THE LATE-PAYMENT SCRIPTS
The invoice is 60 days late.
Want to know how to get your clients to pay? Here are the scripts.
Seven scripts that collect overdue invoices and keep the client.
Instant access. Seven templates, fully editable.
One of seven, ready to send.
You’re not bad at collecting, you just don’t want to seem needy.
So the invoice sits there. You’ve drafted something, edited it, and told yourself to wait until next week. Meanwhile the money you earned last month is funding someone else’s business.
4 in 5
small businesses never charge late fees even when it’s in their contract because losing the money feels easier than asking for it.
Bluevine, February 2026 - survey of 1,052 US small business owners
This fixes the part nobody teaches you when running a business: the words.
THE SEQUENCE
Know exactly what to send, and when
Each script gets firmer while keeping you on good terms.
What’s inside
You’ll never have to invent the next email.
The full sequence. Day 7, day 30, day 60, day 90 - know exactly what to send and when, without inventing it during a moment of stress.
Send the day-30 email in four minutes instead of avoiding it any longer.
Escalate without torching the relationship. Each script gets firmer while keeping you someone they still want to work with.
Contract language that prevents the cycle from repeating - with late fees written to read as standard practice.
A one-page decision tree for the judgement call: when to push, when to pause, when to stop working.
WHAT TO EXPECT
It’s usually admin drag, not a refusal.
Most late invoices aren’t refusals to pay, they’re admin drag on the client’s end. The approval is sitting in an inbox, payments are run once a month, someone necessary is on vacation.
So expect the day-7 and day-30 scripts to resolve most of what you send. The day-60 and day-90 scripts exist for the minority that do not clear up earlier, and the contract language exists so there are fewer with each new client.
A firm, specific email is often all you really need to close the loop and stop wondering why you haven’t been paid.
Get the Late-Payment Scripts
You already have an invoice that needs attention. Open the day-3o script and hit send.
Instant access. Seven scripts, the decision tree, the contract language — all in Google Docs. Copy them to your own Drive and edit freely.
Add The Reactivation Kit at checkout for $29 — eleven scripts for clients who went quiet. Save $20.
Questions before you buy? Email me - happy to answer your questions.
QUESTIONS
FAQs
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Google Docs. You copy each template into your own Drive and edit it freely. There’s also a one-page PDF playbook explaining when to send which script.
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Escalate gradually and stay specific. Start with a friendly nudge at day 7 that assumes the invoice slipped through. at day 30, name the invoice number and amount and ask for a date. Save firm and formal language for days 60 and 90.
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Only if it’s already in your contract — and it lands best when it reads as standard practice rather than a penalty. The kit includes contract language written that way.
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Yes. They’re plain email copy, independent of any software. Paste them into your email client or into your invoicing tool’s reminder feature.
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Service businesses under five people who invoice clients directly — consultants, designers, trades, agencies, bookkeepers, photographers. Written for when you want to be paid and keep working with them.
FREE
Not ready to buy?
Start with the research. The Small Business Money Report covers the five problems that cost small businesses the most, with every source and sample size attached.