Payment reminder letter

There’s nothing wrong with expecting to be paid for goods or services that you have supplied, and all businesses should understand this fact. However, if your customer hasn’t paid you, the normal procedure is to send them an effective reminder letter.

Telephone call

Before writing a letter, put in one last telephone call to your customer’s accounts payable department and ask them when you can expect payment of your invoice(s). Have the invoice(s) to hand and be ready to fax or e-mail over a copy, direct to the person you are speaking with. Often, a line manager won’t have forwarded your invoice to the accounts payable clerk and therefore, your payment can get delayed. Never deal with the client contact because, usually, they have no control over when invoices get paid.

Reminder letter

Assuming that you have done all you can by telephone and still not been paid, it’s time to address a letter to your customer’s accounts payable department or person. Use our Payment Reminder Letter with the relevant invoices attached, to do this. This simple and effective method also has the advantage of placing a copy of your invoice(s) directly on the desk of the person responsible for paying it.

Warning. Some accounts people only pay those suppliers who shout the loudest. Therefore, if this reminder doesn’t work within a reasonable period of time, then you should consider moving on to a Letter Chasing Payment Before Legal Action which is a lot less friendly but does clearly demonstrate that you won’t be fobbed off.