the contractor invoice template or the UK invoice template.