Receivables chasing

You turn overdue invoices into cash without damaging the customer relationship. That means never chasing an invoice that is already paid or in dispute, sending the right message at the right time to the right person, keeping a record of every promise, and putting the hard decisions (stopping supply, charging interest, legal action) in front of the owner with the facts. Nothing is sent without the owner's go-ahead.

When to use

• "Who owes us money?"
• "Chase the overdue invoices."
• "Acme still hasn't paid, what do we do?"
• "Set up a weekly chase routine." Use cronjob for a Monday run that drafts the week's reminders for approval.
• Cash forecast shows a shortfall and collections are the fastest lever.

What you need

• Access, best first: a connected app (Xero, QuickBooks, Stripe) on the Connections page; your own browser signed in by the owner to the accounting software and the bank's website (read only); or an aged receivables export plus the last 30 days of bank receipts from the owner. If none is there, ask with clarify for both by name.
• The full aged receivables report (not a top-10 view) with invoice numbers, dates, due dates, amounts and contacts.
• 12 months of payment history per customer (invoice due date vs date paid).
• Agreed payment terms per customer, and any special arrangements the owner has made. Check memory and session_search for past promises and disputes.
• The owner's preferences: which reminders may go out on standing approval (if any), the sender name, and the escalation point.

Method

1. Get the true total. Take the receivables total from the balance sheet control account and check the aged report adds to it. A filtered or top-N report understates the book and drops the oldest debts. If they disagree, report both and say which you used.
2. Clean the list before chasing anything. For each overdue invoice:
   • Look for a payment received in the last 14 days in the bank or processor that is not yet allocated. If found, mark it "possibly paid, verify" and do not chase.
   • Look for unallocated credit notes or customer credits that should be set against it.
   • Check for a dispute or query in emails or notes. A disputed invoice gets a resolution message, not a reminder.
   • Check the invoice went to the right billing contact with the PO number. Many "late" invoices were never received.
3. Score each customer from the last 12 months, needing at least 3 paid invoices:
   • Good payer: paid on or before the due date for 75% or more of invoices.
   • Occasionally late: late on more than 25% and up to 50% of invoices, or fewer than 3 invoices on record.
   • Repeat late: late on more than 50%. Also compute the customer's average days late; it feeds the cash forecast.
4. Pick the stage by days past due, and the tone by score. The cadence (adjust with the owner):
   • 3 days before due: courtesy reminder for large invoices and new customers only.
   • Day 1 to 7 overdue: friendly reminder.
   • Day 8 to 21: firmer follow-up, ask for a payment date.
   • Day 22 to 45: final reminder before escalation; the owner phones.
   • Day 45 plus: escalation decision for the owner (see step 8). Good payers get the gentle version at every stage; repeat late payers get the firm version with a date.
5. Draft one email per customer, not per invoice: list each invoice (number, amount, due date, days overdue), the total, how to pay, and one clear request. Templates in references/chase-templates.md. Write in the owner's voice; check memory for their sign-off and style.
6. Prioritise the list by amount overdue times days overdue, then by relationship. A 30,000 invoice 10 days late matters more than a 90 invoice 60 days late.
7. Approval. Show the owner a table (customer, total overdue, oldest days, score, stage, recommended action) and every draft in full. Send only what they approve, from the mailbox they choose. If the owner has given standing approval for the early-stage reminders, record that in memory and still report each one sent.
8. Escalation is the owner's call. Prepare the facts for: a phone call (with a script), putting the account on hold for new work, a payment plan, statutory late-payment interest and compensation, a formal letter before action, or a collections agency. Interest and debt-recovery rights depend on the country and on the contract (for example the UK Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, or the EU Late Payment Directive 2011/7/EU as implemented in each member state). Check the current rules with web_search, cite them, and recommend the owner or their solicitor confirms before anything is claimed.
9. Log everything. For each customer: date chased, channel, response, promise to pay (amount and date). Put each promise date in the cash forecast and check it the day after. A broken promise moves the customer up one stage.
10. Report the movement weekly: total overdue, change since last week, cash collected, DSO (receivables / credit sales for the period times days in the period), and the five largest overdue balances.

Worked example: this week's chase table

Customer	Overdue	Oldest (days)	Score	Stage	Action
Cedar plc	9,600.00	64	Repeat late	Final reminder sent on day 24; no reply	Owner phones today with the script; propose a hold on new work for the owner to decide
Acme Ltd	3,250.00	24	Good payer	Stage 3	Firm but courteous email, one request: a payment date by Friday
Birch Co	850.00	7	Occasionally late	Stage 1	Friendly reminder with the invoice attached
Dale Ltd	2,100.00	12	n/a	Excluded	A 2,100.00 receipt on 3 Oct is unallocated: allocate it, do not chase
Total overdue 15,800.00, of which 13,700.00 is chaseable. DSO 41 days: receivables 104,000 / credit sales for the month 76,000 x 30. Expected collections this week 4,100.00 (Acme and Birch), next week 9,600.00 if Cedar keeps the date the owner gets on the call.

When they reply

• "Paid yesterday": thank them, ask for the remittance reference, check the bank the next day, allocate, close the item.
• "We never received it": resend to the billing contact with the PO number, reset the clock, record the contact for next time.
• "There is a problem with the invoice": switch to the dispute template, agree the fix with the owner, and keep any undisputed invoices on their normal cadence.
• "Can we pay in instalments?": take the proposal (amounts and dates) and put it to the owner with the customer's history. Never agree a plan yourself.
• A promise to pay: log it with amount, date and channel; put the date in the cash forecast; check it the next business day. A broken promise moves the customer up a stage.
• Silence after two reminders: that is the signal for a call, not a third email.

Output

• receivables-<date>.xlsx with sheets: Aged list (cleaned), Chase plan (customer, score, stage, action, draft link), Promises, Excluded (possibly paid, disputed, credit due), Metrics.
• Drafted emails, one per customer, for approval.
• A show_card: total overdue, number of customers, expected collections this week and next, items needing the owner (calls, holds, disputes).

Checks before you finish

• Aged report total equals the receivables control account, or the difference is explained.
• No customer with a receipt in the last 14 days is in the send list without a "verify" flag.
• No disputed invoice has a payment reminder drafted.
• Every draft lists the right invoice numbers and amounts, and the totals add up.
• Every draft goes to the customer's billing contact on record.
• Nothing has been sent without approval.

Pitfalls

• Chasing a paid invoice. It is the fastest way to annoy a good customer. Check the bank first.
• One email per invoice. Customers with five overdue invoices get five emails and answer none. Consolidate.
• Threats you will not carry out. Only state a consequence the owner has approved.
• Chasing the wrong person. The buyer who ordered rarely pays; the payables team does. Ask for their contact.
• Ignoring the reason. Repeated late payment often means the invoice is failing their approval process (no PO, wrong entity, missing detail). Fix the cause.
• Silence after a promise. Check on the promised date, every time.

See also

• invoices-and-credit-notes, thirteen-week-cash-forecast.