Still Due / Second invoice reminder
Second note, about two weeks
Second overdue invoice reminder.
You already sent a polite first note. The invoice is about two weeks past due. No payment. No new date. This is the second follow-up. Firm, polite, complete. Not a collections desk.
Steal this
Subject: Second reminder: invoice [number] for [Project] is [N] days past due Hi [Client], Following up on invoice [number] for [Project]. It was due [due date] and is now [N] days past due. Amount due: $[amount]. I sent a reminder on [first-note date]. I have not seen payment yet. Please pay by [the original invoice / ACH / the link you already have]. I can resend the invoice if someone else needs it. If a question is holding this, reply this week and I will sort it. Thank you, [Your name]
When the second note is due
About two weeks past due. Not the day after the first reminder. Independent designers, developers, and consultants often send a warm first note, hear nothing, and then either go silent or jump to language they cannot stand behind. Two weeks is a normal second check-in if you have heard nothing and they have not named a pay date.
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 second reminder on top of an open question reads like you did not read them.
What firm and polite means here
Firm is not loud. Firm is the same facts, with less padding. Invoice number. Job. Due date. Days late. Amount. How to pay. A mention that you already wrote once. A door if a question is in the way. Then you stop.
Polite is not an apology. You delivered the work. Asking to be paid a second time is the job after the job. Do not write "sorry to chase." Do not write "final notice." Do not write courts, liens, credit, or "we will be forced to." That is collections language. You are not a collections agency. Still Due is not a collections agency.
What to put in the second email
- Subject with "second reminder," the invoice number, and the days late. They should not hunt, and they should not think this is the first note again.
- The due date, the days late, and the amount, exactly as on the invoice. Do not add a late fee you did not agree in writing.
- The date of the first reminder, in one line. Proof you already asked, not a lecture.
- 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 this week. 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 second reminder is not
- "Circling back" with no invoice, no amount, no days. That is a greeting, not a follow-up.
- "Final notice," collections, lawyers, credit reporting, or a new total they never agreed.
- A CC storm, a public post, or a note to their whole team. Stay in the thread that has the invoice.
- A same-day pile-on after the first polite note. Give the first note time to land.
If they still do not reply
This page is the second note, about two weeks past due. It is not the whole cadence. 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.
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.