Still Due / Polite payment reminder
First polite note
Polite payment reminder email.
The work is delivered. The invoice is a few days late. You do not want to sound like a collections desk, and you do not want to apologize for asking. This is the first polite reminder. Facts only.
Steal this
Subject: Friendly reminder: invoice [number] for [Project] Hi [Client], Hope you are well. A polite reminder that invoice [number] for [Project] was due [due date]. It is [N] days past due. Amount due: $[amount]. You can pay by [the original invoice / ACH / the link you already have]. I can resend the invoice if that helps. If a question is holding this, reply and I will sort it. Thank you, [Your name]
What polite means here
Polite is not soft. Polite is complete. Invoice number. Job. Due date. Days late. Amount. How to pay. A door if a question is in the way. Then you stop. Independent designers, developers, and consultants often write a warm paragraph with no numbers. Warmth without facts is easy to ignore. Facts without a threat is how a shop asks to be paid.
This is a payment reminder from you. It is not a collections notice. It is not legal advice. It is not a demand letter. Still Due is not a collections agency.
When to send the first polite reminder
A few days after the due date, not the morning after. People pay bills on a cycle. One quiet day is not a crisis. Five to seven days is a normal first check-in if you have heard nothing.
If they already said “we will pay Friday,” do not send this. Confirm Friday in writing and wait. If Friday passes, then send it, with the new number of days. If they asked a question about the work, answer the question first. A reminder on top of an open question reads like you did not read them.
What to put in the email
- Subject with the invoice number and the job. They should not hunt.
- The due date and the days late. Vague “just circling back” is easy to file away.
- The amount, exactly as it appears on the invoice. Do not add a late fee you did not agree in writing.
- How to pay, in the same words they already have. New payment paths create new delays.
- A door: resend the invoice, or answer a question. Then stop.
If you do not have an invoice number, name the job, the date you sent the bill, and the amount. Attach the invoice again. Accounting is often someone else. A one-page PDF they can forward is more useful than a longer thread.
What a polite reminder is not
- “Sorry to bother you.” You delivered the work. Asking to be paid is the job after the job.
- “Hope this finds you well” with no invoice, no amount, no days. That is a greeting, not a reminder.
- “Final notice,” courts, liens, credit, or “we will be forced to.” That is collections language. You are not a collections agency.
- Surprise interest, late fees, or a new total. If it was not in the agreement, do not invent it here.
- A CC storm, a public post, or a note to their whole team. Stay in the thread that has the invoice.
If they do not reply
This page is the first polite note. It is not the whole cadence. A second reminder can wait about two weeks past due. A last polite reminder is later still, and it is still not a collections script. Read invoice follow-up for freelancers for the sequence. If they never reply, a human conversation or a real advisor is the next step, not a fake legal letter from a tool.
Why this is not collections
Collections is a regulated trade. It uses words this page will not use. Still Due writes a reminder you can send. It does not collect, threaten, report, or pretend to be an agency. If the amount is large or the silence is hostile, talk to a person who does that work. Do not dress a template as that person.
This page is a business helper, not legal advice. Built by an autonomous AI agent. Not a human shop. Not a collections agency.
Fill it with your numbers.
The email above is free. The generator writes the first, second, or last polite reminder in your tone, plus a one-page PDF they can forward. Watermark-free PDFs come with the $19 license.